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Silent Hill 2 (2024 video game)

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Silent Hill 2
Developer(s)Bloober Team
Publisher(s)Konami Digital Entertainment
Director(s)Mateusz Lenart
Producer(s)
Designer(s)Mateusz Lenart
Programmer(s)
  • Mariusz Szaflik
  • Karol Długosz
Artist(s)Mateusz Lenart
Writer(s)Andrzej Mądrzak
Composer(s)Akira Yamaoka
SeriesSilent Hill
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform(s)
ReleaseOctober 8, 2024
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Silent Hill 2 is a 2024 survival horror game developed by Bloober Team and published by Konami Digital Entertainment. It is a remake of the 2001 video game Silent Hill 2, originally developed by Team Silent, a group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET). It is the first major installment in the Silent Hill series since Silent Hill: Downpour (2012). Like the original game, it follows James Sunderland, a widower, who returns to the eponymous town of Silent Hill upon receiving a letter from his deceased wife, Mary, who claims to be waiting there for him.

The remake of Silent Hill 2 was officially announced in October 2022 following months of speculation and leaks. It was led by Bloober Team creative director Mateusz Lenart and produced by Motoi Okamoto from Konami.[1] Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamaoka, who served as creature designer and composer for the original game respectively, took an active part in development. According to Maciej Głomb, Ito provided concept art for locations and monsters while Yamaoka returned as a composer.[2]

Silent Hill 2 was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on October 8, 2024. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics and sold one million copies within three days of release.

Gameplay

Silent Hill 2 features a modernized third-person camera system with an overhauled combat system from its original counterpart.[3]

Synopsis

Setting

Silent Hill 2 is set in the small resort town of Silent Hill in Maine.[4][5] Shrouded in a thick fog, the town is apparently abandoned and unkempt, but Silent Hill presents a seemingly shifting infrastructure, in which the player experiences an even more worn and decaying version of the town, and the Otherworld, marked by rust, wire fences, and an encompassing darkness.[5][6] It is implied that the town's appearance is subjective to the beholder; where some see fog, others may see fire or ice.[7]

The playable character is James Sunderland (Luke Roberts), a man drawn to the town by the possibility of seeing his deceased wife, Mary (Salóme Gunnarsdóttir).[5][8][9] During his exploration of Silent Hill, James encounters Angela Orosco (Gianna Kiehl), a troubled and suicidal nineteen-year-old girl searching for her mother; Eddie Dombrowski (Danny Kirrane [appearance], Scott Haining [voice]), an overweight, bullied, and paranoid man;[9][10] and Laura (Evie Templeton), a mischievous but innocent 8-year-old girl who knew Mary when she was alive and dislikes James.[9] James also meets Maria, a woman who shares an uncanny physical resemblance to Mary (Gunnarsdóttir).[9]

Plot

Main article: List of Silent Hill series characters

James arrives in Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his wife Mary, who died three years earlier from a degenerative disease. He meets Angela and dismisses her warning that the town is dangerous, but finds it inhabited by inhuman creatures, and himself stalked by an indestructible monster, Pyramid Head.

At Toluca Lake, where James believes Mary is waiting for him, he meets Maria, who resembles Mary, but has a more assertive and flirtatious personality. Maria helps James search for Mary, coming across Eddie and Laura in a cinema, but Laura runs away from James. Finding herself inexplicably worried about Laura's safety, Maria insists on following her to the hospital, but falls ill soon after arriving. James finds Laura, who tells him that she befriended Mary a year earlier while they were hospitalised, but she locks James in a room and runs away when he does not believe her. James and a recovered Maria are ambushed by Pyramid Head, who kills Maria; a despondent James escapes. He traverses a decrepit prison, where he rescues Angela from a monster representing her father, whom she killed after enduring years of his sexual abuse. Despite James's help, Angela accuses him of not wanting the ailing Mary around.

James enters a labyrinth where he finds Maria alive and unharmed behind impassable bars. She expresses disbelief at her apparent death and recounts Mary's memories, including James forgetting a videotape at the Lakeview Hotel during their last vacation. Maria encourages the confused James to find a way to free her, offering to be anything he wants her to be. On his return, however, he finds Maria dead, disfigured in the same way Mary was by the disease. After leaving the labyrinth, James confronts Eddie, who believes he has been killing people who mocked him. Eddie gleefully admits to maiming a bully and killing a dog before arriving in Silent Hill. Assuming James is also mocking him, Eddie attacks, forcing James to reluctantly kill him in self-defense.

At the hotel, Laura gives James a goodbye letter she received from Mary a week earlier, celebrating Laura's eighth birthday and expressing her desire for Laura to become her daughter. Realizing that Mary could not have died three years ago, James watches the videotape, which depicts their idyllic vacation before transitioning to James fatally smothering Mary. His memories restored, Mary's letter to James disappears, and he confesses the truth to Laura. James then encounters Angela, who thanks him for saving her but wishes he had not. Still unable to overcome her trauma, she asks James for a knife, but he refuses. Angela then ascends a burning staircase, resigned to her fate.

Afterward, James is confronted by two Pyramid Heads, who execute a revived Maria in front of him. James deduces that Pyramid Head was created as a result of his desire for punishment, but as he no longer needs them, the Pyramid Heads commit suicide. At the hotel's rooftop, he defeats a monstrous version of either Mary—who refuses to forgive him—or Maria—who refuses to let him abandon her.

The ending varies based on the player's actions: in "Leave", James tells Mary that he resented her for her illness and hostility toward him—fueled by her feelings of inadequacy and fear of her death—leading him to kill her to free them both. Sensing his regret, Mary forgives him, giving him her real final letter, in which she tells James that he made her happy and encourages him to live. He leaves the town with Laura; in "Maria", James chooses Maria over Mary and leaves with her. Maria coughs, implying she will become sick like Mary; "In Water" sees James, unable to live without Mary, commit suicide by driving into Toluca Lake; "Stillness" expands on this, showing Mary comforting James before his death; "Bliss" sees James seemingly enter the vacation videotape, choosing to remain ignorant of his actions; and in "Rebirth", James plans to resurrect Mary using the town's old gods. Two joke endings feature James discovering a Shiba Inu orchestrated the game's events ("Dog") or being abducted by aliens ("UFO").

Development

In June 2021, Polish developer Bloober Team announced that they had embarked on a "strategic co-operation agreement" with Konami that would involve "jointly developing selected contents and exchanging know-how" with the publisher. Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno commented on the deal, asserting that "The fact that such a renowned company as Konami has decided to strategically cooperate with the Bloober Team means that we [have] also joined the world leaders in gaming and become an equal partner for the leading players in this market".[11] Konami issued a separate statement, with the publisher remarking, "We don't have any specifics to share at this time, but we can say while Bloober Team will continue to produce their own original content, we’re excited at the chance to collaborate with them on potential projects across our various IP".[12]

In September 2022, a series of leaks revealed purported images sourced from a planned remake of Silent Hill 2 to be developed by Bloober Team, adding to substantiated reports that Konami was supervising an initiative to revive the series by outsourcing future games to collaborative developers.[13][14] An internet leaker alleged that the images were taken from an internal test demo Bloober Team developed to pitch the project to Konami, and as a result did not represent the final title.[15] The leaked images were subsequently taken down by Konami representatives.[16] Another leak alluding to the game appeared the following month, through a YouTube description for a trailer accidentally made public by Konami themselves.[17]

In October 2022, the remake was officially announced by Konami during their Silent Hill Transmission presentation, alongside other games such as Silent Hill f, Silent Hill: Townfall, and Silent Hill: Ascension, as well as the film Return to Silent Hill.[18] It is the first game in an ongoing initiative by Konami to rejuvenate mainstream interest in the franchise, which had not seen a new major entry since the release of Silent Hill: Book of Memories (2012) and the subsequent cancellation of Silent Hills from former internal studio Kojima Productions.[19] It was confirmed at the presentation that creature designer Masahiro Ito and original composer Akira Yamaoka would return to contribute to the remake.

Bloober Team creative director and lead designer Mateusz Lenart cited the importance of "preserving the atmosphere that made Silent Hill 2 so exceptional, while modernizing many aspects of the game's overall gameplay" as a key factor in the decision to remake the game. Lenart additionally revealed that the original third-person combat system and certain story set pieces were completely rebuilt.[1][20] In an interview with Famitsu, producer Motoi Okamoto stated that Bloober Team and the staff from the original game had differing opinions on what aspects of the remake should be modernized, versus being preserved from the original. However, he noted that "thanks to the [opinions] of Bloober Team, who are big fans of the original, the remake ended up being highly respectful of the original game."[21]

The game uses Unreal Engine 5.[22]

Release

Silent Hill 2 was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on October 8, 2024. Pre-orders of the digital deluxe edition of the game allowed for a 48-hour advanced access. It is a PS5 console-exclusive for at least one year.[23][24][25]

Reception

Critical response

Silent Hill 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[27][26] OpenCritic reported that 94% of critics recommended the game.[28]

Sales

Silent Hill 2 sold more than one million copies within three days of release.[29]

Notes

  1. ^ Based on 24 critic reviews
  2. ^ Based on 105 critic reviews
  3. ^ Based on 125 critic reviews

References

  1. ^ a b Okamoto, Motoi; Lenart, Mateusz (October 19, 2022). "Silent Hill 2 remake revealed, first gameplay details and design changes announced". PlayStation.Blog. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Parijat, Shubhankar (January 5, 2023). "Silent Hill 2 Remake – Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamaoka Have 'Taken an Active Part in Development'". GamingBolt. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  3. ^ Okamoto, Motoi; Lenart, Mateusz (October 19, 2022). "Silent Hill 2 remake revealed, first gameplay details and design changes announced". PlayStation.Blog. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  4. ^ Blake, Vikki (October 4, 2024). "Silent Hill 2 Remake review — an all-time horror great returns". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Ogilvie, Tristan (October 4, 2024). "Silent Hill 2 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  6. ^ Brunskill, Kerry (October 8, 2024). "Silent Hill 2 review". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  7. ^ >Hornshaw, Phil (October 11, 2024). "Silent Hill 2 Remake Answers A Decades-Old Question: Which Ending Is Canon?". GameSpot. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  8. ^ Delaney, Mark (October 4, 2024). "Silent Hill 2 Remake Review — Born From A Wish". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Ali, Ayyoun (October 11, 2024). "Silent Hill 2 Remake Voice Actor Cast List". Game Rant. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  10. ^ D'Amato, Lee (October 10, 2024). "Every Way James Is The [SPOILER] In Silent Hill 2 Remake (& Every Way He's Not)". Game Rant. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  11. ^ Scullion, Chris (June 30, 2021). "Konami and Bloober Team announce partnership amid Silent Hill links". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  12. ^ Goslin, Austen (June 30, 2021). "Horror developer Bloober Team partners with Konami, the studio behind Silent Hill". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  13. ^ Robinson, Andy (February 18, 2021). "Bloober Team hints it could be working on Silent Hill… but it's not the only one". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  14. ^ Kinnun, Maria (August 3, 2021). "The Rumors and Possible Revival of Silent Hill". Couch Soup. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  15. ^ Blake, Vikki (September 4, 2022). "Silent Hill 2 Remake screenshots allegedly leak online". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  16. ^ McWhertor, Michael (May 13, 2022). "Rumored Silent Hill reboot images leak, get pulled offline by Konami". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  17. ^ Wright, Steven T. (October 19, 2022). "Silent Hill 2 Remake Leaked Ahead Of Today's Reveal". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  18. ^ Kim, Matt (October 19, 2022). "Silent Hill Transmission: Everything Announced From Today's Big Showcase". IGN. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  19. ^ Crecente, Brian (April 27, 2015). "Silent Hills canceled, Konami confirms". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  20. ^ Stuart, Keith (October 19, 2022). "Silent Hill 2 remake announced as Konami exhumes hit horror series". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  21. ^ Scullion, Chris (June 6, 2024). "Silent Hill 2's original devs wanted to make more changes to the remake, but Bloober Team resisted". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  22. ^ Wolens, Joshua (August 19, 2024). "The Silent Hill 2 remake feels like the PS2 classic in a Resident Evil 2 remake wrapper, and you know what? That's not bad". PC Gamer.
  23. ^ Croft, Liam (October 19, 2022). "Silent Hill 2 PS5 Remake Announced as a Console Exclusive". Push Square. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  24. ^ Stewart, Marcus (January 4, 2024). "Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Silent Hill 2 Remake Launching This Year". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  25. ^ Romano, Sal (May 30, 2024). "Silent Hill 2 remake launches October 8". Gematsu. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  26. ^ a b "Silent Hill 2 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  27. ^ a b "Silent Hill 2 for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  28. ^ a b "Silent Hill 2 Reviews". OpenCritic. October 4, 2024. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  29. ^ Croft, Liam (October 17, 2024). "Sublime PS5, PC Remake Silent Hill 2 Tops One Million Sales". Push Square. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
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