Silent Hill 2 Remake Devs Address Concerns the Game Will be Less Scary

With Silent Hill 2 set to get a revival on modern consoles, fans have expressed concerns that updated graphics and environments could make the game feel less scary.

In an interview with IGN, Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto and Silent Hill 2 concept artist Masahiro Ito addressed how they're planning to ensure the remake of Silent Hill 2 will keep the original game's iconic horror atmosphere.

With more and more AAA releases focusing on 4K graphics, many have shown concern that the upcoming game's visuals will be too pretty to be effectively scary.

When asked how they'll be faithfully recreating the original's atmosphere, Okamoto said, “I think that in the original, there were places where players used their imagination to compensate for the graphical limitations at the time.

I hope they take a close look at all of the remake's completed visuals, though. Bloober Team is excellent at recreating the atmosphere of the original, so I think you'll be able to feel its horror even more than the original once you walk through the game with a controller in your hands."

The remake will be developed by Polish studio Bloober Team, best known for Layers of Fear and The Medium, working closely with publisher Konami. It marks the first major entry into the franchise since 2012's Silent Hill: Downpour. The first look trailer gave fans a glimpse at some of the upcoming gameplay and design elements heading to the remake, including a new third-person "over-the-shoulder" perspective.

“There is the issue of everything being a step brighter spoiling the fear of darkness, an issue that's come up often not just for this remake but since the time of the PS4 in general," said Ito.

“I don't know at this point how fans will ultimately react when it comes to this issue once the remake is finished and released. If fans play it and get to enjoy the game experience in ways completely different from the original, though, I think that's a positive outcome too. Part of me would like players to wait for the remake's release and not worry too much about it.”

Okamoto finished by saying, "The fear players projected onto the dark screens of the original using their imagination have been replaced with fears they can actually walk through and experience on a large 4K screen. I hope they'll play the game themselves and see that there's a kind of fear you can only experience in such a detailed world. That's what the 4K graphics and PS5 are there for. We really want you to enjoy the 4K streets of Silent Hill 2.”