Fans with restless dreams can finally relax just a small bit, as there are finally new Silent Hill games on the way.
This long-running franchise has seen high highs and low lows, and now, players will be going back to one of the highlights with the Silent Hill 2 remake. After being rumored for a long time, we finally know for sure what's next. Here's everything you need to know about the Silent Hill 2 remake on PS5 — at least so far — regardless of whether you're a fan of the original or a curious newcomer.
What is Silent Hill 2 remake?
The Silent Hill 2 remake is a complete rework of the original Silent Hill 2, which was developed by Team Silent and published by Konami in 2001 for the PS2 before being ported to other platforms shortly afterward. The remake was announced on Sep. 19, 2022, at a special Silent Hill 'Transmission' livestream where Konami shared details on the future of the franchise.
Silent Hill 2 is a survival-horror game that follows protagonist James Sunderland as he travels to the titular Silent Hill, having received a letter from his wife — who passed away from illness three years ago — that she is in the town waiting for him. When James arrives, he finds the town overrun by a thick fog and filled strange phenomena. Oh, and horrifying monsters that have slaughtered most of the townspeople.
The original Silent Hill 2 was universally acclaimed upon its release and is widely considered the highlight of the entire franchise, with the game going on to influence other survival-horror titles in the future with its design, art direction, soundtrack, and use of psychological themes.
The Silent Hill 2 remake is being published by IP holder Konami, but the game itself is being developed by Bloober Team, a Polish studio known for working on some different horror games, such as Layers of Fear and The Medium.
Silent Hill 2 remake: Trailers
You can take a look at the announcement trailer for the Silent Hill 2 remake below:
In this initial teaser trailer for the game, we see protagonist James Sunderland as he makes his way through the town of Silent Hill. We also get brief glimpses of some iconic horror enemies from the franchise, particularly the Bubble-Head Nurses and the terrifying Pyramid Head.
Silent Hill 2 remake: Gameplay and details
The original Silent Hill 2 utilizes tank controls, with an option for camera-based controls. As a survival-horror game, players have to carefully manage their inventory and items, preserving ammunition when possible and using health items to stay alive. The Silent Hill 2 remake is changing things, so it's now a third-person game, more in line with other titles like some of the Resident Evil games and some of the other best PS5 horror games.
"One of the new elements that you could spot in the reveal trailer is the adoption of an over-the-shoulder camera," explained Mateusz Lenart, creative director, and lead designer at Bloober Team. "With that change, we want to immerse players even deeper into the game, make them feel like they are a part of this unreal world, and deliver them a more visceral experience across the board."
In addition to Bloober Team, there are a couple of developers working on this remake that also worked on the original launch of Silent Hill 2. Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamoaka, who were concept artists and composers at Team Silent, respectively, were also invited back to work on the remake by Konami.
The combat system and some of the game's setpieces are also being reworked, per Lenart. This means that even if you are someone that has played the original game, there may be some surprises and new scares in this creepy town. Silent Hill 2 remake is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, which allows new technology like Lumen and Nanite, which improve the visuals that are possible. Bloober Team is also taking advantage of the PS5 DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
The PS5's 3D audio system is being used to raise the tension and scares further, with more accurate and suspenseful sounds. Meanwhile, the ultra-fast internal SSD allows for the game to be built with no load screens, so players are always on alert as they traverse the town. Depending on how things turn out, this could end up being one of the best PS5 games available.
Silent Hill 2 remake: Is it a timed PS5 exclusive?
Yes. The Silent Hill 2 remake was announced as coming to PS5 and PC via Steam. The game is also noted in the trailer to be console exclusive to the PS5 for at least 12 months. We've seen prior cases, such as with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, where a game that was a timed exclusive on PS5 ended up being console exclusive well after the stated period ended, so it could possibly take even longer to hit other consoles.
It also appears that Silent Hill 2 won't be developed for PS4, making this a current-generation exclusive game. Bloober Team's prior game, The Medium, was also built only for current-generation hardware. This means that the game's developers will be able to fully take advantage of the better processing power and SSD speed that the PS5 and modern PC gaming hardware possess. This also means that when the exclusivity period ends, we're likely to see Silent Hill 2 arrive on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but not Xbox One.
Silent Hill 2 remake: Release date
Right now, the Silent Hill 2 remake does not currently have a release date or even a release window. With that said, we can make a few safe guesses.
When the game was properly announced, Konami noted that some of the developers were first spoken to three years ago. Combined with how this is a remake and not an entirely new game, it's possible that we could see Silent Hill 2 launch in 2023.
This is just speculation, though, and game development around the world still has not recovered from the effects of the pandemic, so we'll have to wait and see exactly how things pan out.
