Silent Hill 2 Teaser Analysis: What the Remake Shouldn't Get Wrong
When the teaser trailer of Silent Hill 2’s remake was published in October 2022, most people still aware of that franchise couldn’t contain their emotions. Silent Hill 2 was arguably the best of the series, and clearly among the top psychological-horror games of the early 2000s. But we haven’t had much news beyond an announcement in March that the game was nearly finished.
As rumors start to pop about upcoming announcements and a new trailer (which I will analyze when the time comes), let’s dive back into the teaser and try to decipher whether it suggested the remake was heading in the right direction.
Atmosphere & "true psychological horror"?
From the first announcement of the remake, producers explained how the atmosphere was their “primary goal”. What we see in the teaser recalls quite well the original game’s particular aura, especially in how the city of Silent Hill is depicted; its misty urban landscapes, limited visibility, and overall dark/greyish tones. That is something that anyone who played the original will remember, and that directly transpires when watching the teaser. The visual atmosphere is definitely here.
With that said, what made the atmosphere of the original Silent Hill 2 so strong was the uneasiness, the creeping feeling of dread and folly we would constantly feel as – and through – James. As the producers themselves realized: “When you ask people what true psychological horror is, just about everyone will tell you Silent Hill 2.”
This teaser, in my opinion, doesn’t quite convey this. And this is mostly due to the presence of jump scares. The scene in which James tries to grab keys from behind bars shows a proper jump scare. The “closet” scene anticipates one. And Pyramid Head’s multiple appearances might also suggest quite a few down the line.
I loved the original Silent Hill 2 precisely because it made me feel the same way as a good slow-burn thriller: the focus on characters more than on scares, on terrors rarely seen but suggested. Too much “explicitness”, might rub against the terrorizing yet dream-like atmosphere of the original game, and the remake shouldn’t get that wrong.
Maturity & Obscenity
One thing the teaser seems to get right is that Silent Hill 2 was by all means a very mature game. Mature not only in its themes and narrative, but also in its (suggested) representations of mankind’s worst sins and desires, and all the obscene and grotesque that come with it. In the original game, this was mostly shown through the design and backstory of Silent Hill residents who had turned monsters (such as the school’s janitor), or sometimes through the interactions with the few living characters we would encounter in the town.
The fact that the teaser shows us the now infamous scene of Pyramid Head holding down one of the monster nurses on a table – for reasons that I’ll let you imagine – is an explicit acknowledgment of the crudeness of the original game. The design of those “nurses” is also extremely loyal to the original one, and still treading the fine line between disgust and desire. And that’s something the remake should keep.
Display of Emotions
What struck me the most when watching this teaser was James’ facial expressions. I found the mirror scene to be quite well executed. But we also see many other scenes in which James goes through very strong emotional displays: approaching a hangman’s knot in despair, escaping something in terror, or falling to his knees in rage.
This is in line with the producers’ intentions, as they explained as soon as the project was announced: to make the most of new technologies to “deliver the best facial expressions in the series’ history and show a wide range of emotions even before a character speaks a single word.”
This to me seems like a big departure from the original game. Indeed, strong emotional displays were mostly experienced not through James, but through the side characters we would encounter in the desolated landscape of Silent Hill: Eddie’s raging outbursts, Angela’s suicidal despair, or Laura’s childish whims. They conveyed – and actually symbolized – the strongest emotions we would encounter until the game’s finale.
And this contrasted greatly with our protagonist, James. For most of the game, he felt fairly stoic, if not passive, as if in a dream-like state, despite the horrors he would feel encounter. It is that mismatch between the character and his environment that made the original game feel like a paradoxically “silent” yet terrorizing experience.
If the remake decides to go for a more emotionally-vested and extroverted James, it may imply some drastic changes to the game’s atmosphere and, possibly even narration. And as I have discussed elsewhere, that’s a road that must be navigated carefully.
Music
Similar concerns could be raised regarding the music. The original soundtrack was praised for its extremely disturbing sound effects, working hand-in-hand with beautiful but sorrowful melodies. Those tracks were adequately implemented in-game, having a strong role in conveying the atmosphere of Silent Hill, the nightmarish experience of our protagonist, as well as the more melancholic themes and overtones of the story and themes.
The teaser, at first, mostly features sound effects that do recall the industrial, atmospheric vibe of the more “anguishing” tones of the original, and we also recognize the beautiful “Magdalene” piano theme that was composed for the original. The end of the teaser features another piano tune that I couldn’t recognize or remotely link to any existing piece from the original soundtrack – even though I’ve listened to it back then for hours on end. This final piano tune suggests a similar tone to what we are used to, but feels a bit less “melancholic”, and more “dramatic” in effect.
Similarly to the display of emotions through James’ characters, or the emphasis on jump scares explained above, I hope this more “sensational” feel given off by the teaser’s music does not take too much place in the final soundtrack.
Gameplay & Combat:
This teaser trailer not showing any gameplay, we can’t find many clues as to whether the remake is heading in the right direction on that front. But we do have a quick CGI glance at James hitting a monster with a crowbar. The animation in that scene feels weird… and that may be a good sign.
In an interview with IGN, Motoi Okamoto stressed Blooper Team’s efforts and “attention into combat in order to make the gameplay […] much deeper”. Of course, we would expect a much more immersive and responsive gameplay in this remake.
The combat system in the original Silent Hill 2 felt… clunky, to say the least. Movements were rigid, controls were stiff, and it sometimes led to quite a few headaches. But this also participated in creating a sense of helplessness when controlling James so important to the “horror” dimension of the game.
This passage from the teaser feels similarly “clunky” and that may not be such a bad thing. Of course, it is no gameplay footage, but James’ abrupt, rigid, heavy, and slightly unnatural motion in swinging his crowbar reminded me of the sensations I would feel when playing the original game. If developers can find the right balance between more responsive and modern controls, without losing in the process the sense of powerlessness we felt on PlayStation 2, it may be just what the remake needs.
Where are the puzzles?
Arguably, puzzles may not be the most exciting thing to include in a promotional teaser. But they were a fundamental element of the original game. There weren’t many of them, but were lengthy and challenging enough, and contributed to creating the slow sense of pace, confusion, but also discovery that was at the heart of Silent Hill 2. After all, the very reason why James returns to the town of Silent Hill, is to solve some of his life’s deepest secrets.
Sources & further reading
All visuals are © Konami
Sources:
Fukuyama, K. (21 January 2023). Silent Hill 2 Remake: World Exclusive Deep Dive Interview. IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/silent-hill-2-remake-world-exclusive-deep-dive-interview
Playstation Blog. (19 October 2022). Silent Hill 2 remake revealed, first gameplay details and design changes announced. https://blog.playstation.com/2022/10/19/silent-hill-2-remake-revealed-first-gameplay-details-and-design-changes-announced/
