Konami’s Silent Hill franchise is officially being revived after a long, uncertain hiatus. It turns out that the rumors of a Silent Hill 2 remake developed by Bloober Team were accurate, as it was revealed during this Transmission with a cinematic trailer. After the trailer aired, however, it was soon announced that the game would indeed be adopting a third-person, over-the-shoulder camera. This change, along with other potential changes, could help it shift into a modern take.
Now that Bloober is confirmed to be involved, fans will undoubtedly be comparing the developer’s previous work to what the original Silent Hill 2 was able to achieve. Seeing how these experiences could be relative is mainly through their shared sense of horror and visual realism. This will hopefully be a bold and positive step forward for the franchise. Likewise, the remake’s over-the-shoulder perspective should do a lot to make it feel like modern third-person horror games, while still remaining faithful to the nostalgic iconography from the original Silent Hill 2.
Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 Still Seems Incredibly Faithful to the Original
The reveals announced during Konami’s Silent Hill Transmission may or may not be what longtime fans have been hoping for with the franchise, especially due to some fans’ conflicted thoughts on Konami or its previous Silent Hill games. Whichever way Bloober intends to approach Silent Hill 2, it is almost certain that the original game’s iconography and basic essence will be faithfully iterated upon.
The trailer’s visuals are obviously improved in terms of its graphical fidelity, whether what was shown was simply cinematic or in-engine. The opening sequence in Silent Hill 2 is echoed, for example, where protagonist James Sunderland stares at his reflection in a public washroom’s mirror.
James’ anguish is accentuated in the remake with a modern interpretation’s technological advantages. If Bloober is attempting to recreate every cutscene precisely as they were, then that is all well and good. However, there are several key features that a remake may need to part with if it wants Silent Hill 2 to be truly modern. There are localization nuances in Silent Hill 2 that a modern remake may not retain.
The particular delivery of character dialogue, for example, is almost guaranteed to change, and will inevitably alter how original scenes from Silent Hill 2 are perceived. The goal of every remake may be to retain and embellish the original game’s iconography, with the hope that it is faithful while still introducing visual and mechanical improvements.
How Combat Could Be Changed and Modernized in Bloober’s Silent Hill 2
Bloober is not known for featuring a lot of actual gameplay mechanics aside from exploration via walking around. Therefore, Bloober’s approach to combat could be implemented in any conceivable direction. The Silent Hill franchise is certainly not known for having the most fascinating or satisfying combat, making combat a relatively low bar for Bloober to traverse.
Since the remake will have an over-the-shoulder perspective, it is assumed that combat will be heavily influenced by Resident Evil, Dead Space, The Callisto Protocol, and other horror titles that have adopted the same action-shooter mechanics. As a survival-horror game, it will be interesting to see how inventory and ammunition management is implemented, or if enemies take more damage before dying. Melee combat also needs a considerable overhaul, and it was teased during the Transmission that the original game’s grab escape animation may be returning. Because no release window was offered, it is difficult to imagine when fans may hear about the game next, but Bloober will hopefully have gameplay to show when Silent Hill 2 rears its head again.
Silent Hill 2 is in development for PC and PS5.