Silent Hill 2 composer Akira Yamaoka has announced that the remake's soundtrack will be an “entirely new and reworked” experience. Yamaoka revealed the news to GameSpot and various outlets at a recent preview event for the upcoming psychological horror game. The longtime composer went on to say that while he understands that the original soundtrack is “loved,” he ultimately wants to make sure that all players get a “fresh experience.”
“I reworked all the tracks. There are segments and pieces of the original tracks that you can hear, but all the tracks have been reworked from the ground up. I understand that the soundtrack is very popular, but in the end, I composed over nine hours of music and I'm still wondering how we're going to fit all of that into a soundtrack.”
While this news may come as a disappointment to fans of the critically acclaimed soundtrack, rest assured that based on our time listening to the Silent Hill 2 remake and Yamaoka's additional commentary, it sounds like the soundtrack will remain very familiar. The composer explained that he both referenced and sampled tracks from the original soundtrack when composing the new soundtrack. During our three-hour hands-on preview, we noted that the game's music was a perfect fit for the new experience, retaining many of the motifs and styles of the original.
Later in the event, Yamaoka spoke a bit more about the upcoming soundtrack and his creative process. According to the composer, the project required a lot of “self-reflection” as he tried to reconcile who he is today with who he was when he recorded the soundtrack nearly 25 years ago. Yamaoka said he tried to think about his “mental state” and how he “approached life.” He then laughed as he told reporters that at the time, he wasn’t “financially stable” and had to take “extreme measures” to be creative with what he had. He talked about how he had to turn down the pitch of his guitar to record bass tracks because he didn’t have enough money to afford a bass guitar.
“I had to be very creative because I had the passion to do something great. But today, unfortunately, I don’t remember that part of me very well,” Yamaoka said. “I can’t reproduce the same circumstances as 25 years ago. But I always want to come up with something new, both for existing fans and newcomers.”
In addition to chatting with Yamaoka, GameSpot had the chance to play around three hours of the Silent Hill 2 remake at the title's Tokyo premiere. While the trailers for the upcoming psychological horror game have been a bit underwhelming so far, we came away extremely impressed with the game's first few hours. We also got to meet Masahiro Ito, the art director for Silent Hill 2 and its upcoming remake, who revealed that he almost turned down the offer to work on the remake. The Silent Hill 2 remake, simply titled Silent Hill 2, is set to release on October 8 for PC and PlayStation 5.