Original Silent Hill 2 director ‘very happy’ with Bloober’s remake

The director of the original Silent Hill 2 has expressed his excitement about the upcoming survival horror remake.

The new title, which hits PS5 and PC on Tuesday, has been developed by Bloober Team, the Polish studio behind The Medium, Layers of Fear and Blair Witch.

Unlike the fixed camera system in the 2001 original, the remake adopts an over-the-shoulder perspective.

Writing on X, original Silent Hill 2 director Masashi Tsuboyama singled this out as a key reason he’s excited to play the game.

“Games and technology are constantly evolving, resulting in significant differences in constraints and levels of expression,” he said. “This is a common issue with media arts in general, but it is not easy to maintain and appreciate the environment of the time.

“I think the value of the remake is that a new generation can play it. As a creator, I’m very happy about it. It’s been 23 years! Even if you don’t know the original, you can just enjoy the remake as it is. Whether it’s good or bad doesn’t affect the original.”

Tsuboyama added: “The thing to note is the change in camera (perspective). The change in playable camera has a significant impact on many aspects, combat, level design, art creation, etc. While the impact on the story may be relatively small, it brings a big change to the playfeel of the game.

“To be honest, I’m not satisfied with the playable camera from 23 years ago. Depth and angle were limited by the processing load. It was a continuous process of hard work that was not rewarded. But that was the limit.

“The over-the-shoulder view definitely adds to the sense of realism. In other words, it makes me want to try playing the even more immersive remake of Silent Hill 2!!!”

The new game has been well received by critics, earning it scores of 87 (PS5) and 86 (PC) on review aggregation site Metacritic.

“Silent Hill 2 is a skilfully handled retelling of one of the medium’s most loved survival horror games,” according to VGC’s review. “It stays faithful to the original (to a fault at times) but breathes enough new life into it to simultaneously ensure that long-time fans will appreciate the respect shown, while newcomers won’t find it antiquated.”