The upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake is not far away, with a release date set for October 8th. So, preview work is well underway as the game enters the final stages of development and receives the final touches.
Although I discussed this at length in my preview, I didn’t have high expectations for Silent Hill 2 Remastered. Frankly, I’m scared. However, I’m delighted that the Bloober Team poured their heart and resources into this monumental task.
In speaking with lead producer Maciej Glomb and creative director Mateusz Lenart, I asked some questions about how they achieved such an authentic depiction while enhancing the original game for a modern audience, and what difficulties they might have faced.
“The biggest challenge is keeping the gameplay authentic because we’ve changed so much. But we know we have to,” Glom told me. “Obviously, the change from a fixed camera to a front-facing camera affected a lot of the decisions we made in creating the monster AI, creating the levels, and letting players explore those levels.”
When you first heard about the changes in Silent Hill 2, your heart probably sank – “Isn’t this a 1:1 remake?!” and you cried in disbelief. But don’t worry, the Bloober team has ensured that the story won’t be affected. Instead, the studio enhanced it, adding commentary, puzzles, and expanded locations to make exploration fruitful for both new and returning fans of the series.
Glom continued: “We’ve always been fans of the original story, and at no point did we feel it needed any major changes. We added a few things here and there, mostly to flesh out the story and give some characters a little more depth. Opportunities for exposure, which may not have been as plentiful in the original. […] We might improve a thing or two, but we never intend to change anything.
Lenart agreed, sharing a change the developer made to make his point clear. “For example, the layout of the apartment has only one corridor. To create gameplay in such an environment; it’s impossible. So, retaining the memory of the original location was definitely a challenge, and I hope we did it. So, the feeling is the same, But the structure of the latter is much more complex.
I later asked the pair if they could expand on how Bloober Team changes dialogue to provide more nuance, and while specific examples couldn’t be shared, Lenart did explain that it was important for developers to hire professional actors to bring life and energy to the scene. . “We knew from the beginning that we wanted to use professional actors to play the characters, because games are about emotions, games are about characters and their stories. A vital part of that. Taking this approach, we were able to expand the cinematic nature of the game Sense,” the developer told me.
According to Bloober Team, it wasn’t easy to find actors who had the full range of abilities, either, but they managed to do so in an attempt to give everyone other than James Sunderland more backstory than before. powerful. It’s certainly something I welcome with open arms, and while I’ve only seen Angela and Laura briefly in previews, they sound and look great. The creepy feel of James and Angela’s first encounter in the cemetery is still there, but the facial expressions play a large role in the scene.
i want to reach That Konami’s combat trailer, as well as Bloober Team’s thoughts and how it’s changed combat since then. “Obviously, combat has changed. Mainly in terms of balance, because that’s usually what happens in the end, right? You focus first on fleshing out all the monsters, all the AI, and making sure all the mechanics are in place. And then You start playtesting,” Globb details.
Glom went on to explain, “Essentially, [combat] Probably similar to what is depicted. I mean, it Feel Same, but the amount is different than described. There was a lot of combat in that particular trailer, and even though Silent Hill 2 isn’t a combat game, combat is still an integral part. In my opinion, it’s more about exploration and puzzles.
Of course, you can’t show too much puzzles and exploration in the Silent Hill 2 trailer or risk ruining the player experience. Glomb continued: “During marketing, we could focus more on the combat or the cutscenes, or sell the feel of the game – the atmosphere – but not so much the actual exploration and puzzles,” which is why the combat trailer didn’t It perfectly depicts the expectations of fans.
“As Glom said, this is definitely not about combat, but everything can be shown in a way that carries these misconceptions. In particular, it can be tricky to show this particular part of the game without context,” Lay said. Nat added.
Last but not least, I asked Grom and Lennart what’s next. Bloober Team is currently developing a second project for Silent Hill 2, but insiders say it can’t wait for its release. “We’re very confident that we’ve done our best,” Maciej said at the end of the interview, and so far, I have to agree.
