SILENT HILL 2
Is this still our special place?
“BLOOBER INTENDS TO EXPAND THE TOWN FROM YOUR RESTLESS DREAMS.”
FORMAT PS5 / ETA 8 OCT / PUB KONAMI / DEV BLOOBER TEAM / PLAYERS 1
The genre-defining survival horror rises again in the shape of a remake from the developer of Layers Of Fear. In case you’re unfamiliar with this ghost story, protagonist James Sunderland returns to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his late wife. James knows she passed away three years ago, but he’s come back to their
‘special place’ all the same. Unfortunately, he finds a place devoid of life, shrouded in a fog that hides the monsters stalking the streets.
In the PS2 original, that fog not only set the mood, it disguised the limitations of the hardware’s draw distance. Naturally, this Unreal Engine 5 remake isn’t having to contend with the same *ahem* drawbacks, but Bloober is still using the veil of fog to make you feel even more isolated. Also requiring a rethink were the PS2 release’s fixed camera angles, here replaced by a third-person camera that moves much more freely. Though James is still far from a front line fighter, this shift in perspective moves combat into the claustrophobic centre of the frame as he bludgeons fleshy nightmares.
Monsters in the 2001 game were less the headline act and more a source of tension to keep you moving forward. Bloober intends to expand the town from your restless dreams, offering more to explore – if not a little more room for running around beasties. Recognisable beats remain, including that car park monologue and Brookhaven Hospital, though perhaps not quite as you remember them.
FOGGED UP
Supporting characters Angela and Maria have both been redesigned. That’s right – Maria’s ChristinaAguilera-inspired ’fit is no more. She, along with the rest of the characters, has also been recast, with actress Salóme Gunnarsdóttir accompanying Luke Roberts as James.
The original performances are famous for how strangely pitched and offbeat they are, but Bloober is moving in a more straightforwardly dramatic direction for this remake. The studio’s clearly attempting to preserve what made the original so beloved while also modernising the most dated aspects – let’s just hope it doesn’t end up taking a wrong turn down a dead end.