The Silent Hill 2 remake reimagines the somber story with modern technology, and the tech in place goes beyond providing a new look for environments and monsters. In a dev diary by developer Bloober Team, the designers explained the work involved in recreating the look of protagonist James Sunderland, including features that showcase him becoming dirtier and more tired as you make progress into the story.
“We wanted to stay true to the original design, but we also wanted to use modern technology to expand on the concept of an ordinary man pushed into extraordinary situations,” creative director and lead designer Mateusz Lenart said in the dev diary. “Our version of James has three-day facial hair, you will see his clothes getting dirtier and his face more tired as he progresses through the game.” Over on X (formerly known as Twitter), a player noticed this visual transformation in James’ own fingernails, gaining noticeable dirt over time.
Lead character artist Pablo Poliakov added that, while it’s easy to get carried away and come up with more flashy designs, it was important for Bloober to retain James’ “not too cool, not too good looking” aspect. This philosophy carried over to the way the character moves with a hunched posture, as well as his actions in combat or traversal, such as vaulting over windows.
“He’s not someone that is very experienced in combat or parkour,” senior 3D animator Jakub Zych said. “So we usually use references of videos of just normal people, very often recording ourselves.”
If you want to witness James Sunderland getting progressively tired throughout the story, the Silent Hill 2 remake launched today after two days of early access. In case you get stuck in a puzzle or want to learn more about how to obtain the new endings, our Silent Hill 2 remake guides hub has you covered.
