The games themselves are amazing, but the HD Collection suffers from a lot of issues, that didn't originally exist
What you get
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Included are Silent Hill 2 and 3. That's about it. For some strange reason, Silent Hill 4: The Room isn't included at all. You could excuse this by saying, that SH4 was practically a spin off (it started life as totally different game, and Konami wanted it to be part of Silent Hill), and that it fell well short of the original games. But still, the story was pretty good, and it was the last SH game, that Team Silent made. And since SH2 and SH3 are, more or less, very loosely connected, there's no reason why not to include SH4. SH1 isn't included either, which sadly seems to be norm for these kind of games.
The games have all been remastered in HD (720p though), and they've also received trophy support. Surprisingly, both games also features new voice acting, though Silent Hill 2 does give you the option to play with the original voices. Silent Hill 2 is also represented in the collection, through the director's cut (or Restless Dreams or Inner Fears, as it was called in Xbox)
Story
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Silent Hill 2 follows James Sunderland. He receives a letter from his wife, Mary, telling him that she's waiting for him at their special place in Silent Hill. The catch however: Mary has been dead for three years. This doesn't stop James however as he does travel to Silent Hill, to once again find Mary.
The story in SH2 is a prime example of how good story telling can be in video games. The game prefers to tell the story through actions, metaphors and symbolism instead of just explaining the player what's going on. While it does mean you'll have to do some analyzing, it does explain a lot more than if characters were to just flat out explain what's going on. The characters you meet in the game are all questionable in their nature, and you'll pretty soon start questioning both them, and everything else. It's a bench mark in video game storytelling, supported by one of the most memorable stories every written in video games.
Silent Hill 3 doesn't manage to become just as memorable however. The game follows Heather. While shopping at the mall, she is approached by Douglas, a private detective who's trying to find her for someone else. Pretty soon the mall starts to change, and she encounters both monsters, and a mysterious woman who talks about god and paradise.
While less memorable, the story itself is actually good. It's not as psychological as Silent Hill 2, mind you, and it does deal with more typical horror themes. Still, the story manages to keep things different and interesting enough, to make you play through the end.
9.5
Gameplay
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Silent Hill HD represents a bygone era of video game: the traditional survival horror. For people who grew up with the current generation: traditional survival horror basically had you walking from place to place, finding keys and solving puzzles, to advance. Most of these games also had a heavy reliance on atmosphere and tank like controls, to create tension and fear (yes, Resident Evil weren't alone with these controls).
While both games have combat in them, each game has a different focus. Silent Hill 2 focuses more on exploration and puzzles. Silent Hill 3 retains these elements, but you're given access to more weapons, and there's a greater variety of monsters sent after you. Combat is rather clunky though, especially considering how modern survival horror games are played. You can block, but it's all about timing. You can attack with melee weapons, but both characters aren't specifically good with them. They can wield guns, but their aim isn't perfect. Because of this, combat is something that should be avoided, most of the time. The camera can be a hindrance when you are fighting someone. You aren't given a lot of control over it, and it is possible for enemies to sneak up on you.
In most games, this is bad, but in Silent Hill, it's a completely different story. Unlike Dead Space and Resident Evil and… well most video games; James and Heather are normal everyday human beings, like you and me. They don't have any combat experience at all, hence why their aim isn't too good and their use of melee weapons is far from perfect. This means that it would be optimal to avoid combat all together. It increases the tension and makes every monster seem frightening.
Outside of combat, you will be exploring environments, like Hospitals, apartment buildings, shopping malls, amusement parts, and many other locations. The puzzles you'll be facing are the old standard survival horror puzzles. You find clues and often have to figure out passwords or place certain items in specific locations. The puzzles themselves are good, but not too difficult. Though if you do want a challenge, you can always set the riddle difficulty to Hard or Extra, and the puzzles can be maddingly difficult, even requiring you to know quite a bit of Shakespeare. Some situations do require you to combine items however, and I would be lying if I said not all of the solutions make sense. It's not that they are difficult to figure out, it's just cases of weird logic that the game can have from time to time.
Both games, especially SH2, are often hailed as some of the scariest games ever made. This is mostly thanks to the game's incredibly spooky atmosphere. It's a combination of ambiental effects, mixed with strange and mysterious voices. Often you could be hearing something like distant knocks, footsteps, or some other noise, coming out of nowhere. You're never told where they come from, and you might not even be able to find half of them. The environments are also really dark, forcing players to use a flash light to find their way around. The game also gives you a radio that makes a lot of noise when enemies are nearby. All of this combined, creates an environment that literally messes with your mind and imagination, at times even playing with you psychologically. It's impressive, because the game doesn't rely on loud noises or violence (like Dead Space and the recent Resident Evil games).
The camera might be bad, and the combat is clunky, but it helps creating tension and keeps the players on the edge of their seats, and half the time it's just because of the many strange voices you'll hear. And the darkness and the multiple locked doors helps making you feel very claustrophobic. This is how horror games should be.
That said there are small issues. As much as the combat is intentionally bad, the controls do take some time to get used to. They play similarly to Resident Evil, so if you aren't a fan of the tank-style controls, then you'll be put off the games. At least, you can walk while aiming and shooting. As much as the locked doors helps making you feel claustrophobic, it is annoying to continuous find doors you are unable to open. Over half the doors in the game can't be opened, something which is sure to annoy a lot of people. The HD Collection did crash on me once, though it happens rarely. Still, it's something to take into consideration.
Both games should take around 6-10 hours the first time around, but if you know what you are doing, they can be finished in a matter of 3-4 hours. There are even a few trophies for the games to specifically finish them in under 3 hours. There are plenty of replay value though, as there's hidden weapons and several endings (6 for SH2 and 3 for SH3) to uncover. Silent Hill 2 has a bonus scenario that follows Maria, but it only has one ending, and it can be completed in less than an hour.
9.0
Graphic & Sound
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While the game plays like you remember, the presentation is a completely different story. Fog has always been a huge part of the Silent Hill games. Not just for the atmosphere, but they also helped hiding the draw distance and some unfinished sections. For some strange reason, the fog has been lifted a bit, exposing what they were supposed to hide. The draw distance is horrible, unfinished environmental parts are exposed. In some scenes, you can even see the outline of the world. The water in the boat stage in SH2 is terrible as well, looking incredibly unfinished. The CGI cut-scenes are horribly compressed, and the CGI stills are, at times pixelated and at times aren't. The shadows look terrible as well, especially in SH3.
The characters have received a HD make over, but the environments haven't, for some strange reason. Look too close, and they even look like they were just pulled from their original versions, without any work being put to them. Despite this, the environments are just as creepy, disturbing, but intriguing to explore, as before.
The frame rate isn't too good either. Both games stutters and SH2 can have issues running when there are a few enemies on screen, and even if the flashlight is turned on. In SH3, it's surprisingly bad. The game slows down to a crawl when there are monsters, when the flash light is turned on in a few certain places. Even running around in silent Hill is enough to slow the frame rate to a crawl. These problems weren't even found in the original game, so how the hell they managed to sneak onboard here, is a huge mystery.
The new voice acting is a mixed bag. The new voice actors are doing a better job than the original voices for the most part. Some characters are given more creepy vocal undertones, fitting them very well. That being said, the deliveries can still a bit off at times, and the writing isn't the sharpest on the block.
Ultimately, the new voices are a subject of debate, and playing SH2 with both vocal options is recommended. Personally, I think some voices don't fit, while some don't. Then again, I am one of the few who thinks the original voice acting in SH2 actually isn't as bad as some might say.
Sadly, there's a lot more to be said. The huge frame rate drops is something you can adjust too. When the sound has issues syncing up however, you have more than enough reason to flip tables and curse the gods, Konami and what not. More often or not, especially in SH2, the voices and sound effects occur several seconds before they are supposed to. Even if the audio is completely synced (which is pretty rare), the dialogue hardly fits the lip syncing. This is because of the new voice actors either skipping one or two words, saying something completely different, or the frame rate just delaying the on screen action. While the audio is synced more properly in SH3, some sound effects are either lowered, or gone completely.
The music and ambient design is, at the least, still intact in its original form, and it's just as excellent today, as it was almost 10 years go. The music is supposed to be re-arranged or redone completely in SH3, though I hardly spotted anything new. The only thing I noticed were the many ambient/musical loops, which are made more obvious than before.
5.0
Overall
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Silent Hill 2 & 3 are some of the most memorable and scariest games that has ever been made. Their scares are special, their stories different and thought provoking. These are some of the best games ever made, especially with Silent Hill 2. It's just a shame that they've been so horribly converted to the current generation. They are supposed to be the enhanced versions, yet they all contain issues that weren't found in their original versions. Because of the horrible conversion, it's difficult to fully recommend the game. On one hand, you are getting some of the best games ever made, but on the other hand the many technical issues are embarrassing, with most of them issues that weren't even there in the original version(s). If you have a PS2, then you are better off with the original versions. Games should consider the HD Collection a go, but only if they can live with the many issues.