Interview: With Silent Hill 2, Bloober Team Is Entering a New ‘Phase’ of Its Existence as a Horror Developer

[Darkknight2149]

Interview summary:





Full interiew:

With Silent Hill 2, Bloober Team Is Entering a New ‘Phase’ of Its Existence as a Horror Developer - IGN

In a new interview, we speak with Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno about the studio's ambitions for Silent Hill 2's remake and why it signals the arrival of "Bloober 3.0."

www.ign.com

 

[Bryank75]

All sounds very balanced and sensible.... I like the idea of them developing into a more action orientated style of story-telling.

There will be a high bar set by RE4 remake this year, so I really hope this can hit a comparable standard.

As I said in another thread, the Dead Cells Castlevania reviews gave me more confidence in Konami's decisions....I believe them when they say Konami knows what they are doing.

 

[Elder Legend]

I really don't understand why they entusted Bloober Team with a remake of a classic title. The Medium was not a very good game. Bloober Team is very inconsistent, their games are junky and feel low budget.l and most of them review poorly. Why would you give a classic IP to such devs?

Whoever greenlit that decision is an idiot. Sony should have just bought the IP from Konami and let their internal studios do it. I really dislike this developer. My hopes are very low, it's a shame cause I really want this remake to be good but I doubt it will be.

Konami is dumb, they should have just done it themselves with Sony's funding or something

They value their freedom and want to remain free? Good for them, let's see what happen if this shit tanks and you start getting bankrupt. They'll be signing a different tune.

If someone wants to acquire you and you don't like the publisher, then decline their offer, no one is holding a gun to your head.

 

[Darkknight2149]

I really don't understand why they entusted Bloober Team with a remake of a classic title. The Medium was not a very good game. Bloober Team is very inconsistent, their games are junky and feel low budget.l and most of them review poorly. Why would you give a classic IP to such devs?

Whoever greenlit that decision is an idiot. Sony should have just bought the IP from Konami and let their internal studios do it. I really dislike this developer. My hopes are very low, it's a shame cause I really want this remake to be good but I doubt it will be.

Konami is dumb, they should have just done it themselves with Sony's funding or something

Yeah, Silent Hill 2 is an artful creator-driven narrative game and that entire interview sounds very corporate. Like Bloober Team mainly wanted involved to further their careers. Some of their other interviews also sound very buzzwordy (like they're saying flowery stuff with no real meaning behind it), and with that in mind, it's not reassuring that they got the job because they were "the most passionate."

This part of the interview is also a red flag IMO:

"Full action," "mass appeal," and "not by environmental storytelling" all sound like the opposite of Silent Hill 2. That game wasn't really a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, it was basically the video game equivalent of David Lynch crossed with Clive Barker and Dario Argento. As great as it was, it wasn't what I would call "mass market" in the same way as Resident Evil or Dead Space. We're talking about disturbing adult themes, a weird dreamy atmosphere, abstract avante-garde (and heavily symbolic) storytelling, simplistic gameplay, and subdued scares. Some of these statements from Bloober Team (plus the trailer and their previous games, which were Silent Hill-influenced) lead me to believe that they don't quite understand what they got their hands on.

As for "full action," Silent Hill has combat in it but it's not really actiony. Just listening to the developers talk about it...

Keiichiro Toyama:

The modern horror essence was the key to the game. The main character is not a hero, nor is he a strong willed person. He has and keeps his morals, but he is really just a plain, normal person. His motions, such as swinging around his items and trying to catch his breath after running, falling on climbing the stairs, etc. are not very cool or heroic, but after a while, it would be easier for a player to project himself or herself to the main character.

Interview with Keiichiro Toyama (PSM)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

Resident Evil 2, in particular, put aside the horror a bit and went very "Hollywood." It focused on the action, and felt more like an action movie than a horror game. We wanted to go back to the roots of what horror is supposed to be about. We want to make you scared on an instinctive level.

Interview with Keiichiro Toyama & Takayoshi Sato (OPM)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

Masahiro Ito:





Akihiro Imamura:

After the underwhelming response SH4 got, we've been gathering opinions from everywhere to make sure we come back strong with the next installment. Sometimes the most vocal opinions, for example the desire for more battles, are not always the best ones, especially for a series like this. We wanted more melee combat in SH4, but realized from fan reaction that there was just too much action, regardless of it being melee or not. That kind of action doesn't make the atmosphere creepy anymore, but kind of obnoxious.

Interview with Akihiro Imamura and Akira Yamaoka (Game World)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

I would hope they would know better than to make Silent Hill 2 less grounded and super-actiony.

 

[Elder Legend]

Yeah, Silent Hill 2 is an artful creator-driven narrative game and that entire interview sounds very corporate. Like Bloober Team mainly wanted involved to further their careers. Some of their other interviews also sound very buzzwordy (like they're saying flowery stuff with no real meaning behind it), and with that in mind, it's not reassuring that they got the job because they were "the most passionate."

This part of the interview is also a red flag IMO:

"Full action," "mass appeal," and "not by environmental storytelling" all sound like the opposite of Silent Hill 2. That game wasn't really a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, it was basically the video game equivalent of David Lynch crossed with Clive Barker and Dario Argento. As great as it was, it wasn't what I would call "mass market" in the same way as Resident Evil or Dead Space. We're talking about disturbing adult themes, a weird dreamy atmosphere, abstract avante-garde (and heavily symbolic) storytelling, simplistic gameplay, and subdued scares. Some of these statements from Bloober Team (plus the trailer and their previous games, which were Silent Hill-influenced) lead me to believe that they don't quite understand what they got their hands on.

As for "full action," Silent Hill has combat in it but it's not really actiony. Just listening to the developers talk about it...

Keiichiro Toyama:

Interview with Keiichiro Toyama (PSM)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

Interview with Keiichiro Toyama & Takayoshi Sato (OPM)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

Masahiro Ito:





Akihiro Imamura:

Interview with Akihiro Imamura and Akira Yamaoka (Game World)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

I would hope they would know better than to make Silent Hill 2 less grounded and super-actiony.

Silent Hill 2 was never about action... it was abiut fucking with your head and the atmosphere... lol this ain't going to go well. Ugh... red flags all over :/ that quote is hilarious.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Yeah, Silent Hill 2 is an artful creator-driven narrative game and that entire interview sounds very corporate. Like Bloober Team mainly wanted involved to further their careers. Some of their other interviews also sound very buzzwordy (like they're saying flowery stuff with no real meaning behind it), and with that in mind, it's not reassuring that they got the job because they were "the most passionate."

This part of the interview is also a red flag IMO:

"Full action," "mass appeal," and "not by environmental storytelling" all sound like the opposite of Silent Hill 2. That game wasn't really a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, it was basically the video game equivalent of David Lynch crossed with Clive Barker and Dario Argento. As great as it was, it wasn't what I would call "mass market" in the same way as Resident Evil or Dead Space. We're talking about disturbing adult themes, a weird dreamy atmosphere, abstract avante-garde (and heavily symbolic) storytelling, simplistic gameplay, and subdued scares. Some of these statements from Bloober Team (plus the trailer and their previous games, which were Silent Hill-influenced) lead me to believe that they don't quite understand what they got their hands on.

As for "full action," Silent Hill has combat in it but it's not really actiony. Just listening to the developers talk about it...

Keiichiro Toyama:

Interview with Keiichiro Toyama (PSM)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

Interview with Keiichiro Toyama & Takayoshi Sato (OPM)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

Masahiro Ito:





Akihiro Imamura:

Interview with Akihiro Imamura and Akira Yamaoka (Game World)

Silent Hill series creators: information, biographies, articles and interviews

www.silenthillmemories.net

I would hope they would know better than to make Silent Hill 2 less grounded and super-actiony.

I understand that a remake of Silent Hill 2 by Bloober was not what the fans wanted but the franchise was pretty much dead until now. If this is a success, even if there's more action and it's not 100% faithful, there are more chances of getting a new game with a bigger budget.

Sony might finally buy the IP and do something with Kojima. We have to support this project!

 

[Darkknight2149]

I understand that a remake of Silent Hill 2 by Bloober was not what the fans wanted but the franchise was pretty much dead until now. If this is a success, even if there's more action and it's not 100% faithful, there are more chances of getting a new game with a bigger budget.

Sony might finally buy the IP and do something with Kojima. We have to support this project!

I'm excited for Silent Hill: The Short Message, Silent Hill f, and Townfall. I don't have much faith in Silent Hill 2 (2023), but hopefully those fair better.

Konami should port Silent Hill 1-4 to modern platforms. That makes a lot more sense for this series than Resident Evil 2-style remakes imo.

 

[adamsapple]

I really don't understand why they entusted Bloober Team with a remake of a classic title.

Konami probably shopped around a bunch of studios and Bloober was the most cost efficient one.

At least we know that the main story aspects are being handled primarily by Konami themselves with Bloober just mainly focused on making the tech/world.

 

[Shmunter]

I very much liked their Observer cyberpunk tale. If they can do that caliber on an indi budget, maybe Konami backing will reall show what they’re made off. I’m optimistic, and never having played a SH game I’m hoping it’s true to its roots.

 

[Elder Legend]

I very much liked their Observer cyberpunk tale. If they can do that caliber on an indi budget, maybe Konami backing will reall show what they’re made off. I’m optimistic, and never having played a SH game I’m hoping it’s true to its roots.

Observer is the only game that looks interesting, I wanted to play but never got around it.

 

[Darkknight2149]