Ever for the reason that launch of the Resident Evil 2 remake, builders have returned to the properly en masse to offer their traditional video games a brand new lease of life, most of the time with blended outcomes. From what I’ve seen to this point, the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake doesn’t come near hitting the heights of Resident Evil 2 – a blueprint for the way an excellent remake is made – nevertheless it actually appears like developer Bloober Staff has made a number of the appropriate choices when constructing on the survival horror traditional’s simple legacy, even when at occasions it feels slightly too protected.
I performed the opening three hours of Silent Hill 2 and it was instantly obvious from the off that the remake gracefully captures all of the necessary parts; an oppressive tone and easy sport mechanics, even when the duty itself is being obtuse. As with every Silent Hill sport, environment is king, and Silent Hill 2 instantly and persistently places you right into a state of unease. A thick fog surrounds the city like the unique, now benefiting from trendy lighting and quantity due to at this time’s technical enhancements. The streets are actually full of a brand new stage of element, outlets are explorable, and unusual sounds, cries, and groans are dynamically lurking round each nook.
I can think about it could have been extremely tempting to layer music into the Silent Hill 2 remake, bringing the scares extra consistent with up to date horror hits. However its slavish resistance is commendable, because the diegetic sounds of Silent Hill are the place the sport actually sings, or somewhat, drones. Each room within the Wooden Aspect Flats creates its personal model of uneasy stress, subtly assaulting you with an oppressive, unearthly soundscape of pulses and natural audio. From the second protagonist James enters Silent Hill, the onslaught of unhealthy vibes is current and by no means lets up for a second. Typically concern is pushed by anticipation, however Silent Hill 2 is all anticipation, with the sounds of the Mendacity Figures and co being ever-present. In some methods, it’s a troublesome way of thinking to be locked into.
It’s truthful to say that Silent Hill 2 has stepped up its visible and audio sport, however that’s to be anticipated for a 2024 launch. The larger and maybe extra impactful change is perspective, with Silent Hill 2 adopting the trusty over-the-shoulder playstyle that’s turn into a staple of the style. What may have as soon as been thought of sacrilege for the collection now serves the gameplay properly, serving to the unearthly fight encounters really feel surprisingly acquainted. Like the unique, James’ arsenal is proscribed, with the one weapons accessible within the part I performed being a handgun and his trusty picket plank. Fight is actually mild and rudimentary, however Silent Hill 2 was by no means about that. It’s serviceable in a approach that compliments the character’s capacity – though I think about it could have been extraordinarily tempting for Bloober Staff to strap James up Rambo-style, it could have been a disservice to the character and story it’s telling.
That’s to not say James doesn’t have a brand new transfer in his locker although. Silent Hill 2 implements a brand new dodge mechanic, permitting James to rapidly dart out of the way in which of an enemy’s projectile vomit or Pyramid Head’s swinging blade. It’s a easy fast shuffle, not a Darkish Souls-like ahead roll, nevertheless it’s a device that helped me to rapidly set up a swing-swing-dodge rhythm earlier than the Mendacity Figures threw up all their guts on me. Maybe the most important praise I may give is that it’s a transfer that feels prefer it all the time ought to have been in Silent Hill 2.
From what I’ve seen to this point the story is basically trustworthy, and I visited all of the places I anticipated to within the first few hours. The opening jaunt via the streets of Silent Hill is expanded, although, tasking you to resolve a puzzle involving a jukebox in Neely’s Bar and forcing you to go to a number of of the city’s places. Alongside the way in which, there’s a lot to look at additional and marvel on the element layered into this as soon as sparse location. Whereas purists may scoff at this addition, I really feel it’s a wise transfer that encourages you to spend slightly extra time roaming the enduring, foggy streets. It’s a welcome addition earlier than you spend a big portion of the sport funnelled down darkish hallways in a largely linear path.
Followers of the unique shall be glad to listen to that the remake doesn’t maintain again with its returning puzzles. Like the unique, the remake scales clues primarily based in your issue stage ( you may individually select how difficult each fight and puzzles are in the principle menu, though I didn’t get to check out how that is carried out in-game), however even on the traditional issue setting I discovered some puzzles momentary head-scratchers that inspired me to actually soak up my environment, particularly after laborious switching from my ‘kill all the pieces that strikes’ head house. Followers of the 2001 traditional and the Resident Evil collection know precisely what sort of factor to count on – utilizing environmental clues to resolve riddles and combos – nevertheless it felt like there was rather less signposting in Silent Hill 2 than its friends. It’s laborious for me to quantify this, however all I can say is my ordinary urge to brute drive the puzzles was rapidly changed by a want to legitimately resolve them. Hopefully that speaks to the puzzle’s design and never the pressures of the play session’s surroundings.
Bloober Staff’s decision-making when rebuilding this traditional has been intelligent, nevertheless it’s not good. The dialogue and performances nonetheless really feel too campy and foolish for my style, typically taking me out of the tremendous critical tone. In contrast to Resident Evil, the place the campy nature is a giant a part of the vibe, Silent Hill in 2024 requires a delicate contact to enhance the identical masterful strategy in environment and sound design. Purists may have a good time its trustworthy remaking of the unique’s traces, however I felt there was a possibility right here for some delicate rewrites and tweaks. I solely bought a small style of the dialogue although, and Silent Hill 2 isn’t precisely identified for its lengthy conversations, so maybe it’s not any form of deal breaker.
One other irksome inclusion is the logical, however barely tedious exercise of opening numerous kitchen cabinets and drawers to gather handgun ammo and therapeutic gadgets, just like trendy video games like The Final of Us. It is smart on paper, organically inserting your collectible gadgets in reasonable places, however I can’t assist however really feel the method took me out of the environment, altering my thought course of from concern to loot each time I entered a brand new room. Perhaps it says extra about me than the sport, however a number of occasions after getting into a room I used to be jumped by a hidden model as a result of I had prioritised scouring for pick-ups as a substitute of enemies.
Disappointingly, from what I’ve seen to this point Silent Hill 2 doesn’t seem to include my favorite characteristic the perfect remakes are likely to have: Taking your expectations primarily based on what you recognize concerning the unique and subverting them. 2002’s Resident Evil Remake, which performed round with the ‘canines leaping via the window’ soar scare that every one followers anticipated, is the proper instance of how this may be expertly crafted. The strategy permits for the strain of a faux out, and the artistic house to drop new scares the place you least count on it. This Silent Hill 2 remake doesn’t seem to have any actual moments like that and, finally, no actual massive swings that change the panorama for hardcore followers. At the very least not within the opening three hours.
As a remake, Silent Hill 2 falls extra consistent with BluePoint’s trustworthy Shadow of the Colossus somewhat than Capcom’s rejuvenated Resident Evil 2. It substitutes daring new swings for a slavish dedication to the unique, which is under no circumstances a foul factor, simply not the novel step some may count on. Silent Hill 2 actually wanted a recent coat of paint and a tune of the engine, and Bloober Staff has offered that in spades, however all the pieces else is an especially trustworthy reimagining that largely resists the urge to change the profitable system of a stone-cold traditional.
Dale Driver is IGN’s Govt Producer of Video Programming. Comply with him on Twitter.