The Silent Hill 2 Remake Pyramid Head boss fight at the end of Bluecreek Apartments is a sudden, startling change of pace for the unprepared. After beating back shrink-wrapped monsters and the occasional insectile mannequin, a seemingly-indestructible foe like Pyramid Head, who knows how to use a big anime sword to terrifying effect… well, that's clearly worth understanding properly, especially when you might be shocked to see how little impact your bullets are having. If you want a guide on how to beat Pyramid Head in the Silent Hill 2 Remake, we'll explain what's going on, and what you're supposed to do.
How to beat Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2 Remake
The boss fight with Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2 takes place at the end of the Bluecreek Apartments sequence. After completing the extensive Silent Hill 2 Remake clock puzzle, James goes with the "S" door and enters a room filled with cages - and Pyramid Head himself, who is clearly annoyed about something and looking to bisect our floppy-haired hero.
The solution to this boss fight is that you simply have to survive for a certain amount of time. You can't kill Pyramid Head, but dealing damage to him does reduce how long you have to survive for.
For context, we at GamesRadar+ have gone through this fight twice (on normal difficulty), and one of us tried not to hurt Pyramid Head much, which led to a wait that lasted for three and a quarter minutes before it was over.
Contrarily, a player who did a lot of damage was finished with the whole boss fight in well under two minutes - so while Pyramid Head won't be killed, you can end the fight sooner by dealing damage… which sort of comes down to the same thing, mechanically speaking.
Silent Hill 2 Remake Pyramid Head tips, weaknesses and strategies
Even with this shorter time frame, Pyramid Head is a tough encounter, and there's some useful tips that can help any player who's struggling.
- With the encounter being timed, if you're confident in your dodging abilities you can just stay out of Pyramid Head's way and not lose any bullets.
- Pyramid Head is obviously a melee-focused character. Staying at a distance is safer, though his sword has a wider reach than you might think. You can hit him with melee attacks if you're feeling brave, though I wouldn't recommend it.
- He can smash through the cages and boxes, but you can't. Cover isn't really a thing in this room, though the time it takes him to break though is useful.
- If he swipes horizontally, dodge backwards. If he does an overhead swing, dodge to the side. If he tries to grab you - his deadliest attack - dodge to the right.
- There's resources around the edges of the room you can grab.
- The darkness makes it surprisingly easy to lose track of where he is. Keep your flashlight on him, and if you lose him even for a moment, try and listen for the sword scraping on the ground.
- As the fight progresses, the room will start to fall apart, with pipes bursting and rubble falling down. This is harmless scare tactics tied to how long you have left - the more deteriorated the arena is, the closer you are to the end.
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