How to beat Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2

How to beat Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2

After solving the clock puzzle in the Blue Creek Apartments, head to the door with an 'S' on it and enter it. Inside is a room containing rusty, old cages, and a large metal door at the end - with our friend Pyramid Head standing in front of it - and he's not very pleased to see James Sunderland.

This is a timed boss fight. You don't need to beat Pyramid Head but must survive long enough for him to leave. How long this takes depends on whether you damage him or not. I found that largely avoiding Pyramid Head and only hitting him two or three times meant the timer lasted three minutes, but when I tried to damage him more, the fight lasted closer to two minutes.

I advise avoiding Pyramid Head during this fight as much as possible to prevent wasting valuable ammo. After all, a three-minute break from Mannequins and Lying Figures is welcome. If you're handy with a melee weapon, and impatient, then you can maybe hit him with a few shots to speed things up a bit. If you're very impatient and don't care much about ammo, you can hire the big guy with a couple of pop shots - but I advise using your Handgun rather than your Shotgun, as that ammo is more readily available.

As soon as the fight starts, Pyramid Head starts walking toward you, dragging his sword along with him. He may look slow now, but he's plenty fast - and seems to get faster as the fight goes on. The key thing here is to make sure to keep your distance from this boss. Pyramid Head's huge sword has more range than you might think and does significant damage if it gets you, so try to stay at least two cage lengths away from him at all times.

I found the best way to keep away from him was to run in clockwise circles around the perimeter of the room where possible while keeping an eye on where he was at all times. This can be hard at times, between the rain and the dark, so if you lose track of him, listen out for the sound of his footsteps and sword.

Remember, that sword has an impressive range, so keep as far away from him as possible and keep doing laps until the timer runs out. If you want to speed up the timer, get plenty of distance then fire a couple of Handgun shots at his body or legs - don't try and headshot the pyramid (for obvious reasons).

Another no-no is trying to hide behind the room's cages and boxes. The big buy can easily shatter them, so there's no point. These obstacles can be helpful, though, as they can allow you to get some good distance from Pyramid Head, but another downside is that you can become easily caught in the corner of one - making you mincemeat if the big guy is nearby. If he gets you in a tricky spot, try and dodge away from him.

The all-important sound you're listening for is the fog siren. Once it starts blaring, Pyramid Head heads to the big door at the end of the room and a cutscene plays, showing him busting through the door and heading off to ruin some other poor schmuck's day. More importantly, it means the door is now open for James to head through.

Best of luck beating (well, avoiding) Pyramid Head!