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Having let the cat out of the bag earlier during Sony’s State of Play regarding the release date for Silent Hill 2, Konami followed that up with the latest edition of Silent Hill Transmission. The event was mainly aimed at Silent Hill 2but also delved into Christoph Gans‘ forthcoming Return to Silent Hill movie.

The event kicked off with an extended 13-minute look at the gameplay of Silent Hill 2, jumping at different points in the game. We get scenes of James getting the iconic radio, the reveal of Laura and Maria, the Brookhaven nurses, and the climax is the appearance of the Lip of Flesh. Pre-orders are now open on Steam and the PlayStation Store, with bonuses including a Mira the dog mask and a PS5 exclusive, a Robbie the rabbit mask.

We also get a deluxe edition of the Silent Hill 2. Along with the game you also get a digital artbook containing art and designs from Masahiro Ito, a digital copy of the soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka, featuring new tracks and re-arranged classics, as well as a Pyramid Head mask assembled from a pizza box (?!). The Deluxe Edition also grants players 48-hour early access to Silent Hill 2.

Members of the Bloober Team also appeared, talking about the development of the remake. “I think the biggest challenge we’ve had [developing the remake] it was really how to make the game accessible to newcomers who haven’t played the original,” says Matchey Glomb, lead 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 Lennart states that the team’s goal was to preserve the atmosphere of the original game while modernizing the gameplay “to make it competitive in 2024.” Senior Narrative Designer Barbara Kczuk added that while the team kept the story largely the same, they were able to “expand” some aspects of it. Other topics affected include the game’s famous fog and updated combat.

Then we heard from Luke Roberts and Salome Gunnarsdottir, who play James and Mary/Mary in the game. The duo spoke of respecting the characters by paying attention to the original performances. Roberts described James as “not an action hero by any means.” Rather, he’s “just a guy who’s a little lost at the top of this game.” Gunnarsdóttir says she tried to honor something that had already been done, with the goal of channeling something rather than creating.

Then we got a new review of Return to Silent Hill, with director Christoph Gans describing it as an “act of passion” to adapt. “I think the first four games are masterpieces. Very modern and very transgressive works of art. We get some pictures from Silent Hill 2followed by the same footage recreated by Gans in the film, with James peering into the mirror from the beginning of the game.

The film will focus on James (played by Jeremy Irvine), a man broken after breaking up with his one true love (Hannah Emily Anderson). When a mysterious letter calls him back to Silent Hill in search of her, he finds a once-recognizable town transformed by an unknown evil. “[The town’s] become something like hell, his personal hell. And he goes through all the circles of hell to find his wife.

Gans considers the 2006 film an “epic horror journey”, p Return to Silent Hill feeling more like a “deep dive” into psychological horror. “In the first film, the production design of Silent Hill was the big thing. In this case, I was very surprised to find out that the people who were going to help me with the production design.

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

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