Silent Hill 2 remake developer interview - respecting a classic

Silent Hill 2 is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time and loved by millions. In 2022, following months of rumours, the Silent Hill 2 remake was announced by Konami and it’s being developed by Bloober Team.

Known for original IPs such as Layers of Fear, The Medium and Observer, any studio handling a project such as remaking Silent Hill 2, not only carries a burden of exceedingly high expectations from fans but is also an exciting opportunity for Bloober Team. Recently, I spoke with Maciej Głomb (lead producer) and Mateusz Lenart (creative director) about the honour and challenges of remaking such a beloved Konami classic.

Check out the Silent Hill 2 story trailer below!

“I think the biggest challenge with Silent Hill 2 is that it’s a game that people have loved for over 20 years and it’s very symbolic to an individual. Everyone has opinions and theories of what the story and characters represent,” Maciej explains. “We’re not just creating a fresh vision from our minds, but we're also managing preconceived perceptions and we also need to make sure that it’s a great game to play.”

“It’s about finding the right balance, which is why we decided early on to divide the story away from gameplay. We want to keep the story true to the original but update the gameplay to be modern and meet current expectations.” Maciej made it clear that the story is not being altered. However, the gameplay needed a fresh approach.

Konami

“Compensating for the new third-person camera introduced a lot of changes that need to be addressed for level design,” which meant that the developers needed to find creative ways to hide enemies in the environment using light, darkness, objects and fog to keep players on edge and retain the feeling of dread, fearing what’s around the next corner, something that was a natural concept for the fixed camera of the original game and the likes of classic Resident Evil.

Maciej also explains that with the free camera adding to James Sunderland being more capable in combat, if enemy movement and attacks remained the same as the original Silent Hill 2, killing enemies in the remake would be too easy. As such, new enemy animations, attacks and AI were created. Yet to compensate for the improved enemy AI, Bloober Team felt it was fair to introduce a new dodge mechanic for James Sunderland.

“One of the most tense feelings of fear is the unknown, what you can’t see,” Lenart explains. “Being afraid of your imagination and developing scenarios in your head. So with the remake having a free camera, we were very careful to create the feeling of dread but also wanted the player to explore and investigate despite the dangers that may await.”

Konami

While remaining true to the world of the original Silent Hill 2, sometimes there is an opportunity to implement your own ideas into a remake. “We knew early on that we needed to change the flow of the game and level design to accommodate many aspects of modern gaming,” says Lenart. “But rather than adding a lot of new locations we wanted to extend them and give the player more freedom to explore the town of Silent Hill.” During my hands-on preview of the Silent Hill 2 remake, I experienced this intended vision of exploring closed buildings by smashing windows and wandering into back alley areas.

“Building the environment introduced some challenges but it also allowed us to expand the story of Silent Hill 2 through its environment,” Lenart continues. “There are a lot of symbolic locations that are created by the psyche of James’s mind and how he remembers certain events. We were able to expand upon how James perceives his world and torment. Creating that part of the game and respecting players' memories of the original was one of the most challenging aspects but also one of the most rewarding.”

Speaking of memories, there was a moment very early on in the hands-on preview where James visits a location where in the original, he not only finds a radio, a tool in-game used for identifying nearby enemies, but he also encounters the first monster, namely the Lying Figure. This moment in the game was changed in the remake including its location. In this area where the Lying Figure was once found, I noticed a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ static noise and screen effect.

Konami

To me, this almost felt like it was intended as a deja vu moment, almost like James exists in a different universe timeline, perhaps even in limbo, a concept that has been regularly discussed by fans of Silent Hill over the years.

Lenart teases that these moments are a regular occurrence in the remake and exist to be somewhat of a love letter to the original Silent Hill 2, something that returning fans will appreciate. “We wanted returning players to understand, to remember what is happening in these moments. Those moments were very exciting to create because they provide a feeling of James being stuck in his nightmare for more than 20 years,” with beaming smiles on their faces, it was at this moment when I truly realised how much Maciej Głomb and Mateusz Lenart love Silent Hill 2, and how excited they are for fans to get their hands on the remake.

Silent Hill 2 will be released on 8 October 2024 for PC and PlayStation 5.