Highlights

  • Bloober's Silent Hill 2 remake looks to have a competent combat system, at least more so than the classic, which may worry purist fans who expect a faithful adaptation.
  • The original Silent Hill 2 prioritized atmosphere and storytelling over combat, making it a psychological horror experience rather than an action game.
  • The decision to focus on combat in the remake would be divisive, as it could improve immersion but potentially detract from the game's true essence and modern psychological horror features.

Remakes always carry with them the nostalgia and bias of their original counterpart’s reception, particularly if the original is a classic that has yet to be outdone. Silent Hill 2 has this weight to carry as its remake is being developed by Bloober and already displays some tell-tale signs that the final product will be far from what the purist Silent Hill community may have expected or wanted from it.

Bloober already has a reputation for its games not being incredibly diverse when it comes to mechanics or interactivity, but the State of Play gameplay reveal for Silent Hill 2 unveiled an unusual problem on the opposite end of the spectrum. The gameplay demonstrated that Bloober has gone ahead and designed what looks like a competent combat system for James Sunderland to endlessly wail on nurses with planks of wood, for example, and while that may only be a slice of what the game’s experience will be, the Silent Hill 2 remake’s direction might be worrying and deduct from how faithfully it adapts its source material.

Silent Hill- The Short Message Marks a New Generation for the Franchise
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Silent Hill: The Short Message Marks a New Generation for the Franchise

Konami shadow-dropped Silent Hill: The Short Message during the PlayStation State of Play, marking a new generation for the beloved franchise.

Silent Hill 2’s ‘Combat’ is Lackluster at Best, Nonexistent at Worst

Silent Hill 2 Has Always Been Atmosphere First, Combat Second

The critical issue here is that while Silent Hill 2 arguably had an inferior combat system that was more tedious and absurd than anything, it also didn’t attempt to be an action game. As a psychological-horror game it included ‘combat’ for the sake of circumventing enemies, but its hit-and-run mechanics were hardly anything to remark on as anything remotely close to combat, regardless of how dated it is by standards today.

Boss fights were no better, leaving James to awkwardly exchange gunfire with Eddie or run to a corner of a room and fire upon Pyramid Head until he closed the distance, for instance.

It’s serviceable for the kind of game it’s in and that’s perhaps its only saving grace, even though it’s hardly ever been a gripe players have had with Silent Hill 2 and it probably hasn’t prevented anyone from enjoying the game. The atmosphere and storytelling of the original Silent Hill games is where they thrived, but Bloober has now put itself in a tough spot with the choices it’s made regarding Silent Hill 2 over two decades later.

The Silent Hill 2 Remake Might Lean on Combat More Than It Should

Why ‘Good’ Combat in the Silent Hill 2 Remake is Controversial

Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 leaning into combat is divisive for several reasons. On the one hand, it’s terrific that Silent Hill 2 will have combat that iterates on that of the original because it could make encounters more immersive and hopefully relieve the tedium of the original’s combat. On the other hand, making combat a primary facet of Silent Hill 2 is a step in the wrong direction, when a step toward modern psychological-horror features would have been a better play.

The remake may still fulfill that and more gameplay could determine atmosphere as its true essence; however, while decent combat is better than inferior combat, it might’ve been better had Bloober avoided combat almost altogether. Instead, the Silent Hill 2 remake’s James Sunderland looks as expertly trained in combat as Resident Evil’s Leon Kennedy.

It’s debatable whether Bloober’s combat mechanics are a decent iteration since it’s using QTE button-mashing prompts and enemies look much more lively and capable, rather than stumbling around as haunting figures. The truth is that there probably wasn’t any way Bloober could please everyone no matter how it decided to approach combat, but it’s easy to see both sides of why combat in general would always be controversial in the Silent Hill 2 remake, and it’ll be interesting to see what details are learned about it in future gameplay reveals.