Konami: ‘Silent Hill 2’ Remake Features an Older James Sunderland, Improved Combat Design and More

Alongside Bloober Team, the rest of the Silent Hill 2 remake team at Konami is making the rounds, spreading the good news about the game. IGN sat down with Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto, as well as Silent Hill 2 concept artist Masahiro Ito and composer Akira Yamaoka to discuss the project, including the decision to go with Bloober Team as developer.

According to Okamoto, Konami settled on remaking Silent Hill 2 over the original due to SH2 being “the true psychological horror” identity of the series. “We decided that if the brand’s identity is true psychological horror, we needed to start by remaking Silent Hill 2. There were of course some people inside the company who thought it would be better to start with 1, but I wanted to start this project with something that symbolizes this identity.”‘

Okamoto elaborated, saying that during the time that Konami was discussing the revival of the series, several indie horror games had been released that had Silent Hill influences. Furthermore, because Konami wanted to make several different games, it was decided to go the indie route when selecting developers. “That’s why we made moves to work together with people around the world who want to make Silent Hill games and approached Bloober Team, as well as Anapurna Interactive and No Code.”

Regarding the remake’s trailer, Ito stated that he was “very satisfied” with the atmosphere that Bloober Team had created. “I really get the feeling that they respect the original while still making sure to arrange things in their own way. In particular, we had strong demands about the motif of fog when first starting on this remake, and they were sure to depict it just as we wanted. I believe from the bottom of my heart that they’re making something incredible.”

It was pointed out how James appeared older in the remake when compared to the original, which Okamoto confirmed the observation. “We want to depict a James who is more mature and has had to suffer through more in his life, and to do that we raised his age, though only by a bit.”

James’ age isn’t the only change for the remake, as Konami is going ahead with a “more immersive camera” for the remake, along with AI remade “from the ground up” in order for players to better enjoy the combat. “First off, we’re improving the combat design, something that received a lot of feedback in the original,” explains Ito. “Doing so would be difficult without changing the way the monsters move and act, so we’ve tried to respect the original designs while adding combat that’s fun and new to the remake as we improve a number of enemies.”

Of course, you can’t talk about Silent Hill without mentioning the music. Regarding the game’s music, Yamaoka touched on how he arrived at the first game’s soundtrack. “There’s a phrase I love, ‘Don’t do something like your life depends on it; do it like you’re trying to kill it.’ You’ll just get tired out if you do something like your life depends on it. I’ve loved videogames even before the first Silent Hill, but I hated the way that music and sound in videogames was so single-sided, or by the book. I always wanted to find an opportunity to smash game music to pieces, or to ‘kill it,’ and I feel like I worked on the first Silent Hill as though I was trying to kill videogame music.”

Regarding the sequel, Yamaoka approached Silent Hill 2‘s music with “a calmer state of mind” when compared to the original. “When I look back and consider what sound design is in videogames as a whole, as well as when I think about the unique music and sound design you can only hear in Silent Hill, I think that Silent Hill 2 plays a major part in that. I was able to get a bird’s-eye view of what resonates and hits home with lots of people, and learned that you need more than just individuality. That’s become foundational to the work I’ve made until now and who I am as a creator. It’s why I continue to feel like Silent Hill 2 made me who I am.”

You can check out the rest of the interview below, or see the write-up from the link above. Silent Hill 2 is currently in development for PC via Steam and the PlayStation 5, with the Xbox Series coming at a later date.

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