Let’s get one factor out of the way in which – the Silent Hill franchise is one which’s handed me by. Don’t ask me why, I simply by no means had the will or alternative to play as a youth. What hasn’t escaped me is the criticism from followers and horror purists directed in direction of the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake. I’m very conscious that handing the keys over to Bloober Workforce, altering key design features, and seemingly focusing extra on fight has all resulted in concern.
I’ve to confess, at the same time as a Silent Hill newcomer with no pores and skin within the sport, Silent Hill 2’s preliminary trailers didn’t encourage or impress me. They didn’t actually scream ‘psychological horror sport’ all that loudly, and I recall being notably bored by its fight trailer that dropped in January. Nonetheless, I’m right here to let you know that after nearly three hours of hands-on time with the sport, you need to most likely neglect all that – Silent Hill 2 remake is a tense, visually gorgeous, and gripping horror puzzler that I didn’t wish to put down.
The situation of Silent Hill is each deeply atmospheric, which is par for the course, and visually spectacular. Whereas there may be an abundance of grey fog, concrete, and rusted brown metallic, being outdoors in Silent Hill 2 by no means feels drab. The identical is true for interiors – after all there are many shadowy black hallways and grotesque purple blood stains, however there’s additionally selection and distinction.
James Sunderland – who needed to obtain an emergency facelift from Bloober after followers mocked his preliminary ‘I’m a disgruntled geography trainer’ look – now appears to be like way more like a plausible lead of a significant horror expertise, and extra carefully resembles his preliminary look too with out being an entire carbon copy. Having checked again on the designs from the 2001 unique, I personally suppose Bloober’s interpretations of your entire solid appear devoted and powerful. The skulking monsters additionally obtain a visible improve whereas staying true to their unique, grotesque kinds. Pyramid Head appears to be like particularly freaky and grotesque, and the recreation of James’ preliminary assembly with the long-lasting enemy feels momentous.
The sound design is fast to ship tingles down your backbone. The warning sounds of static out of your radio are intense. Smaller particulars, just like the jangling of wind chimes or the sizzle of bile spewed up by a monster, additionally sound sharp and lower by way of the common, sinister background tones.
However what concerning the gameplay? Properly, let’s discuss fight first, seeing because it spurred the biggest of the pre-launch controversies. Whereas some conditions undoubtedly required me to swing my trusty picket stick or pull the set off on my handgun, the sport doesn’t undergo from an over-reliance on fight. Compared to what I’ve seen of the unique, there’s perhaps slightly extra ducking, diving, smashing, and taking pictures, however I by no means felt it detract from every part else the remake units out to ship. The melee bashing is chunky and satisfying, and aiming the pistol has an immersive wobble and sway that piles on the strain whilst you attempt to make each shot rely.
What I actually got here away occupied with was the slow-paced however brilliantly tense exploration and puzzle fixing. Silent Hill 2 saved me locked in and curious for just about my total session. After all, people who performed the unique sport could discover fixing a few of its landmark puzzles a bit simpler and fewer shocking than I did, however there are additionally brand-new brainteasers to get caught into. The primary entails you discovering elements for a damaged jukebox, and it doubles as a superb introductory tour of the city.
Together with your jukebox fastened and one in all many, many keys obtained, you head to the primary main puzzle location from the unique sport, the Woodside Flats. Bloober has spoken quite a bit about the way it’s reimagined and expanded key places, and that is one in all them, with its sprawling structure protecting me busy for an prolonged time. I gained’t say an excessive amount of about it to keep away from spoilers for my fellow first-timers, however there isn’t a single nook of that huge location that I didn’t wish to examine.
For the long-time followers that maintain the supply materials near their hearts, I after all can’t offer you an correct prediction on how you’ll actually really feel concerning the remake. Nonetheless, as an entry level into the sequence, I feel Silent Hill 2 completely delivered. Its modernizations, like a easy third-person digital camera and the expanded fight, don’t come on the expense of stress, storytelling, and puzzling. Within the opening hours, at the very least, Bloober seems to have carried out an equally nice job at faithfully recreating some moments and utilizing the artistic license afforded to it by Konami to adapt or overhaul others.
For those who’ve by no means performed the unique video games, it’s price protecting an eye fixed out for the remake when the Silent Hill 2 launch date arrives this October. Its opening hours had been genuinely exhausting to fault, so let’s simply hope the requirements don’t dip when venturing even deeper into the fog.
