Ah, fixed camera angles, how much I miss you – says no one in 2024, ever. Playing five or so hours of Silent Hill 2 Remake at the Tokyo media premiere only strengthens my resolve: I love how modern survival horror games implement third-person shooter combat as integral to the genre's reforged DNA. I'm happy to report that James Sunderland's revamped nightmare is no exception to the rule.
It might be operating on a more simplistic level to the action-forward likes of Resident Evil 4 Remake , but after getting familiar with two key weapons during my Silent Hill 2 Remake preview session, I'm officially sold. It just goes to show that even with the remake renaissance hailing the return of the best survival horror games , to varying degrees of like-for-like accuracy, some things are better left in the past. Even if, according to Silent Hill 2's key production team, the game's refined combat system is not meant to be central to it.
Never (bul)let me go I'm pacing through the decayed dereliction of the Wood Side and Blue Creek Apartments respectively, nothing but four handgun bullets and a trusty plank of wood at my side. Tell-tale radio static buzzes in my ear, louder and louder as I round a corner and prepare to meet..
.well, something. The experience is made all the more immersive for Silent Hill 2 Remake's over-the-shoulder viewpoint.
Hallways feel narrower from this angle, the walls ever threatening to close in on James as he systematically throws himself against locked door a.