Sony State of Play Reveals Release Date for ‘Silent Hill 2,’ ‘Alien: Rogue Incursion,’ and ‘Until Dawn’ Remaster Gameplay (Trailer)

After letting the cat out of the bag earlier during Sony State of Play regarding the release date of Silent Hill 2, Konami followed up with the latest edition of Silent Hill Transmission. The event mainly focused on Silent Hill 2but also immersed himself in Christophe Gans‘ Future Return to Silent Hill movie.

The event kicked off with a 13-minute extended preview of gameplay from Silent Hill 2, jumping to different points in the game. We get scenes of James receiving the iconic radio, the reveal of Brookhaven nurses Laura and Maria, and culminating with the appearance of the Flesh Lip. Pre-orders are now open on Steam and the PlayStation Store, with bonuses including a Mira the dog mask, and exclusively on PS5, a Robbie the Rabbit mask.

We are also receiving a Deluxe Edition of Silent Hill 2. With the game you also receive a digital artbook containing illustrations and designs from Masahiro Itō, a digital copy of Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack featuring new tracks and re-arranged classics, plus a Pyramid Head mask assembled from a pizza box (?!). The Deluxe Edition also offers players 48 hours early access to Silent Hill 2.

Members of the Bloober team also made an appearance to talk about the development of the remake. “I think the biggest challenge we had (in developing the remake) was how to make the game accessible to newcomers who haven’t played the original,” says Maciej Glomb, senior producer at Bloober. “But at the same time, to keep the familiarity of the game that players remember from 20 years ago.”

Lead designer Mateusz Lenart states that the team’s goal was to retain the atmosphere of the original game while modernizing the gameplay “to make it competitive in 2024”. Senior Narrative Designer Barbara Kciuk added that while the team kept the story largely the same, they were able to “expand” on some aspects of it. Other topics covered include the game’s famous fog and updated combat.

We then heard Luke Roberts And Salome Gunnarsdottir, who play James and Mary/Maria in the game. The duo talks about respecting the characters, paying attention to the original performances. Roberts describes James as “not an action hero at all.” He’s more of a “just a guy who’s a little lost at the top of this game.” Gunnarsdóttir says she tried to honor something that has already been achieved, with the aim of channeling something rather than creating.

Then we got a new glimpse of Return to Silent Hill, with director Christophe Gans describing it as “an act of passion” to adapt. “I consider the first four games to be masterpieces. Very modern and very transgressive works of art. We obtain several shots of Silent Hill 2followed by the same shots recreated by Gans in the film, such as James looking in the mirror from the beginning of the game.

The film will center on James (played by Jeremy Irvine), a broken man after being separated from his one true love (Hannah Emily Anderson). When a mysterious letter calls him back to Silent Hill in search of her, he discovers a once recognizable town transformed by an unknown evil. “(The city) has become something like hell, its own personal hell. And he travels through all the circles of hell to find his wife.

Gans considers the 2006 film “an epic horror journey”, with Return to Silent Hill it feels more like a “deep dive” into psychological horror. “In the first film, the production design silent Hill that was the big problem. On this one, I was very surprised to find that the people who were going to help me with the production design.”

And yes, Gans confirmed that Akira Yamaoka is returning to do the music for Return to Silent Hill. No release date has (yet) been revealed for the film.

The latest Silent Hill Transmission ended with the reveal of new products inspired by the series. Along with new figures and artwork from Good Smile Company, Gecco and Fanattik, Konami has revealed a new limited edition of James’ jacket from Silent Hill 2 which is currently available in the official Konami store.