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 need 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 Group, altering key design points, and seemingly focusing extra on fight has all resulted in concern.
I’ve to confess, whilst a Silent Hill newcomer with no pores and skin within the recreation, Silent Hill 2’s preliminary trailers did not encourage or impress me. They didn’t actually scream ‘psychological horror recreation’ all that loudly, and I recall being notably bored by its fight trailer that dropped in January. Nonetheless, I’m right here to inform you that after virtually 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 need to put down.
The placement of Silent Hill is each deeply atmospheric, which is par for the course, and visually spectacular. Whereas there’s an abundance of grey fog, concrete, and rusted brown steel, being outdoors in Silent Hill 2 by no means feels drab. The identical is true for interiors – in fact there are many shadowy black hallways and ugly crimson 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 seems much more like a plausible lead of a significant horror expertise, and extra carefully resembles his preliminary look too with out being a whole carbon copy. Having checked again on the designs from the 2001 unique, I personally suppose Bloober’s interpretations of your entire solid appear trustworthy and robust. The skulking monsters additionally obtain a visible improve whereas staying true to their unique, grotesque types. Pyramid Head seems particularly freaky and ugly, and the recreation of James’ preliminary assembly with the enduring 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 via the common, sinister background tones.
However what in regards to the gameplay? Nicely, let’s speak fight first, seeing because it spurred the biggest of the pre-launch controversies. Whereas some conditions undoubtedly required me to swing my trusty wood 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 possibly a bit of extra ducking, diving, smashing, and capturing, however I by no means felt it detract from every thing 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 depend.
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 complete session. In fact, people who performed the unique recreation could discover fixing a few of its landmark puzzles a bit simpler and fewer stunning than I did, however there are additionally brand-new brainteasers to get caught into. The primary includes you discovering parts for a damaged jukebox, and it doubles as a superb introductory tour of the city.
Along with your jukebox mounted and one in all many, many keys obtained, you head to the primary main puzzle location from the unique recreation, the Woodside Residences. Bloober has spoken lots about the way it’s reimagined and expanded key areas, and that is one in all them, with its sprawling structure conserving 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 need to examine.
For the long-time followers that maintain the supply materials near their hearts, I in fact can’t offer you an correct prediction on how you’ll really really feel in regards to the remake. Nonetheless, as an entry level into the collection, I believe 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 rigidity, storytelling, and puzzling. Within the opening hours, at the very least, Bloober seems to have executed an equally nice job at faithfully recreating some moments and utilizing the inventive license afforded to it by Konami to adapt or overhaul others.
In case you’ve by no means performed the unique video games, it’s value conserving an eye fixed out for the remake when the Silent Hill 2 launch date arrives this October. Its opening hours have been genuinely laborious to fault, so let’s simply hope the requirements don’t dip when venturing even deeper into the fog.
