The Silent Hill 2 remake will, according to Bloober Team creative director Mateusz Lenart, be 16-18 hours long. As TheGamer has reported, that's twice as long as the iconic original.

Bigger Isn't Always Better, Especially For A Horror Game Like Silent Hill 2

I want to preface everything else I'm about to say in this article with the confession that I have never played any of the good Silent Hill games. Not the original classic, not the beloved sequel, and none of the spin-offs and sequels that followed. I have played Silent Hill: The Short Message, a bizarre and bad entry point for such a beloved series. So, my issue here is less with the Silent Hill 2 remake specifically, and more about what it represents when viewed alongside recent industry trends.

The games industry has fully bought into the idea that new games must be significantly longer than their predecessors. Compare the first God of War (9-13 hours) to the most recent God of War (26-54 hours) and that becomes clear. This constant expansion doesn't always serve the game, but audiences believe that if a game isn't much bigger than the games that came before, it isn't worth buying. And developers and publishers have worked to give them what they want.

Silent Hill 2 seems like a prime example of a game that didn’t need to be twice as long. Horror tends to work well as long as it’s surprising you or building a sense of dread. When a game is eight hours long, that helps guard against the danger of running out of new ideas and/or opportunities to heighten the tension. But, when you double that runtime, you suddenly need to work twice as hard to make sure the fear still lands. It’s better to get in, scare the audience, and get out than to stick around too long and lose your edge.

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The Resident Evil Remakes Have Found The Right Template

Capcom understood this with its Resident Evil remakes. Going off HowLongToBeat.com figures, Resident Evil 4 and its remake are basically the same length, with the newer version taking just 30 minutes longer for the average player. The Resident Evil 3 remake is actually slightly shorter than the original. The Resident Evil 2 and OG Resident Evil remakes are longer than the original games, but only by a few hours. Capcom has made a bunch of beloved remakes by understanding that longer doesn’t equal better.

Of course, Square Enix took the opposite approach with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but RPGs have very different goals than horror games.

Again, I don’t go here. Silent Hill has never been my series. I was too young for it when the PS1 game came out and never owned a PS2, so I missed its heyday. But developers and publishers are playing an unsustainable game by constantly working to make each new game longer than the last. Development times are already ridiculously long, having swelled up to an average of four to six years. And, if every new game has to be longer than the last, that development time is only going to get longer.

Consumers have been trained to expect longer games with better graphics and bigger maps. But that trend needs to begin to reverse for the sake of the health of the industry. Longer development times and higher budgets make projects more financially risky which encourages developers to play it safe. Games have gotten increasingly homogeneous in recent years — go play Final Fantasy 16 and God of War Ragnarok and then follow it up by playing Final Fantasy 12 and the original God of War and you'll see what I mean — and the need for everything to be a neverending blockbuster is driving it. It's okay to finish a game in a weekend. Because games you can finish in a weekend are games that won't take five years to make.

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Silent Hill 2

Survival Horror Horror Adventure Action Systems 3.5/5 12 9.7/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 87/100 Critics Rec: 95% Released October 8, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence Developer(s) Bloober Team Publisher(s) Konami Engine Unreal Engine 5
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

 
Investigating a letter from his late wife, James returns to where they made so many memories - Silent Hill. What he finds is a ghost town, prowled by disturbing monsters and cloaked in deep fog. Confront the monsters, solve puzzles, and search for traces of your wife in this remake of SILENT HILL 2.

High-end Graphics and Sound
With ray tracing and other cutting-edge technical enhancements, the world of SILENT HILL and its unsettling ambiance is even realer than before.And with the inclusion of new, immersive soundscapes, you'll feel like you're standing in the thick of it.

Larger Environments
Explore locations and buildings that were once inaccessible, or are newly added in the remake. Enjoy the same acclaimed story, even while you experience the town of Silent Hill with fresh eyes across an expanded map.

Over-the-shoulder Camera
The remake moves from the original's fixed-camera viewpoints to an over-the-shoulder perspective, putting you closer to what James sees, for a more thrilling, more immersive experience as you explore the town and come face-to-face with monsters.

Evolved Combat Gameplay
Familiar weapons like the steel pipe and handgun make their return, but now with an updated combat system. Avoid attacks with carefully timed dodges, aim down sights, and more, making monster encounters more engaging and nerve-wracking than ever.

Platform(s) PlayStation 5, PC Powered by Expand Collapse Next

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