Konami Doesn't Know How To Market Silent Hill 2

By 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Jade King

Published Jun 3, 2024

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168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Silent Hill 2 finally has a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:release date. The PS5 exclusive remake from Bloober Team will be coming our way this October, aꩵnd the latest State of Play featured a new trailer that left fans feeling a smidge dispirited. Its focus on repetitive combat, strange new m♋odels of its beloved characters, and an unwillingness to show major parts of the town itself makes it hard to keep faith about this revival being anything less than mediocre.

I’m right there with them - this feels like a cheaper version of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Resident Evil 2 remake that isn’t giving Silent Hill 2 the respect it deserves. But if you look beneath the surface,♔ and at materials that have been released beyond flashy new trailers in publisher presentations, you will find a game w⛄hich looks far more palatable.

The Silent Hill 2 Remake Is A Victim Of Terrible Marketing

Shortly after last week’s State of Play, Konami released a 13-minute extended trailer for Silent Hill 2, which is the first time we’ve actually seen how the remake will play. It states that this is the game that redefined psychological horror in video games before it provides a few scenic shots of the abandoned town alongside narration from protagonis🥃t James Sunderland. It’s subdued, mysterious, and tinged with the oppressive melancholy Silent Hill 2 is known for. After that, we’re thrown right into gameplay, and I’m on board.

The HUD is minimal, the music subtle, and the player is seemingly free to explore parts of the town at their leisure, much like they could in the PS2 original. Your perspective is now more reminiscent of newer survival horror titles, squarely positioned over the shoulder so it can better facilitate accurate gunplay and melee combat. James is still forced to be scrappy and resourceful as he pulls decaying wood fil🥂led with rusted nails from nearby windows to defend himself from unknown horrors, having no ch꧋oice but to swing away and pray he will come out alive.

You emerge injured into a cramped part of town drenched in fog, where James is able to smash open the windows of nearby cars and shops to gather resources. It’s simple when compared to the original, but works with wh𓂃at we’d expect from modern survival horror. It seems you also have a map, which is updat𓄧ed naturally with new icons and clues as you interact with objects found throughout the town.

The trailer is edited into smaller sections alongside cutscenes that introduce key characters, although I would have loved to see an interrupted chunk of exploration across town to get a better idea of exactly how Bloober is approaching scope in this remake, and whether it is going for linear thrills or giving us the freedom to explore. I hope it’s the latter, because while claustroph🙈obic, there was a surreal joy to mapping out this ruined town in the original I would hate to lose.

Silent Hill 2 - Pyramid Head in the remake

Ever since its reveal, I have lambasted Silent Hill 2 for its 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:needless focus on combat, weird aesthetic decisions, and my 🀅belief that Bloober Team simplꦕy isn’t the right developer when﷽ expanding upon a narrative that is all about trauma, abuse, and what it means to be human and face up to the consequences of your own actions. It isn’t mature enough for this and has proven that time and time again, so why believe it won’t fumble the ball with Silent Hill 2?

Konami hasn’t helped itself either, putting trailers that focus on unusual aesthetic decisions and underwhelming combat at the forefront🔯. I’m not responsible for the game’s marketing, nor am I privy to everything going on behind-the-scenes, but Silent Hill 2 being presented in a mostly raw, unfiltered state like it is in this gameplay trai🍨ler might have alleviated some fans’ fears, but I worry it’s too late.

In A Lot Of Ways, Silent Hill 2 Has Been Doomed From The Start

None of these feelings have changed. But now Konami has decided to actually show us how t🍷his game looks and plays, instead of presenting it as a bleak facsimile of the original, it’s so much easier to swallow. While aspects of the user interface and environments feel cheap in places, thanks to strong performances and an obvious love for the source material, Silent Hill 2 is able to shine where it counts. It still gives off a dreamlike aura, like everything we are seeing and doing might not be real, and everything is being imagined by the guilt pent-up in James’ broken mind.

Every character you stumble across speaks in misguided tongues, like they want to mislead James or are holding something back, like they are also trapped in this town and forced to confront their own demons. Silent Hill is always best when it doesn’t try to explain itself, and giꦇven this is the first time man🧔y will be experiencing it, I hope it doesn’t try to be something different.