From the snippets of gameplay and brief developer interviews that have been released so far involving Silent Hill 2, it seems that Bloober Team is planning to make their remake of Silent Hill 2 as faithful to the original as possible, especially since Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamaoka are also returning to help ensure the game still retains that deep sense of psychological horror that the series has become so beloved for.
Many fans of the Silent Hill series will cite the second game as being their favorite, with the tale of Jame Sunderland and his search for his wife often being praised by critics as one of the best horror games ever made, so fans are hoping that Bloober Team acknowledges and respect the game's legacy so that it doesn't come out too different from the original.
Considering the game was originally released back in 2001 as one of the best PS2 horrors, there are a few minor issues and annoyances that can be ironed out when the remake rolls around which would allow new fans to enjoy the incredible story the game has to tell without being put off by some of the more dated gameplay features and mechanics.
8 Voice Acting
It's no secret that the voice acting in Silent Hill 2 is admittedly quite a big matter of contention among the fanbase, with many arguing that the often dry and emotionless delivery of many of the lines is intentional to keep in line with the game's overall tone and atmosphere. While some love it, others have said that it takes them out of the experience, with some parts sounding too silly or unnatural.
The remake should try to keep the stilted tone of the lines that were there in the original, but it could massively help the game to brush up or remove some of the more awkward bits of dialogue to make each conversation more suitable for modern audiences, such as the "Lost?" quote from Angela for example.
7 Easier Puzzles
Puzzles are nothing new in survival horror games, and they have been a staple of the genre back to the release of the original Alone in the Dark released in 1992. Silent Hill 2 admittedly went a little overboard though with its puzzles, and while there is a puzzle difficulty setting players can adjust, this can either make them far too easy and forgettable or brutally difficult.
Fans of the original will never forget having to use a crate of canned juice to push through a garbage disposal to find a coin or having to race around the terrifying Brookhaven Hospital for hours just to open a locked box that contains a single strand of hair. There's no doubt that puzzles should make a comeback, but making them slightly more forgiving would help the pacing of the game tremendously.
6 Tighter Combat
Some players would argue that the incredibly stiff and clunky combat of the original Silent Hill 2 adds to the feelings of oppression and dread that the game is trying to inflict on the player, but when each individual Mannequin or Bubble Head Nurse can take over ten repeated attacks of a melee weapon until they are finally down for good, it can come off as more frustrating than anything else at times.
Bloober has already announced that they will be taking a note out of Resident Evil's book and are using a third-person over-the-shoulder camera which will hopefully make attacking single targets slightly easier. It makes sense that James should still struggle against the outlandish monsters he encounters since he is a still regular civilian after all, but putting a bigger focus on the combat and allowing James to move while attacking could drastically improve the experience.
5 Greater Weapon Variety
James isn't a character who has previously had any experience with shooting or using firearms, so giving him assault rifles and submachine guns might take away from the realism of the game, but adding in secret weapons to find or melee weapons with different power and speed statistics could mix up the variety just enough while still making the player feel vulnerable.
Secondary weapons, such as a pocket knife or a grenade to thin out big groups of Mannequins, would also be a welcome addition, so long as they are very rare and difficult to find in the game world.
4 Side Missions
James isn't the only person who travels to Silent Hill at the beginning of the original game, as he eventually comes across a handful of other characters who are all dealing with their own form of trauma, each of them seeing the town and the monsters in a slightly different way because of this.
The original does touch on these characters, but James is only allowed to interact with them in very brief cutscenes or boss battles for the most part. Some extra side missions could be a great way to flesh out these characters a bit more, and could even make for a great opportunity to learn more about James himself and the hints he gave about his life in the original, such as his fondness for drinking for example.
3 Radio Changes
To make the game as immersive as possible, James is only equipped with a map and a radio to navigate Silent Hill, with the radio letting him know when an enemy is about to jump out from a corner. This was a very clever feature that Team Silent used to build suspense in the player as they wondered what enemy they would encounter next, and while it undoubtedly will make a return in the remake, it would be a waste not to make it even more usable by adding some new features.
For example, the radio could emit a faint noise when the player is nearing a key item that they need to progress, or it could even detect when Maria is being attacked or is injured, with there being plenty of possibilities for ways they could enhance the radio while still keeping the game grounded and realistic.
2 Encourage More Exploration
Despite Silent Hill being a huge area full of eerie buildings to be explored and lots of landmarks that help to contextualize it, the original game can unfortunately be very restrictive when it comes to letting the player explore. Once Maria joins James on his journey, she will scowl him if he starts running in an opposite direction from the main mission, blocking the player from backtracking at certain points.
Some sections force the player to complete the missions in a certain order, such as how the door to Angela in the apartment building will be locked until the player activates the Eddie cutscenes in a different room, ensuring the player plays the game exactly as the developers intended. Granting the player much more agency regarding how they want to explore can help make Silent Hill feel much more real and alive as an area, while also providing the opportunity to add even more files and notes for James to seek out.
1 Improved Companion AI
As the recent Resident Evil 4 Remake has demonstrated, escort missions that used to be dreaded by gamers can now be made to be so much more enjoyable thanks to the improvements made in companion AI. Throughout a lot of Silent Hill 2, James will be accompanied by Maria who can influence the ending drastically depending on how much damage she takes.
Since she will often run into enemies unexpectedly, or fall behind at random moments, it can make it a little too easy to achieve a bad ending just because of the faulty AI, so the remake would highly benefit by having her stick more closely to James while also being a bit smarter in her behavior and movement. She could even give James items and resources as the game progresses which would allow her to feel much more like an actual companion with her agency rather than just a tag-along.
Silent Hill 2 Remake is in development for PlayStation 5 and PC.