Konami is open to Silent Hill pitches.
Rumors about the remake of Silent Hill 2 had been circulating all year before it was finally announced at the end of 2022. To find out what Bloober Team will bring to the fans, IGN talked with Konami's original game's producer Motoi Okamoto, concept artist Masahiro Ito, and composer Akira Yamaoka. The three discussed James's age, new combat design, and the series' future.
When asked about why Konami decided to remake Silent Hill 2, Okamoto said that the company wanted to revive the series. It realized that its identity is psychological horror, and SH2 is what comes to your mind when you think about it, so it was decided to start this project "with something that symbolizes this identity".
Okamoto, Ito, and Yamaoka all had nice things to say about Bloober Team, noting its talent and dedication to the title. Konami also invited creators from around the world to bring their pitches, promising to look through every one of them.
It seems the remake will be much livelier than the original due to the technologies that have been released since the PS2 era. The studio used performance capture to record the actors’ bodies, facial expressions, and voices all at the same time.
Another consequence of modern tech is one of the reasons why James looks older in the new game. Okamoto said that back then, they couldn't depict skin in a nuanced way, so "everyone ended up looking younger" and had smooth skin. However, this is not the only reason. Apparently, James is older because the average age of people who play video games has risen.
"We want to depict a James who is more mature and has had to suffer through more in his life, and to do that we raised his age, though only by a bit. If he looks older to you, it's not your imagination."
As for the technical side, the remake will feature a more immersive camera, an improved combat design, and revamped enemy AI. The developers "tried to respect the original designs while adding combat that's fun and new to the remake".
"I think that the remake has ended up as a more interesting experience than the original," Ito concluded.
The remake of Silent Hill 2 is only the beginning of the new generation of SH games. Ito hopes the future of the series will be diverse, "the way it was when going from the first Silent Hill to the second". He thinks it will become "something that players aren't even able to imagine".
Yamaoka then noted that Bloober Team's game will have "a slightly different taste" while retaining "the sensibilities of the original game". He thinks they're going to make "a Silent Hill 2 that matches our present day perfectly".
"I'm happy to see players reacting to Silent Hill f, which is a Japanese-style horror game, with even stronger interested than I’d expected," added Okamoto. "The future of Silent Hill will only continue. I think what's important about the series is that it's unique, highly artistic and original, and I'd like to continue focusing on that."
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