There's just a month to go until the release of the Silent Hill 2 remake, and the developers have revealed a new feature that looks set to provide the ultimate in old-school authenticity. The Unreal Engine 5-based game with have a '90s filter'.
Bloober Team's filter will add a film grain effect, color correction, and screen adjustments for a more convincing retro experience (see our pick of the best retro consoles).
As well as the 90s filter, the Silent Hill 2 remake will have the option to hide all UI elements for a more immersive gaming experience. Without the UI, players will be guided by the game's visuals, sound effects and James's behavior. Meanwhile, using the map and James's own notes to get around is intended to give exploration an organic feel.
While the filter should perhaps more accurately be named a "2001 filter", fans have reacted positively to the news. "Old-school Silent Hill fans will know that this will be the REAL way to play it," one person responded on X. "I absolutely cannot play Silent Hill 2 without film grain, it would be heresy to the gods," another fan wrote.
The Silent Hill 2 Remake is due for release on October 8. It's available to pre-purchase on Steam.
What is Silent Hill?
Silent Hill is a horror anthology franchise set in an eponymous fictional American town and created by Keiichiro Toyama. The first four mainline video games, Silent Hill (1999), Silent Hill 2 (2001), Silent Hill 3 (2003), and Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004), were developed by Team Silent at Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo.
Later games, Origins, Homecoming, Shattered Memories, and Downpour, were developed by mostly Western developers. There have also been two feature films and various other spin offs. The Silent Hill 2 remake is being developed by Blooper Team and will initially be released for PlayStation 5 and PC.
What is Unreal Engine 5?
Unreal Engine 5 is a real-time 3D creation platform developed by Epic Games and designed for a range of creative fields, including video game development, visualisation and VFX. The engine includes a powerful set of tools that allow creatives to design virtual worlds and scenes without having to write any code. Read our full Unreal Engine 5 explainer to learn more.
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