Silent Hill 2 is being remade, and that's already enough to make some players anxious over the question of how faithful developers will be to the original. However, receiving news about the development team can make that concern grow regarding how authentic the remake is. Konami handed off the development of Silent Hill 2's remake to Bloober Team, but Bloober Team recently made an announcement that - at a glance - can seem like a cause for concern regarding the future of Silent Hill 2.
Bloober Team is the studio behind psychological horror games such as Layers of Fear and The Medium. While Silent Hill 2 involves more action than the games that Bloober Team usually develops, its experience with psychological aspects of horror seemed fitting since Silent Hill 2 puts a heavy emphasis on James' psychological state. But that doesn't mean that players' concerns have been completely put to rest, and recent news about Bloober Team might reignite player fears. However, the remake of Silent Hill 2 might not be in as much trouble as it seems.
Silent Hill 2 Remake Developer Bloober Team Shifts Away From Psychological Horror
As reported in an article by Bloober Team perfect for Silent Hill 2 Remake. While this announcement that the studio is looking to move in a different direction seems like it'll doom the remake, that isn't exactly true. Instead, this shift could be a good thing for the Silent Hill 2 Remake, especially since a shift away from one element of horror games doesn't mean that it's being abandoned completely.
Silent Hill 2 Relies On More Mechanics Than Walking Simulators
Those who have played Bloober Team's games know that they're essentially walking simulators with limited mechanics. And it looks like Bloober Team recognizes that it needs to shift its focus when it comes to working on Silent Hill 2 because it was a game that helped define the survival-horror genre, a style that has fundamental differences from walking simulators. As such, it might not be surprising that new Bloober Team games will shift away from psychological horror because it's turning toward a more action-based approach to games, starting with Silent Hill 2.
The article by Engadget goes on to explain that Bloober Team never intended to make walking simulators, but because the team focused more on environment and story instead of mechanics, that was the result. The catalyst of this shift in direction was actually when Bloober Team received the responsibility of developing Silent Hill 2 Remake. While players had concerns that the quality of Konami's new games would affect Silent Hill 2 and the game wouldn't be true to the original, the focus that Bloober Team put on the environment in its previous games settled some of those fears. However, now that focus is shifting for new games.
How Silent Hill 2 Could Be Affected By New Bloober Team Games
The news of Bloober Team's departure from psychological horror comes while it's in the middle of developing one of the best psychological horror games, and a fan-favorite among Silent Hill players. With Silent Hill 2 Remake's release date possibly being closer than expected, this shift might not have much of an impact, but Bloober Team stated that when it received this project is when it started to shift focus towards the action elements of games. And yet, the environment of Silent Hill 2 is an important part of the game, so shifting to focus on the action instead can seem like an unusual decision.
Silent Hill 2 does have action elements to it, but they aren't the main point of the game. But this isn't the first time that Bloober Team shifted direction, and its previous change in direction was for the better. As such, this could be a good sign for the remake of Silent Hill 2. It looks like Bloober Team isn't making a decision to abandon psychological horror, but the developers are instead working towards adding more gameplay mechanics instead of relying purely on environmental cues for horror as it had been doing with the games it developed in the past, which earned them the description of walking simulators.
Silent Hill 2 uses multiple elements to scare its players and keep them on edge in an unsettling world. From the threat of enemies to switching between the real world and the nightmare version of Silent Hill, the game isn't just about walking through eerie environments and dealing with the mysterious NPCs that James finds during his journey. As such, it makes sense as to why Bloober Team feels that it's time to shift focus so that it can work on features that it has less experience with now that the developers have a solid grasp on creating the atmosphere for a psychological horror game.
Bloober Team's Shift Could Benefit Silent Hill 2
Bloober Team has already shown that it understands the recipe needed to make a psychological horror game, and the developers have gained an expertise in using the environment and narrative of the characters to tell a horror story. With that experience the developers have from their previous work, it makes sense to shift their focus to the action portions of games for projects like Silent Hill 2 because it's about improving on the elements in which they lack rather that keeping their efforts focused on the elements that are their strengths, which could prevent them from growing and evolving. Silent Hill 2 is an opportunity for Bloober Team to evolve.
The remake of Silent Hill 2 isn't the first to leave players hesitant, and the remakes of other games that fail to capture the essence of the original add to the reluctance to be too excited about a remake of a beloved game. Bloober Team's announcement that it's done with psychological horror can be concerning when the developers are in the middle of making Silent Hill 2 Remake, but that's a little misleading since the studio isn't abandoning their roots, they're expanding upon them. There's room for skepticism about how this project will turn out, but it might be too early to write off the quality of Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 Remake.
Sources: Engadget, PlayStation/YouTube
