Silent Hill 2 Dev On Remaking A Classic

Bloober Team is on an unexpected victory lap right now, as its Silent Hill 2 remake has won over fans and critics alike. Few expected this to be the case when trailers were met with backlash, but now that the game is here, it’s put the studio in a strong position for what comes next.

But even before the reaction to the trailers, Bloober Team was well aware that it had big shoes to fill. Barbara Kciuk, a senior narrative designer on the game, walks me through the project as we talk at the Game Industry Conference in Poland.

“Remaking a cult classic is inherently risky, especially 20 years after the initial release,” she says. “As a developer, you have to manage the expectations of fans who played the game when it was first released and match their memories, the expectations of those who played it more recently […] and the expectations of those who never played the game, but became interested in it and its story through cultural osmosis.”

Making a game that appeals to so many different types of players is a tall order, and as we’ve seen, many were quick to judge early footage of the game. But it helped Bloober that there was no shortage of Silent Hill fans on the team.

“I was too young to have played Silent Hill 2 when it was originally released, but many of our team members did,” Kciuk says. “It was the first game that made them want to be game developers, and they wouldn’t have this career if not for this game. So for many of them, it was such an important project.”

However, we can’t avoid the topic of these initial reactions for long. Unsurprisingly, Bloober was well aware of this at the time, and is still conscious that it didn’t win over everyone.

“I completely understand the sceptics and even those who don’t like the remake as much as the original,” she tells me. “I am personally a huge fan of many series that got remakes, and I understand that some remakes don’t always hit the same mark as the originals.

“But I also think Silent Hill 2 has much to offer if you stop comparing it shot for shot to the original because a one-to-one remaster is not what we set out to make,” she continues. “It’s a remake, and it was meant to add some fresh takes, using techniques and tools that weren’t available to the developers when the game was first released. That approach forced us to make changes, yes. That means some details have to be left out, but it also means some details can be added or expanded.”

Some of these changes have been more controversial than others. Some were unhappy with how Angela looked in the remake – with the wildest complaints being that she wasn’t attractive enough, for some reason. Kciuk doesn’t comment on this specific discourse but is on the whole pleased with how the game was received.

“Silent Hill 2 is one of the best representatives of horror games […] Its echoes can be found in almost every psychological horror game.”

“We always have to keep in mind that we can’t satisfy everyone, as personal preferences are so varied that creating something that meets them all is literally impossible,” she says. “But in the end, we’ve found that the community has largely responded positively once they’ve seen the game released, so we hope that people can look forward to each of our future games with a bit more anticipation and less worry.”

How Silent Hill 2 Influenced The Genre – And Bloober Team

Silent Hill 2 isn’t just a popular horror game. In many ways, it’s genre-defining.

“Silent Hill 2 is one of the best representatives of horror games, to the point that today its plot could be considered somewhat predictable, but that’s only because it had such a huge influence on the entire horror genre,” says Kciuk. “Its echoes can be found in almost every psychological horror game.”

Bloober Team is, of course, best known for its horror offerings like Layers of Fear, The Medium, and Blair Witch. This isn’t changing anytime soon, and unsurprisingly, the success of the Silent Hill 2 Remake will be influencing its future projects.

“It’s a learning process,” says Kciuk. “We started with less mechanically complex, but story-rich games. And I think that’s a part of it. We are definitely learning more and developing new technologies that allow us to make those games more complex.”

I ask whether Bloober having to work with combat mechanics for Silent Hill 2 means we’ll see that influence its future work.

“Yeah, definitely,” she says. “Maybe more puzzle-heavy, maybe more combat-heavy.”

However, she’s quick to add that it largely depends on what’s being worked on, so Bloober isn’t narrowing its focus just because of Silent Hill.

“Silent Hill, for example, was pretty puzzle-heavy,” she reflects. “If we were to be making a game of a different nature, then obviously there would be less puzzles, or more combat, or less combat, more puzzles. It just depends on what type of project.”

The Risks And Rewards Of The Horror Genre

Bloober also isn’t put off by horror being an historically niche genre, and one that relies on elements that are incredibly subjective.

“It is a bit niche, but actually, the interesting part about horror is that it is one of the best ratios when it comes to the cost of production and the earnings,” she highlights. “If you take Paranormal Activity, it cost pennies and it made millions.”

Paranormal Activity is hardly alone in this distinction. Other (relatively) low-budget horror films that went on to make millions include The Blair Witch Project, Get Out, and most recently, Terrifier 3.

“This is one of the genres in both film and games where you actually can take very little resources, and the game or the movie looking cheap might actually be an advantage.”

This also allows small games to reach unexpected popularity, with Kciuk citing the success of Buckshot Roulette. “It’s a very small game, and it was done in like a month or two, and it earned millions of dollars. […] Horror tends to have those breakout hits from very small teams, or even solo developers.

“Horror is a thematical genre, it’s not a mechanical genre,” she adds. “So you can make any game a horror game if you are able to create a scenario in which this particular mechanic becomes scary.”

However, this scariness is often difficult to get right. 2023’s Layers of Fear was criticised by some for simply not scaring them enough, which Kciuk reflects on.

“Being scared is very subjective,” she says. “There are people who would say that Resident Evil is not a horror game, it’s more of an action game.

“There’s also a question like, what is your goal? Do you want your player to be extremely scared? Do you want them to be invested in your story?” she continues. “Not every game’s main goal is to make the player absolutely terrified. Sometimes it is just a part of a bigger picture.”

She says it also depends on the subgenre, “Nowadays, zombie horrors – people are not really that scared of zombies – so are those scary? Technically not, but they are using a horror element. It’s a complicated question.”

Ultimately, it seems that the team is happy with how it came out. “I hope that this level of scariness was appropriate for those who were interested in that story. And if someone needs a stronger dose of scariness, I recommend Silent Hill,” she laughs.

What Comes Next For Bloober

Right now, Bloober Team is reflecting on Silent Hill 2. “We were definitely very pleased about how Silent Hill was received,” Kciuk tells me. “We are pumped up for whatever is coming next. We hope not to go below what we achieved.”

She adds that Bloober has told its investors that there are “a few projects in works”, including the recently unveiled Cronos: The New Dawn, and others that are “being developed in cooperation with other companies”. Separately, studio director and designer Wojciech Piejko has said that Bloober is “always open” to making more Silent Hill games.

We’ll have to wait to see what else Bloober is cooking behind the scenes. But for now, the studio is still enjoying the success of Silent Hill 2, and if sales numbers are anything to go on, fans are, too.