What changes to expect in the Silent Hill 2 remake – Green Man Gaming Blog

Easily one of the most anticipated releases of the year, not to mention a remake that’s been a few years in the making, Konami and Bloober Team’s reimagining of the survival horror classic Silent Hill 2 is almost here. Even if the story remains intact, it will still bring a whole host of changes to other areas of its overall offering. What are these shiny new changes you ask? Well, we’ve got all the answers as we take a look at what changes you can expect from the Silent Hill 2 remake when it releases this October.

Unreal Engine 5 brings a diabolical new fidelity to horror

A technically impressive genre offering when it released for the PlayStation 2 in September 2001, Silent Hill 2 still impresses today with its moody, detailed visuals that combine formidable art direction with technical brilliance to create one of the world’s premier survival games the most atmospheric. horror games ever created. In its newly remade form, the Silent Hill 2 remake takes advantage of Epic’s extremely capable Unreal Engine 5 technology. This has resulted in a huge improvement in visual fidelity that gives this new version of Silent Hill 2 much improved texture and world detail, as well as reworked fog, shadow, and reflection special effects. This ensures that 2024’s Silent Hill 2 is just as atmospheric as its 23-year-old source material.

A new perspective

The move to Unreal Engine 5 isn’t the only significant difference in the Silent Hill 2 remake’s presentation, as developer Bloober Team also opted to change the camera perspective. Choosing to abandon the elevated and sometimes overly cinematic third-person perspective of the 2001 original, Bloober Team’s version of Silent Hill 2 instead uses the same type of over-the-shoulder perspective that fans and players of the recent Resident Evil remakes will no doubt have. already familiar. While this decision may upset those who wish to return to the original’s style of presentation and perspective, there is no doubt that this change in camera perspective will make Silent Hill 2’s many fight scenes much less tedious than they weren’t before. Talking about that…

Evolved survival horror combat

As part of its mission to remake Silent Hill 2, Bloober Team also wanted to overhaul the combat system that underpins many of its more violent encounters. Although combat was hardly a defining aspect of Silent Hill 2 as is arguably the case with the Resident Evil games, Bloober Team nonetheless updated the combat experience in its Silent Hill 2 remake, with an aim with iron aim, a timed escape. system and much more physical hand-to-hand combat to bring Silent Hill 2’s various grotesque skirmishes kicking and screaming into the 2024 survival horror genre.

Character redesigns that might upset you – or not

A quick look at any of the trailers or gameplay walkthroughs released by Bloober Team for the Silent Hill 2 remake also confirms an unexpected fact: there have been changes, some subtle, some less so. , in its cast of characters. Perhaps the most obvious example of these changes is Maria, the mysterious woman our main protagonist James Sunderland meets when he reaches Silent Hill. Bearing a substantial resemblance to his missing wife Mary (with his wayward wife being the only reason James was in that fog-drenched town in the first place), Maria is everything the darker side of James’ psyche wanted her to be. Mary be it. Sexualized and objectified by him, Maria is dressed in an entirely risky manner because she reflects, in part, James’ own desires, which makes her eventual fate all the more troubling. However, in the Silent Hill 2 remake, she is dressed much more modestly and while this may not mean much to newcomers to the game or the series in general, it does change some of the themes and key points of the plot that were so crucial to the original game in 2001.

A larger, deeper game world with more opportunities to explore

Even though the Silent Hill 2 remake largely matches the story of the original (and quite honestly, I can’t imagine fans of the series – or Konami – doing it any other way), an opportunity was taken to expanding the width, depth, and scale of the game world in which Silent Hill 2’s narrative takes place. In real terms, Bloober Team simply intends to provide players with larger locations than the 2001 original , as well as a series of entirely new locations and areas filled with enemies and new secrets to discover. Essentially, if when the credits rolled for 2001’s Silent Hill 2 you were just itching to explore more of that world, then Bloober Team seems to have you covered with its contemporary remake.

Reworked 3D audio that surrounds you in fear

Much more than just a purely visual upgrade over the PlayStation 2 original, the Silent Hill 2 remake also brings completely reworked 3D audio, meaning you’ll hear every crawling footstep, every distant sound and much more. Sure, every bloodcurdling scream 360 degrees around you. While it’s certainly great to have a feature like this, it’s also worth noting how much money you’ll need to save to replace all the underwear you’re going to use.

No loading screens – finally

The jump to cutting-edge technology also allowed the Bloober team to make the most of modern SSD storage solutions to completely remove loading screens, making the Silent Hill 2 remake a pleasantly seamless experience from start to finish . After all, the twenty-second mid-game loading screens were *so* 2001.

DualSense Controller Features

Jointly developed for PC and PlayStation 5, the Silent Hill 2 remake also makes extensive use of Sony’s sleek and versatile DualSense controller. Not only is haptic feedback fully supported, allowing you to feel the recoil of each gunshot and the impact of each incoming strike, but adaptive triggers are also used by Silent Hill 2 Remake to replicate the sensation of resistance that you feel when you shoot. the trigger of your trusty firearm. These are all good things that further enhance the level of immersion on offer in a game that already feels drowned in atmosphere.

If all this talk about Silent Hill 2 has you wanting to lock in your October survival horror fix, then be sure to head over to the Green Man Gaming store and secure your copy with a tidy little discount.