Sony’s State of Play showed off some new footage from Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake and fans are not pleased with what they saw. Rather than increase the atmosphere and scares, the devs have given this game a revamped combat system that seemingly misses the point of the original game.
Fans were already up in arms when the trailer was listed as a “Combat Reveal trailer,” something many never wanted to see associated with Silent Hill. Halfway through the trailer, we see protagonist James Sunderland whacking foes with a piece of wood and shooting them from an over-the-shoulder perspective, Resident Evil 4-style.
While the original game had bad combat, many felt it was bad on purpose because James was a normal guy who wasn’t part of a special ops group. It seems that the devs at Bloober Team did not get the memo, as the Silent Hill 2 remake has him clearing tons of foes like Leon S. Kennedy would, missing the point.
Admittedly, it wasn’t just the combat that had fans up in arms, as a Twitter post from silent hill but dank points out the lack of subtlety in the horror. Rather than let fans figure out what James did, the game blurts out messages like “reap what you sow,” instantly telling players that their character did a bad thing. No matter how you feel about the combat, removing subtlety from the horror is just a bad move.
There are probably some fans who would argue that the Silent Hill 2 remake should be allowed to do things differently, similar to the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy. However, this is a remake of a horror game, and letting players kill things with ease makes the game less scary. Only time will tell if the game will hold up when it comes out, but we should give it a shot.
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Konami and Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake is scheduled for release sometime this year on PlayStation 5 and PC.