Original Silent Hill 2 director praises the remake’s ‘over-the-shoulder’ perspective

Today is officially Silent Hill 2 Launch Day. That’s not an actual holiday, admittedly, but it is a day that many of us have been waiting for. As we all wake up on this Tuesday, Bloober Team’s long-awaited remake finally hits storefronts.

Praise for the game has already been doing the rounds, and one person in particular seems pleased with what Bloober has given us. As noted by VGC, Masashi Tsuboyama, the director behind the original Silent Hill 2 from 2001, had a few things to say about the game, as well as remakes in general.

In particular, Tsuboyama has lauded the remake for changing the perspective. In a series of posts on X, the director says the “change in playable camera has a significant impact on many aspects,” adding that the new “over-the-shoulder view definitely adds to the sense of realism.” They also admit they weren’t happy with the camera angle in the original game, saying the “depth and angle were limited by the processing load.”

Breaking the silence

In general, Tsuboyama seems very pleased with the way Bloober has handled Silent Hill 2, not to mention stressing the value of it as a remake.

I think the value of the remake is that a new generation can play it. As a creator, I’m very happy about it. It’s been 23 years! Even if you don’t know the original, you can just enjoy the remake as it is. Whether it’s good or bad doesn’t affect the original.

A quick look on the game’s Steam page shows the reception is already pretty stellar. Okay, it’s only just come out, but an immediate review score of “overwhelmingly positive” is not to be sniffed at, even in these early stages.

There were obviously a few concerns about whether Bloober Team could successfully bring one of the most important horror games to life in the modern era. I must admit, even I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth the wait. The developer has been subjected to criticism in the past for its somewhat insensitive portrayal of certain topics, such as mental health. Given that Silent Hill 2 is largely about some rather deep topics, it stood to reason that the remake might not be able to hit the subtle marks as well as its predecessor.

Plus, what we’ve seen of the Silent Hill revival up to this point has not exactly been filling a lot of fans and critics with confidence. However, it definitely seems like we’re onto a winner here with the SH2 remake. Masashi Tsuboyama and others seem to think so, at least.