Bloober Staff, maker of the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, is getting out of your head. In a chat with Engadget, studio CEO Piotr Babieno mentioned that this month’s launch of Layers of Worry—a UE5-ified remake of the unique Layers of Worry video games—marked the conclusion of “the period of constructing psychological horror video games”. Going ahead, Bloober goes to as a substitute concentrate on “mass-market horror,” which it anticipates will herald a a lot bigger viewers.
In plainer phrases, which means Bloober is getting away from vibes-heavy, mid-budget horror strolling sims and into extra action-focused, player-driven stuff. Prior to now, the studio “targeted on the story … targeted on the temper … targeted on the standard of graphics and music,” nevertheless it did not spend “a variety of consideration on the gameplay mechanics,” says Babieno. That is all about to alter, apparently, as a part of a course of that may see the corporate remodel into “Bloober Staff 3.0”.
If Layers of Worry was the final hurrah of Bloober Staff 2.0, then the Silent Hill 2 remake would be the first showcase of the studio’s new philosophy. “We determined that our subsequent titles must be far more mass-market oriented,” mentioned the Bloober CEO, “We’d prefer to ship our concepts, with our DNA, not by atmosphere or storytelling, however by motion,” Babieno informed Engadget, “so all of our future titles could have a variety of gameplay mechanics. They are going to be a lot greater.”
So put together for a Silent Hill 2 remake that prioritises motion over vibes, I suppose. I’ve to confess, I am greater than a bit of sceptical about this. For one factor—although I’ve by no means performed it personally—it is my understanding that Silent Hill 2 is beloved largely exactly as a result of it is so eerie and atmospheric. For an additional, the gameplay-heavy sections of Bloober’s prior video games (I am pondering particularly of the tedious autofail stealth sections in Observer) have not at all times been a good time.
However maybe my fears are misplaced. In spite of everything, our Layers of Worry (2023) assessment scored the sport 90%, calling it “simply one of the best sport Bloober Staff have put out but”. That was Bloober Staff 2.0, although, who is aware of what Bloober Staff 3 is able to?
