I still remember, as if it were yesterday, the thick fog like thoughts piercing the heart.
Ricordo ancora, as if it were yesterday, the sensation of entering an unsettling and abnormal dimension, crossing the white wall that separated the urban and familiar world from the borders of Silent Hill, that abandoned city, known by many, avoided by all.
Ricordo ancora Silent Hill 2, the only game I consider a worthy heir to Alone in the Dark and which today, decades and chills later, is about to return to the world.
Da tempo, oramai, an universal process has been underway, involving all production companies and their brands, aimed at putting the most famous franchises in the video game world back on track, an operation ideally begun with Resident Evil and its remakes for next-generation machines and which has objectively achieved its goal: to introduce today’s teenagers to the masterpieces of the past and, at the same time, attract gamers with a few more years on them through nostalgia and a sense of wonder.
Si sa, we old video game players are always ready to perk up our ears when there is talk of the grand return of a title that made us dream, get passionate, and have fun.
In the case of Silent Hill 2, it mainly made us afraid, and that is exactly what we wanted and still want today.
There has been talk of the remake of perhaps the most iconic chapter in the saga for many years, to tell the truth, ever since the development of the new game by Hideo Kojima was canceled by Konami and thus, at least for the moment, piled onto the heap of projects destined for oblivion.
Nevertheless, the flame that has always burned among the creaking foundations of the Silent City has never truly gone out, so why not bring the second chapter back into the spotlight, especially since it is the one where the horror behind the character of Alessa Gillespie, perhaps one of the most beautifully crafted characters ever created for a video game?
I Survival Horror, to which Silent Hill belongs from the first to the last pixel, convey fear and terror in different ways depending on the direction developers choose to take: if BioHazard, that is Resident Evil, aimed its flickering torch toward an action-oriented horror inclination, Silent Hill instead takes the rough road of psychological erosion, where, with a crescendo made of disturbing situations, metallic sound effects that cut through rationality, and creature-mirrors of degenerated humanity, it leaves its mark on the player's psyche, taking the experience to very high levels.
Silent Hill 2 Remake promises this and much more, judging by the few but significant pieces of information released by Konami: the trailer itself, released at the end of January 2024 and which in fact showed the state of the work by Bloopers Studio, tells of meticulous attention to detail and a Silent Hill that has never been so enigmatic and detailed: Harry, the tormented protagonist we will control, makes his melancholic pain over the loss he has suffered stand out so vividly that it is already easy and immediate for us to empathize with him.
The operation of remodeling the environments and characters is jaw-dropping, and fans of the series, even though they have played the original installment to exhaustion, could really find new reasons to play it and nurses, with their characteristically awkward movements, to be avoided at all costs.
Tante the questions that hover in our minds: will we see Pyramid Head again, the iconic wandering demonic executioner ready to follow us wherever we go? Will Alessa be able to make us tremble once more as she once did? Will there be new locations to visit and new secrets to uncover? I believe the answers to these legitimate questions will come with the passing of the months and with the game’s official release date, still shrouded…
…In the fog.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
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