Weapons - Silent Hill 2 Remake Guide - IGN

This Silent Hill 2 Remake Weapons guide discusses where to find each weapon in the game, as well as tips for how to use them.

James' arsenal is relatively limited. In practice, you'll spend the vast majority of the game beating things with blunt instruments, with the occasional time-out to shoot them.

This is the first weapon in the game. James automatically pulls it off a window when he's confronted with his first monster.

The Wooden Plank is, if anything, better than it has any right to be for just being a 2x4 with a nail through it. Even so, the best that can be said for it is that it's better than nothing. Expect that it'll take at least 6 clean hits from the Plank to knock over simple enemies like Lying Figures and Mannequins.

Your first firearm can be found in Apt. 217 in the Wood Side Apartments. It cannot be skipped, as taking the Handgun triggers the appearance of the Apartment 212 Key in Apt. 213.

Don't look to this for stopping power. Against the majority of enemies in SH2R, the handgun's sole virtue is range. You can use it to pop a few Creepers or take out the explosive Lying Figures before they can get close, but the Handgun is not designed for raw damage-per-second.

It does offer an efficient way to deal with normal enemies one on one, though. If you put a couple of rounds through a Mannequin or Bubble Head's knees, they'll slump over, which lets you score a one-hit knockdown with a melee attack. Using that one-two combination will get you a long way into SH2R.

James automatically replaces the Plank with the Steel Pipe before the chase sequence in Western South Vale.

This is a straightforward upgrade from the Plank on every level but swing speed. It will be your faithful companion for the rest of SH2R once it's obtained. It's not perfect, but there are no alternatives.

You can find the locker where the Shotgun's supposed to be within seconds of first entering Brookhaven Hospital, in its Security Room. This might set you up to expect there'll some kind of trick to getting it. Instead, it's in the Women's Locker Room on the second floor, in an open locker in an unlocked room.

The Shotgun is initially in a "too good to use" niche, as shells are hard to find until you're in Toluca Prison. Almost every standard enemy drops after one shotgun blast, and it's a rare monster that can handle being hit with two. You'll want to save it for boss fights while you're in the hospital, but afterward, it's a handy way to immediately remove a single monster from the board.

One of the first things you spot in Toluca Prison is the Hunting Rifle, which is kept in a locked gun cabinet in the Armory. It won't be long until you can take it, as the Armory Key is in a locker on the wall in the Serpent Section, immediately south of the Witness Checkpoint.

If you've read the Gun Cabinet Notice in the Armory, James will label the Armory Key's general location on his map with a big question mark. Despite all that, you might overlook the Armory Key in your haste to get out of death row. Fortunately, the locked door in the Witness Checkpoint leads right to the hall outside the Armory and will stay open for the duration of your time in Toluca Prison, so you can backtrack for the Key at any time.

The Hunting Rifle is the best firearm you can get in SH2R. Each shot from it is a nearly guaranteed one-hit kill on any standard enemy. It offers great range and accuracy over any other gun. As a trade-off, it has a low rate of fire and a long reload time, and it takes a second for James' aim to stabilize between shots. You also won't find that much rifle ammunition throughout the game, to the point where if you do find a lot of it at once, that's the game trying to tell you that something terrible is about to happen.

This is only available on New Game+, and at time of writing, appears to be the only unlockable bonus weapon in SH2R. It can be found right at the start of the game outside the Silent Hill Ranch in Eastern South Vale, sticking out of a log by the side of the trail. Since it's still running and making noise, it's very difficult to miss.

The Chainsaw has exactly one thing going for it: raw damage output. A single hit from the Chainsaw will instantly drop every normal enemy in the game and does significant damage to bosses. It's essentially a cheat code.

However, the Chainsaw is also slow to swing and incredibly noisy. Equip it to turn SH2R into a beat-'em-up, as there's no way you're ever skipping a fight with this in your hands. It's also heavily dependent on getting the first hit, as it's hard to use. Mannequins in particular can be a real handful with the Chainsaw, as they can duck a swing and retaliate before you recover.

If you want to put the Chainsaw away, either pull up your map or draw a gun. James will silence the Chainsaw and tuck it into his jacket pocket somehow.