‘Silent Hill 2’ Dev Piotr Babieno Just Wants a Chance To Please Fans

for many years, silent hill The franchise has withered as developer Konami has made reckless efforts to dump the legendary horror property into shoddy movies and slot machines. So fans were treated to the announcement that Polish studio Bloober Team would be making a remake of the franchise's 2001 climax. Silent Hill 2 With stuttering disbelief. BlooperThe horror studio known for its unorthodox interpretation of mental illness in games is remaking one of the most legendary psychological horror games of all time, says CEO and chief creative officer Piotr Babino. rolling stone He's heard the criticism, and he's aware of the effort it takes to reimagine a game that fans say is untouchable.

23 years since its first release, Silent Hill 2 The game still has a lot of old-school video game graphics, like levels filled with thick, buttery fog, and an intangible ability to induce claustrophobia. It's a massive horror game, and developers are still trying to emulate it in popular horror titles like this year's Raven's countryFans also revere. Silent Hill 2 Like a beloved family member, they have been highly skeptical since the reboot was announced in 2022.

But Blopper seems to realize that rather than trying to exceed impossible expectations, it’s better to reach for the mood that helped set them. Babineau wouldn’t necessarily describe his team’s game as a remake, but rather “a romanticized vision of a game from over 20 years ago.” That nostalgic approach could be especially useful for publisher Konami, which hasn’t had much success with its new release. silent hill Installments like free horror game 2024 first person perspective SMS This has left some fans frustrated. But in his explanation of Silent Hill 2Bluebeard offers a sad hope.

Babineau is quick to point out that Silent Hill 2 Remaking the game is a bit of a fresh coat of paint for Blooper as a developer. Up until now, the studio has been associated with tense psychological horror and slow-paced environmental storytelling. You’ll find evidence of these things in the studio’s high-profile games like 2016’s layers of fear And 2021 AverageBut Babineau says Bloober is already approaching its games, including a mysterious new intellectual property codenamed “Project C,” in a different way.

“Internally, we call this team ‘Blooper 3.0,’” he says. “I think Blooper today is a very different team than it was three years ago.” He notes that when Blooper started working on layers of fearThe game that helped them found the studio, the staff consisted of about 10 people. In 2024, Bloober has more than 250 people on staff.

The expanded version of Bloober will continue to prioritize horror games — Babieno says horror is part of the studio’s “DNA.” But Bloober wants its games to start communicating through action.

In this sense, Papineau says that Blobert Silent Hill 2 “This project will serve as a ‘culmination of my work, but at the same time, as a gateway to the new.’”

Life is too short, and [the process of] “I think it takes too long to make games that don’t feel important,” says Babineaux. “We want to make games that we ourselves would want to play, and games that will be very important to our audience.”

The Bloober franchise's transformation wasn't easy. The series faced the challenge that every studio faces when trying to create a beloved franchise: competing with the fond memories fans have.

“Let's say [development has been] “It's a tough journey to balance conservation and innovation,” says Babineau.

He knows fans have been watching every trailer, rumor, and move Bloober makes, but he points out that the success of the remake is an emotional issue for him, too. Babieno still remembers his first experience with Silent Hill 2 – Watching his brother play it – and how the game completely destroyed his concept of horror games.

At that time, I read a lot of books by Stephen King, Dostoyevsky. […]“I had watched a lot of Lynch, Fincher, and Kieslowski, but games weren’t the medium that made me feel like I could get inside someone’s psyche,” Babineaux says. That was before he witnessed Silent Hill 2He was fascinated by the game's symbolism, things like the thick fog that blurs the lines between hell and reality, and “basically, it changed my life,” Babineau says.

Despite technological advances, [in video games]“Many of us remember,” he continues. [visiting] “Silent Hill is one of the most important points in our lives.” Blooper is proud to have an open dialogue with Silent Hill 2The original creators of the game at Konami throughout the process of creating the new version.

“Through these conversations, we found a great balance between what we and our partner had in mind,” says Babineau. “It took a long time to find that balance, with a lot of creative discussions and hard work, but we are very happy with the outcome.”

Just as the expectations of its developers had to change all the time. Silent Hill 2 In developing the new version of the game, Bloober asks you to withhold judgment until you play their game.

“I dream that the players trust us, but I know that trust is earned through actions, not words. That's why we have a no-comment policy,” says Babineau. [on the specifics of the game] “We aim to raise hopes. We want to show our ambitions through our work, so we can’t ask for anything more than ‘give us a chance’.”

However, Babineau appreciates the constructive criticism from fans, which he says has so far been “invaluable in improving our project before release.” However, Babineau also stresses that Bloober prioritizes a supportive work environment where designers can focus “on their creative work with peace of mind,” which sometimes requires closing their ears to the voices of gamers.

“We tried to please all the fans, but at the same time, we were true to ourselves,” says Babineau. Ultimately, fans may not expect every change Bloober decided to make in its remake, but Babineau says, “I really hope that when people play for the first time, they’ll understand that the choices we made were the best ones.”

With the Silent Hill 2 While Bloober is gearing up to launch a new version of the game on October 8 on PS5 and PC, it’s turning its attention elsewhere. Right now, the studio is working on a new survival horror game it refers to only as “Project C.” A Bloober PR rep told me that since May, when publisher Private Division canceled its production deal, “we’ve been working on it on our own. It’s a much bigger game in terms of gameplay and action than our previous games, which were more focused on narrative and environment.”

Babineau can't go into detail about this, but he suggests that Project C will showcase what Bluebeard wants to do differently.

“It will show how much we have learned over the years,” says Plopper, trembling with momentum. “I think we now know exactly where we are going.”