Silent Hill 2 remake team blames Konami for ‘hated’ trailer
The era of the remake is upon us, and while the likes of Capcom and Naughty Dog deliver beloved revamps of their classic games, not everything can be a Game of the Year contender like the Resident Evil 4 remake. For every great remake, there's Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.
Konami's chequered past with remakes could be about to bite it in the ass again, and while we were once pumped for Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 remake, some are already screaming into the void that the franchise's long-awaited return might not be worth it.
Bloober Team blames Konami for Silent Hill's 'hated' trailer
Bloober's Silent Hill 2 remake got a suitably glossy trailer at January's Sony State of Play, but instead of harking back to the pulse-pounding terror of the 2001 original, this combat-heavy trailer felt like a totally different game. We always knew Bloober's remake was going to be rebuilt from the ground up, but no one expected this.
Our first real look at the 2024 Silent Hill 2 remake was hardly the showstopper many thought it would be, and at the time of writing, has 34k likes compared to 30k downvotes. Hardly receiving a glowing reception, the top comment on the YouTube video currently reads, "I feel like Konami took a look at the RE remakes and said, “We could do that for less.'"
As transcribed by Eurogamer, Bloober Team studio head Piotr Babieno suggested to inwestorzy.tv that Konami is to blame for the trailer and its emphasis on action instead of frights. If this is the case, it sounds like there's some tension between the developer and the publisher.
"It's not the spirit of what used to be, or what we're creating now," said Babieno, saying that Bloober worked hard to "fully capture this romantic vision of a game that debuted 22 years ago." Promising there's better to come, he said the "real game" will let fans "judge it in a completely different way."
Silent Hill might not be what it used to be
Like waiting for a bus and three coming along at once, Konami is throwing it all at Silent Hill right now. As Hideo Kojima busies himself on the Metal Gear-esque Physint, we're not surprised that Konami is a little worried right now. How long until Kojima tries to revive the ideas of Silent Hills as something new?
Following the lacklustre Silent Hill: Downpour in 2012, that tormented town has been left to burn down to its embers. That all changed with October 2022's showcase, which announced Silent Hill: Townfall, Silent Hill f, Silent Hill: The Short Message, Silent Hill: Ascension, and finally confirmed the Silent Hill 2 remake.
While we're all for bringing back a beloved IP with a bang, bombarding us with this many ideas was always going to lead to some fumbles. Unfortunately, there's been nothing to rival the good ol' days yet. Ascension was a miss, The Short Message was lambasted for glorifying suicide, and the Silent Hill 2 remake is also facing problems.
Whether growing pains or something more, Eurogamer points out this isn't the first time Bloober has taken shots at Konami. Last year, Bloober shaded the publisher on Twitter and said, "Communication is definitely part of their job." At least with the remake still not having a firm release, Bloober hopefully a little more time to do Pyramid Head justice.
