Finally, after over a year of silence, we’ve received another trailer for theSilent Hill 2 remake. Definitely good news in the scheme of things, and there are things to unpick in the trailer that are both good and bad, but who in Konami’s misguided marketing department thought it was a good idea to release a ‘Combat Reveal Trailer,’ which spends way too much of its 103-second runtime depicting dazed protagonist James Sutherland dishing out damage to the monsters of the titular town?
We’ll get into the nitty-gritty in a minute, but for a legendary game renowned for its sickly atmosphere, rich storytelling, and surreal sense of dread—a game that for its time did a great job innotdevolving into shooty-shooty-bang-bang combat—it seems misguided to release a trailer highlighting this particular area. Silent Hill 2 was never about the combat, and for that matter developer Bloober Team has never made a game with any meaningful amount of combat—one of the reasons I actually think the Polish studio could be a good fit for the remake.
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Not-So-Silent Hill
Here’s the thing: if the combat in the trailer looked awesome and innovative and fun, I’d probably have been even more concerned with what I saw. In a weird way, the fact that the combat in the trailer actually looks pretty mediocre at least reassures me that not a ton of resources have been invested into this particular area of the game… but then why choose to highlight this aspect of the game in the first place?
In truth, it’d have been nice to see some kind of basic dodge mechanic.
In fact, the stiff-ass combat and animations look fairly true to the original. There are no flashy moves, dodge-rolls, or other evasive maneuvers to be seen. It’s simply James shooting monsters from an over-the-shoulder perspective, and occasionally whacking them with a pipe. It looks perfectly ‘whatever.’ The sound design leaves a bit to be desired too, with James’ pistol going off with apyew-pyewlike it’s got a suppressor on it, and the shotgun sounding sadly muffled. Hopefully things that can still get patched up in time for release.
The only notable ‘new’ element of the combat on display is a quick-time event prompting you to frantically press the ‘x’ button when you get caught by a monster. That’s not exactly great, and while I’m not opposed to mashing your way out of a creature’s grip, if you’re only having to press one button, I seriously hope there’s an option to turn off the on-screen prompt, because something about an ‘x’ urgently flashing on the screen takes me back to the bad old Silent Hill days of 2010, not the good old days of 2001.
In truth, it’d have been nice to see some kind of basic dodge mechanic. As we learned inAlan Wake 2, you’re able to have an awkward, stumbling dodge move and the game doesn’t suddenly become an all-out action game. A little dodge move adds an element of timing to the combat, which honestly could be the only extra combat layer the game needs.
There were some good things in the trailer beyond the combat. It’s nice to see a healthy dose of puzzles in there, the lighting looks on-point, and the environments look lovely and atmospheric (the entrance to the Wood Side Apartments looks a little ‘grander’ than I remember it being, but that’s just a nitpick). It’s just a shame that after 40 seconds the trailer shifts its whole focus to a combat system that doesn’t look particularly interesting or refined.
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Not that there was any expectation for Silent Hill 2 to have amazing combat, but,again,why shine the flashlight on that when that’s never been the game’s selling point? It’s like they’re trying to pull in a larger, more mainstream audience by saying ‘Look,action’, at the cost of not presenting the game for its well-established strengths.
In Bloober We Trust?
I’m still standing by the Silent Hill 2 remake. In many ways, the game plays to Bloober Team’s strengths (slow pacing, strong atmosphere, pretty graphics) while the fact that they have a pre-existing story to work with should hopefully negate their narrative shortcomings. It sounds likethe game’s including the Born from a Wish chapter, which is great news, and I hope it also addresses certain dated elements from the original, like the‘Doors problem’and perhapspatch up the confusing character of Eddie.
But as has often been the case with Konami at the helm, there’s something ‘off’ about how Silent Hill 2 has been presented here, and I hope us Silent Hill fans get to see more of what we actually want to see from the game soon.
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