012 - Silent Hill 2 Remake (spoilers)
CW: mention of sexual violence, misogyny
I am waiting on the edge of my seat. Or bed, in this case. October 8th is the official release date for the game, but reviewers are getting their copies early and early access is rumored to go live on October 6th. The reviews are very positive and it seems like it is a faithful remake much in the same way as Resident Evil 2-4.
Of course, The Gamers (TM) have already deemed this remake as “woke.” I didn’t even click on the Steam reviews with such a title because I don’t hate myself that much. Apparently, it’s because Maria has too many clothes on. I will give them this - yes, Maria is meant to be sexually tempting and outwardly promiscuous. But then it just descends into “woman bad in video game because she don’t show boobies.” These are the types of men who have never encountered women up close in a consensual manner, so they have no concept of what actual female human beings look like.
The most infuriating example of this was a video of Angela Orosco being - this was the video maker’s word, not mine - dewokeified. They prettied up her face. Why is this bad, you might ask? This character is a survivor of CSA in the story.
And yet, this just seems so metaphysical to the subject matter. Thank you for your part in proving that rape culture is alive and well. I’m sure that’s extra inspiring for people who have suffered real-life SA and CSA. Though I did check out the comments on the video and I was glad to see people calling this shit out.
Some long-time fans claim that the game doesn’t meet up with the hype and I can understand that point of view. The game did do away with the dynamic camera angles in favor of a third-person camera, which was a little disappointing. Some of the boss fights look more…boss fight-y than I wanted, if that makes sense. It was far more scary fighting Pyramid Head in a random stairwell than a metallic cage room like in the remake. The monsters also look less organic than they did in the original. The Lying Figures look rubbery when they’re supposed to be fleshy. I don’t know, I’m basing my opinions on the latest gameplay videos here, so some of that might have changed by now.
I don’t know if Mary/Maria’s dialogue is going to be as impactful as it was when voiced by Monica Taylor Horgan. She did a phenomenal job voicing the two characters and her reading of the letter at the end is the most powerful, tearjerking performance of all. James’ new voice actor seems promising. Guy Cihi’s performance in the original was lauded as very realistic and heartfelt, but he also sounded older and it made me think James was in his late 30s, when he’s like in his mid-20s. The new voice actor really adds tragedy to James’ character because he seems much younger.
Laura seems well-acted. They hired a child actor to portray her and I think Evie Templeton is going to portray Laura in the upcoming Silent Hill 2 film adaptation (yeah, that’s happening.) I was nervous about that because kids in cartoons, animated films, and video games are often voiced by adults impersonating child voices. Not gonna lie, Eddie’s voice acting makes me nervous. He’s got the dopeyness down but his sinister dressing down of James sounded a bit off, if I’m honest.
Angela’s voice acting seems too…plain? Donna Burke voiced her perfectly in the original because she her older-sounding voice was appropriate for a 19-year-old abuse victim who dissociates often and has had to deal with too much adult stuff too soon. Angela has some of the most heartwrenching dialogue in the game, especially the fiery staircase scene. I’m kind of terrified how the Abstract Daddy scene will be done because the trailer showed the creature like it was in a hallway. What’s the fleshy room gonna look like in these realistic graphics? Bloober Team don’t have a good track record in how they portray trauma if The Medium is anything to go by.
Pyramid Head. I was shocked that Pyramid Head seemed to have a fleshy bulge peeking out of his helmet. That was a feature of one of the Pyramid Head action figures that the monster creator, Masahiro Ito, says was “annoying.” I’m not sure I like him having his own arena-type area in the apartment building rather than fighting him in the stairwell. I think it’s far more sinister for Pyramid Head just to show up out of the blue than to preempt his appearance with metal macabre set dressing.
These are just the opinions of a fan that has been jaded by Konami for far too long. Don’t take it too seriously, Bloober Team. I think the team has delivered and has redeemed themselves through this endeavor. I expected a lot less and this was a hell of an undertaking to tackle such a staple in horror media. With anticipation, I sign off.