The legendary psychological horror game is back! SILENT HILL 2" play impressions - a courageous reworking of the original with all the goodness of the original!

The classic psychological horror game "SILENT HILL 2" is coming back to life after 23 years. Konami Digital Entertainment held the "SILENT HILL 2" Tokyo Media Premiere on August 8, 2024.

The event was the world's first opportunity for the media to try out "SILENT HILL 2," which is scheduled for release on October 8, 2024, and to experience the game's 4K graphics, enhanced expression, and more in-depth combat.

SILENT HILL 2" is a horror game released on PS2 in 2001. The main character, James, receives a letter from his wife, Mary, who is supposed to have died of illness, telling him that she is waiting for him in "Silent Hill. Following this impossible letter, James goes to Silent Hill, but is attacked by strange creatures and ends up wandering around the city shrouded in a white fog. ...... The game is still talked about 23 years after its release as a "psychological horror" that evokes a sense of dread in the player's psyche.

SILENT HILL 2" will be remade. On this day, Motoi Okamoto, producer of the "SILENT HILL" series for Konami Digital Entertainment, composer Akira Yamaoka, concept artist Nobutatsu Ito, Mateusz Lenart, creative director of the Bloober Team, who is in charge of development, and lead producer Maciej Głomb. Regarding the new elements of the remake, Okamoto narrowed down the list to nine points: "a foggy city rendered in 4K," "emotional cutscenes," "three-dimensional sounds to stimulate the senses," "a highly immersive over-the-shoulder perspective," "tense combat," "additional creature elements," "expanded areas to explore," "solving puzzles that test your observational skills," and "multiple endings. He focused on nine points: "Addition of multiple endings.

The city of Silent Hill will be rendered in modern 4K graphics, making it more detailed. Cutscenes will use facial motion capture to incorporate the actors' performances, which will also express more subtle nuances. The sound system uses 3D sound, and the surrounding sounds stimulate the imagination. One of the most significant changes is that the viewpoint has been changed from looking down to a TPS game specification of looking over one's shoulder. The player's perspective is closer to James', which increases immersion and tension.

Combat with creatures has been restructured and is more tense with the addition of dodging "dodges". Creatures have been rearranged, and subspecies-like variations such as the "spider mannequin" have been added instead of new creatures. The area that can be explored has also been expanded, allowing for a solid exploration experience with actions such as jumping over window frames. The puzzle-solving has also been revised in a modern way, with some of the puzzles offering glimpses into past events. At the end of the story, several "brand new endings with new interpretations" have been added.

On this day, I was able to play the beginning of the remake "SILENT HILL 2" for about four hours. I got the impression that while the psychological terror is still there, various changes have been made to SILENT HILL 2 to make it a psychological horror game set in the year 2024.

The first thing that catches the eye is the change in graphics. The remake features 4K resolution graphics, which is much more expressive than the PS2 version. The close-ups of James' face show off his stubble, eloquently conveying his exhausted condition. The film also conveys the pain of having to face his past in Silent Hill, where he has memories of his late wife, after being exhausted by the unexplainable letter.

The depiction of Silent Hill is also more detailed with 4K graphics. The sight of a puddle or a garbage dump will send a shiver of disgust down your spine, and the dirty apartments and buildings are unpleasant in a way that will slowly drain your mental faculties. This is the "benefit" of the increased resolution. The fog that symbolizes Silent Hill is stupefyingly vague, yet sticky, and stirs the imagination in a negative direction.

The sight of the world surrounded by a blanket of white fog is ominous and at the same time has a certain supernatural beauty, and with each step you take there is a sense of dread that you will not be able to turn back, or that you will be separated from the mundane world. In other words, it recaptures the feeling of playing the original, which is very Silent Hill indeed. Rather than saying that the remake is better than the original, I think it would be more appropriate to say that the art style is different. The original Fog and Silent Hill have a style that is unique to the PS2.

The remake has a 4K image, which means that it is rendered in a more detailed style. The Bloober Team's respect for the original can be felt by the fact that they not only increased the resolution, but also changed the style of art while maintaining the intuition of "Silent Hill 2". For more details on the development of this project, please refer to another article (URL of the Q&A session article).

The camera that shows Silent Hill is clearly different from the original. The camera in the original was designed to look down on the surroundings from a certain distance, depending on the scene, but this time it was designed to look over James' shoulder, closer to his point of view. In other words, the unique sensation of being drawn into the foggy Silent Hill with a heightened sense of realism, while feeling uneasy, has been strengthened. The over-the-shoulder camera enhances the eeriness and gloom of the buildings, which are described in great detail, and fans of the film will be deeply moved by the thought of walking through Silent Hill.

One of the most significant points of change in the remake was in the fight against the creature. The creatures, such as the Laing figures with their upper bodies covered in rubber bags, the mannequins that look like they have two lower bodies joined together, and the creeping creepers, are terrifying just by being there, but now that the camera is looking over their shoulders, the horror and abnormality of them coming at you with intent to harm you is even more truly apparent. The camera's over-the-shoulder perspective makes the horror and abnormality of these creatures coming at us with intent more realistic. When a creature grapples with you and you get a close-up of it, even though I am used to playing horror games, I find myself repeatedly pressing buttons as if I were praying for the creature to leave me quickly, so you can understand how terrifying and powerful it is.

The combat system itself has also changed, and James can now dodge. This allows the player to invite an attack at mid-range and then dodge to avoid it, making the attack safer. Also, if you continue to hit the creature head-on, it will counterattack, but you can use dodge here to continue the attack further. Observing the creature's motion and avoiding it is the fundamental fun of action games. Once you get used to it, it feels good to fight by dodging and punching, then dodging and punching ....... The game also adds a TPS-like "aiming" action for shooting, and it is thrilling to take aim while being tossed around by the creature's quickness.

The creatures have a variety of action patterns, such as spitting poisonous mist, jumping on you, dodging your attacks, and moving to escape your sight (......), so you can never be too careful. As far as I was able to play, you can only get a bare minimum number of recovery items and bullets, so you have to think about saving them as you play (as in the original, the difficulty can be set separately for combat and puzzle solving. (As in the original, the difficulty can be set separately for combat and puzzle solving.) ) This is why the importance of dodging and the responsibility of being able to avoid attacks as long as you stay focused are so important and keep you on your toes.

The area from the observatory parking lot, through the graveyard, and into the fog-shrouded Silent Hill is similar to the original story, albeit with a change in tempo. The game is similar to the original in that James' writing on the map serves as guidance as the player proceeds to solve the riddle by moving back and forth through the city streets. By minimizing the use of markers and other game-like UI, the atmosphere of the horror game is not destroyed, and I was able to reconfirm how excellent the original concept was.

The wallpaper on the walls and items that can be picked up are marked with round icons, which can be changed as an option. This is good news for those who want to emphasize the original atmosphere. The increased density of play in the city was also impressive. In addition to new riddles to solve, items are now located in cars parked here and there and in store windows, and can be obtained by breaking the glass. Since you can never have enough items, it motivates you to explore the city. New actions, such as climbing over window frames and passing through gaps in walls, were also added, which added a nice touch.

The exploration of the apartment was also impressive: the detailed depiction in 4K resolution makes the apartment so extraordinary that it is already frightening just to walk through it. The original version had a loading screen when entering and exiting doors, but this is not the case in the remake, and the play tempo is much faster. The placement of the creatures is also different from the original, and together with the fact that recovery and bullets are more severe, the tension is never interrupted. The structure of the apartment and the answers to the riddles have also been changed from the original, so even those who played the PS2 version will be able to enjoy the game with a fresh mind. The feeling of wandering through an eerie world in search of answers to riddles while juggling limited resources is exactly the kind of horror game we remember from those days.

During the test play, there were several screams from the foreign media, which is a testament to how immersive the experience is. The four hours I had prepared for the game flew by, and when I finished playing I realized how tense I had been. This also meant that there was no letdown, and I felt that it was a quality experience for a horror game.

Playing the remake confirmed for me how good the original "Silent Hill 2" was, and how brave they were to change so many aspects of the game in the remake.

The fog that covers the city stimulates and unsettles the player's imagination. The main focus is on psychological terror rather than gore (splatter descriptions with bloodshed and loss of body parts), which differentiates the game from other horror games. The game's direction is also outstanding: when a creature approaches through the fog, white noise is emitted from James's radio. The game's function of communicating the approach of a threat is implemented in a way that reinforces the world view, an idea that is still surprising in 2024, 23 years after the game's release. Together with a profound storyline that allows for a variety of different perspectives, "Silent Hill 2" is a work that has the power to be passed down through the generations as a legend.

As "SILENT HILL 2" is such a work, there must have been an option to make it high-resolution as it is, but I also appreciate the various changes made in the remake. The most significant is the change in camera perspective, which makes the exploration, combat, and the fear of fog and creatures more visceral. Adding dodges to the combat must have been a courageous decision, but it has made the action even more thrilling.

We were only able to play about four hours from the start of the game, and the story of "Silent Hill 2" has only just begun. Even so, from what I was able to experience, I felt that this is a remake that allows you to enjoy the atmosphere and terror that is typical of "SILENT HILL 2".

(Text by Shinichi Yanamoto)

• Title Information
• SILENT HILL 2
• Manufacturer: KONAMI
• Compatibility: PlayStation5, Steam
• Release date: October 8, 2024
• Suggested retail price
• Standard Edition: 8,580 yen (including tax) *Package version only for PlayStation5
• Deluxe Edition: 9,790 yen (tax included) *Downloadable version only
• Genre: Psychological horror
• CERO rating C (15 and up)

©Konami Digital Entertainment

*Screenshots are from the development stage.