How To Survive the Desolate Area in the Labyrinth

The Silent Hill 2 Remake brings back its eerie, atmospheric puzzles, and one of the most frustrating but essential areas is the Desolate Area in the Labyrinth.

This part of the game is a maze filled with narrow halls, ladders, and no shortage of enemies lurking in the shadows (including the terrifying Pyramid Head that Bloober loves to jumpscare players with). If you’re struggling here, this guide will walk you through how to navigate this Silent Hill 2 Labyrinth step-by-step.

How to Solve the Desolate Area Puzzle in Silent Hill 2 Remake

The Silent Hill 2 Desolate Area puzzle is mostly just navigating through a series of ladders and hallways while using your map and James Sunderland’s helpful notes.

You can access this part of the Labyrinth by rotating the Rotating Cube until it shows the face with an infinity symbol connected to a rotated ‘H’. Once you’ve done this, the Desolate Area will be unlocked.

Start exploring the area and use your map to locate Ladder II. After passing a hallway entrance on the right, you’ll see a door—head through it and take the first door on the right. Follow the path and you should see Ladder II marked on the map. Climb down.

After descending, you’ll find yourself in a flooded area. Follow the straightforward path, but be on the lookout for enemies crawling around. As you move forward, you’ll hit a crossroads where an enemy crawls out to ambush you. Go left, and at the end of the path, you’ll reach Ladder I.

Climb Ladder I and you’ll reach the Handcuffed Gate. Interact with it, and James will mark it on the map. Before we can pass through, we must find the key to unlock the handcuffs.

Finding the Small Key for the Handcuffed Gate

Take the door opposite the gate, walk down to the end of the hallway, and take the first two rights.

You’ll soon find Ladder III. Climb down, then follow the path while hugging the right side of the area. You’ll reach a decently lit room with a metal door. This room has a Small Key that unlocks the Handcuffed Gate. Head back through Ladder I and unlock the gate, taking the metal door as a shortcut.

Use the Small Key to remove the handcuff, turn the wheel, and open the gate. After passing through, take an immediate right and dodge the crawling enemy. You’ll reach a wooden door at the end of the hallway—go through it and into the next room.

Here, immediately to your left, you’ll see a small crawl space near the ceiling. Use the wheeled cart in the room to get through, and on the other side, you’ll find Ladder IV. Climb down and head left.

Before taking another left toward the metal gate, look on the floor in front of you for a tiny crawl space. Enter it, and interact with the Wired Fence ahead. James will mark it on the map. You need Wirecutters to get through, which brings us to the next part.

Where to Find and Use the Wirecutters in the Silent Hill 2 Labyrinth

Now that you’ve located the Wired Fence, the final challenge is finding the Wirecutters to get past it. After marking the Wired Fence, head down the right path and you’ll eventually enter a concrete room swarming with bugs.

When you attempt to go right, you’ll see that Pyramid Head is here too. You can’t defeat him until his boss fight, so don’t bother attacking him; just run.

Take the left path instead of the right, until you find a pair of closed double doors. Once you pass the double doors, you’ll find a room with a gigantic wall fan. On the left side, there’s a cracked wall that you can break through. Ladder V is past this.

Climb Ladder V, go down the hallway and take a left at the first junction. You’ll come across a room past an open door. Explore this area and you’ll find the Wirecutters on an old electrical board.

Now that you have the Wirecutters, go back to the Wired Fence, cut through, and proceed forward. This will take you to the next area of the Labyrinth, known as the Ruined Area.

That’s it for this guide. How was your experience with navigating the labyrinth? Did Pyramid Head scare you, or were you mentally prepared? Let us know in the comments below!