Silent Hill is a franchise that has been iconic ever since its first release, and has held strong for six generations of consoles. However, the most recent entry, Ascension, which is an interactive novel rather than a full-fledged title, has been heavily criticized for being loaded with microtransactions.
Now, the Silent Hill 2 remake, which was announced back in October 2022, is currently under development. While no official details about the title’s release date have been revealed, Sony posted a video that essentially soft-revealed the game’s release date for fans eager to play it. This was done using a video posted on PlayStation’s official YouTube channel. It featured several titles coming in 2024, and Silent Hill 2 was one of them.
Sony Soft-Reveals Silent Hill 2 Release Window
As stated earlier, this was done via a video on PlayStation’s official YouTube channel titled: “Upcoming Games in 2024 | PS5 Games”. The video contained footage of titles like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Helldivers 2, Tekken 8, Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, and Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League, among many others.
Right at the one-minute mark is footage from the highly awaited title. The footage showed what looked like real-time gameplay. It had the game’s protagonist, James Sunderland, who is seen walking through a dust storm.
He is also seen tailing what appears to be a human figure, but walking with a limp. It has bite-sized shots of the protagonist engaging in investigation and adventure. That is all that was offered in the highlight; the footage featured in the video montage of titles coming out in 2024 was previously seen in the teaser trailer.
While we have not had any other insight into the game’s development by the team apart from the trailer and the video montage discussed, the title has been talked about ever since its announcement.
The stakes for the game are much higher now because Ascension’s user reception has been largely hostile. That means there is an even lesser margin for error than when a studio tries to rebuild a cult classic title from scratch.
Undoubtedly, the studio will try to do justice to the title as much as possible, and since it is not a reboot, the central plot elements and narrative will stay the same. This was confirmed by one of the studio’s marketing officers, who said that:
We are focusing on bringing the distinct, visceral atmosphere back in the modernized SILENT HILL 2. Longtime fans shouldn’t worry about us “missing the point” while we’re livening up the title.
We faithfully stick to the traditional story canon while remaking the gameplay and updating the graphics…
While the interviewee (Anna Jasińska) did not reveal the progress the game has made or how long it has been in development, it is now the hope that fans can expect the title to get a Resident Evil 2,3,4 style remake.
Nothing is known about the game or what it will change with its remake, and there has been no confirmation from the studio’s end. If the game is released in 2024, it could be in Q3 or Q4, considering how the marketing campaign hasn’t even begun. While it was featured in the video listed on PlayStation’s official channel, it could very well see delays.
Despite fans acknowledging the series as one of the most terrifying franchises ever released, discounting Ascension, the franchise has more or less been dormant. There was a canceled game that had been under development by Kojima Productions. The team even released a playable teaser in 2014, which looked terrific. It became incredibly popular and was regarded as one of the greatest horror games ever.
This means that while the details of PT, the playable teaser of the canceled title, were very different, the Silent Hill 2 remake will receive even more flack if it does not meet expectations. Bloober has worked on several titles, including Observer and Blair Witch, which have been received reasonably well by critics. However, this title is a different beast for various reasons, and a lot is on the line.
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