Bloober Team struggled to find balance in Silent Hill 2 Remake’s combat system, as James is ultimately “a normal person”, not a “war veteran”.

Many who have played Silent Hill 2 Remake consider it one of the best games of the year. It worked well for us – you can read our review here. Konami’s survival horror took the community by surprise, especially after everything we initially knew about the project. However, the Bloober Team has improved a lot since then, as they have found an outstanding balance to provide a psychological horror experience where James can also defend himself against the enemy.

Mateusz Lenart, Bloober Team’s creative director, reflected on this in an interview with the medium Aullidos. When asked which decision caused them the most headaches, the developer said that the combat system in Silent Hill 2 Remake was challenging to balance. “One of the most controversial issues for this project was the combat system. James is no war veteran, he shouldn’t be strong in combat,” he explained.

The Silent Hill 2 combat system has been the subject of much controversy

“He’s a normal guy, someone who might have trouble handling a weapon, let alone meleeing monsters. But we couldn’t make it completely unusable either, because that would frustrate the players. It was a challenge to find the balance between the feel of the fight and the mechanics,” he says. Still, he understands that some players may find the combat a bit slow.

“I understand that some players feel that James isn’t agile or dexterous enough and find the combat a bit lame at times, while others may argue that he’s too powerful for his character. I think we’ve found the middle ground, focusing on unique enemy design and giving players a limited arsenal of actions and weapons,” he concludes. In related news, it surfaced a few days ago that the Bloober Team will likely continue working with Konami after the Silent Hill 2 Remake.

Source: Aullidos