Silent Hill 2 Remake Enemy AI Is Fully Overhauled to Improve Combat; Devs: It’s a More Interesting Experience

Jan 16, 2023 at 08:03am EST
Silent Hill 2 Remake

While 2023 is full of classic games coming back, the Silent Hill 2 remake is easily among the most anticipated of this particular bunch. Following several years where the beloved survival horror franchise stayed idle, Konami has announced a series of projects, among which Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 remake easily stands out.

The Polish studio known for Layers of Fear, The Medium, The Blair Witch, and Observer is working alongside developers who worked on the original title, like composer Akira Yamaoka and concept artist Masahiro Ito, who were interviewed alongside Silent Hill producer Motoi Okamoto by IGN. Ito and Okamoto explained that the combat design has been improved and the enemy AI fully remade from the ground up, making for a more interesting experience.

Ito: First off, we're improving the combat design, something that received a lot of feedback in the original. Doing so would be difficult without changing the way the monsters move and act, so we've tried to respect the original designs while adding combat that's fun and new to the remake as we improve a number of enemies.

Okamoto: We're remaking enemy AI from the ground up to be designed in a way that will allow players to enjoy the combat. Bloober Team's love for the original is strong, so they're not going to simply add new enemies. They are looking at fine details that can help make combat fun, though, which means changing AI or small design elements. It might look the same, but it's different when you look closely. They really did a good job all throughout the game.

Ito: I think that the Silent Hill 2 remake has ended up as a more interesting experience than the original.

The Silent Hill 2 remake, powered by Unreal Engine 5, will be released for PlayStation 5 and PC. There's no date yet; however, Bloober Team president Piotr Babieno said last October that the project was in the late development stage, providing a glimmer of hope for a potential release this year.

About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.

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