A former Silent Hill series writer claims that Silent Hill 2 Remake is a “poisoned chalice.”
Sam Barlow has previously written and designed two Silent Hill games, including Silent Hill Origins PS2 and Silent Hill Shattered Memories on Wii and PS2. He is also known for directing and writing Her Story, Telling Lies, and Immortality.
Barlow was recently interviewed by media outlet PCGamesN to talk about the upcoming new Silent Hill games. He said that he is not even jealous of Bloober Team, the guys who are working on the Silent Hill 2 remake.
“Personally, I’m less excited about playing a remaster,” Barlow said. “It’s also like the biggest poisoned chalice in videogames, doing a remaster of Silent Hill 2. I mean, good luck to them because I don’t know how you can do that without upsetting people.”
Aside from Silent Hill 2 Remake, Barlow was happier to talk about the other Silent Hill games. He is quite excited about the potential for more stories in that universe.
“The version of Silent Hill that I would love – which it sounds like they’re pushing – is that ‘we use this as a platform to have a range of interesting psychological horror games’,” he explained.
“And actually, can we see a breadth of gameplay? You know, Twilight Zone, and those kinds of anthologies give you a sense of what you’re getting yourself in for but you’re also excited to see the different ways in which they can be explored.”
What did Barlow mean about Silent Hill 2 being a “poisoned chalice?” While he did not specifically mention it in the interview, the game is quite known for its controversial endings. For those who have not played the original game yet, SPOILER WARNING AHEAD. One of the many side characters that James meets in the game, Angela Orosco, reveals that she has been sexually abused all her life and then he fights the physical manifestation of her trauma, which re-enacts the moments when she was raped. In one of the game’s endings, James would commit suicide by driving his car into a lake.
The game is filled with distressing topics which makes it quite the “poisoned chalice.”