Silent Hill 2 fans left disappointed by remake

Silent Hill 2 is not only one of the most beloved survival horror games of all time, but it’s also one of the best games there ever was.

So when Konami announced the Silent Hill 2 remake in October 2022, the excitement of fans was through the roof and being a big fan of the series myself, I was also buzzing from its announcement. However, for any developer to create this remake with the justice that it deserves is a momentous task. Even if the original developers were in charge, I’d still have doubts as to whether they would be able to recapture its magic.

Check out the Silent Hill 2 combat trailer below!

In charge of the Silent Hill 2 remake is Bloober Team, a studio responsible for the likes of Layers of Fear, Observer, The Medium and Blair Witch to name a few. Whether Bloober Team can please the demanding audience of the Silent Hill franchise remains to be seen.

During this week's State of Play event, we were treated to a new gameplay trailer for Silent Hill 2 which had an emphasis on combat as well as giving us a glimpse at its puzzles. Naturally with Silent Hill 2 being one of my favourite games of all time, I was instantly wooed by the haunting soundtrack from Akira Yamaoka.

Yet, once that trailer continued to roll, I grew concerned with the emphasis on combat and I hope it’s not a main focus come release. After all, its protagonist or antagonist (depending on how you perceive the story) James Sunderland, is a normal man caught in the misty horrors of the Silent Hill town.

Fans on Reddit have also expressed their concerns regarding the upcoming remake. “How are we feeling so far about the Silent Hill 2 remake?” asked Redditor DifferentAd9713 kicking off the discussion on the thread.

“I hope it gets delayed because it needs to be cooked in the oven a little more,” said Duckinsons. “All I could ever see in the trailer was his [James Sunderland’s] hair. It’s almost like it is a light source,” exclaimed pm8rsh88.

“I’m concerned, like everyone said the animations aren’t good. Even James’ standard walk animation looks stiff. Some areas in the trailer looked lacking, it didn’t hit me with the atmosphere. The main concern I have is its combat, once again it looked janky as hell,” explained angrystudent94.

Over on Twitter, the vibes regarding the remake weren't all that great either. “Silent Hill 2 remake looks kinda rough, I hope it's still at least six months out. The animations look stiff, the sound design lacks punch and the combat looks clunky. And what's with the weird wall text?” tweeted video game analyst MauroNL.

One Devolver Digital dev also weighed in on the Silent Hill 2 remake saying: “That remake looks too clean. The original had this palpable layer of grime that you could almost smell. You felt like it was going to start oozing out of your TV. Just incredible texture work.”

Hopefully by the time the remake releases, all of our doubts will be erased because I’m genuinely rooting for this game to be great. Silent Hill 2 doesn't have a release date at the time of writing but it is expected to be released this year on PC and PlayStation 5.