The upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake is looking like quite a faithful recreation of the legendary original game, but though Konami and Bloober Team are sticking to the original pretty tightly where the main story is concerned, there are obviously going to be several key changes to note of as well, from visuals to game mechanics to the design. With the survival horror title set to release right around the corner, here, we’re going to go over a few such differences.
VISUAL ENHANCEMENTS
Let’s start off with the obvious pick. Releasing over two decades on from the original, the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake is obviously going to look like a very, very different game, visually speaking. Completely rebuilt from the ground-up, it’s looking like yet another technically impressive outing by Bloober Team, a studio that may have had a spotty track record in more ways than one, but seems to never miss the mark where graphics are concerned.
OVER-THE-SHOULDER CAMERA
Here, Silent Hill 2 is taking strong cues from Capcom’s Resident Evil remakes. Where the original Silent Hill 2 was played with fixed cameras, the remake is going to be a fully-fledged third-person game with an over-the-shoulder perspective. As you might imagine, that’s going to significantly impact gameplay in more ways than one. Speaking of which…
NEW COMBAT ACTIONS
With Silent Hill 2 now being an over-the-shoulder game, players are going to have new ways to navigate combat arenas that the original didn’t allow, while the ability to aim down sights is also going to come in quite handy. Additionally, players can also expect additional, new combat actions for protagonist James to make use of, such as the ability to dodge incoming melee attacks.
NEW ENEMY ATTACKS
It won’t just be James who is going to have an expanded arsenal of moves in the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake. Enemies that you encounter will also whip out entirely new attacks that even fans of the original game won’t be familiar with. Speaking about the same in a PlayStation Blog post, creative director Mateusz Lenart said, “Giving James more opportunities led to changes in how the enemies he encounters fight as well. He will still have to deal with familiar opponents from the original game, but returning players will notice how their movements and attacks have been fleshed out in order to make them more distinctive and unpredictable in combat scenarios.”
REMIXED AND REDESIGNED ENCOUNTERS
Along with giving enemies new attacks and animations to keep veteran fans on their toes, Silent Hill 2’s remake will also surprise returning players by redesigning and remixing existing encounters with monsters from the original game. Describing them as “minor updates” in an interview with PLAY magazine, series producer Motoi Okamoto said, “We have also replaced and remapped all the enemies from where they were placed in the original so everyone can have a fresh take on combat.”
NEW AND REDESIGNED PUZZLES
Puzzles were, of course, a huge part of the original Silent Hill 2, and that’s going to be true of the remake as well. We can probably expect some puzzles from the original game to be brought over as is, but on top of that, Bloober Team has also confirmed that it will not only be altering and tweaking some returning puzzles, but also creating several entirely new ones as well.
EXPANDED MAP
Those looking to explore the town of Silent Hill a bit more thoroughly than the 2001 classic allowed will be able to do so in its upcoming remake, as per Bloober Team and Konami. The game is set feature an expanded map, with entirely new areas that have been created for the remake from scratch. How expansive these new locations will be remains to be seen, but we can take it for a fact that we will be seeing new sights in the mysterious Maine town in the remake.
MORE BUILDINGS TO EXPLORE
The Silent Hill 2 remake is expanding its map by not only adding in entirely new areas, but also building on the areas that it’s bringing over from the original game. Specifically, the remake will now let players explore areas and buildings that were previously inaccessible in the original title. Expect to find additional items, ammo, and rewards- and, of course, also new encounters and threats.
REDESIGNED LAYOUTS
We’ve spoken plenty about some of the new locations that we’ll be exploring in the upcoming Silent Hill 2, but even some of the familiar locations that will be returning aren’t going to be exactly as you remember them. For instance, recent hands-on previews of the horror title revealed that in the early sections of the game, areas such as Wood Side Apartment and Blue Creek Apartment had had their layouts and design significantly changed. Presumably, there will be changes throughout the rest of the game as well, though it remains to be seen whether they will be similarly extensive.
REBUILT SET PIECES
This is an area where we don’t have too many details, but Konami and Bloober Team are nonetheless promising certain set-pieces in the game being rebuilt. Part of that will, of course, be tied to the change in camera perspective, though it should be interesting to see exactly how significant the changes here will be.
NEW CAST
Silent Hill 2’s cast of characters is an incredibly iconic one, and in the remake, we’re going to see new actors bringing them to life. The full cast has yet to be revealed, but Konami has revealed that protagonist James Sutherland is being played by Luke Roberts, while the roles of Mary and Maria are both being played by Salóme Gunnarsdóttir. The remake will also make use of full performance capture.
NEW AND REMADE MUSIC
Silent Hill 2’s music, composed by the legendary Akira Yamaoka, is a big part of the experience, and as confirmed quite a while back, Yamaoka is indeed returning in the same capacity for the original. In addition to completely remaking the entire original soundtrack, the remake is also going to feature new tracks written from scratch.
ALTERED DIALOG
By and large, Silent Hill 2 is going to remain as true to the original as possible, especially where the main story is concerned, but Konami and Bloober Team have confirmed that some of the dialog in the remake is going to be somewhat different from what you’ll remember in the original game. That, according to creative director Mateusz Lenart, is down to the game’s use of performance capture. Lenart said, “The central characters from the original story, James and Maria, are at the heart of our remake as well. Their emotional arcs have been preserved, with great care being given to showcasing their emotions with motion capture technology. This allows us to employ ‘show, don’t tell’ techniques more often, which is why some of the dialogue has been slightly altered to add an extra layer of nuance to the character dynamics.”
CUSTOMIZABLE UI
It’s safe to assume that the Silent Hill 2 remake will offer quality-of-life improvements that the original game didn’t. High on that list will be a completely customizable UI, with players having the ability to toggle every single UI element on or off to make the experience as cinematic as they want. Conversely, if you want something that looks closer to the original game, you can turn on a special filter that does just that.
LENGTH
At about 8-10 hours in length, the original Silent Hill 2 was a sufficiently beefy experience in its own right (especially for a horror game), but the upcoming remake is set to expand on this front as well. It’s been confirmed that an average playthrough of the game will be about 16-18 hours long, while a completionst playthrough can even exceed 20 hours.
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