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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Bloober Team has read the nasty tweets and it's seen the videos in which skeptics brace for disappointment; it hasn't ignored the pessimism. The Polish, horror-obsessed studio even admits it's made "shitty" games in the past. Now, it's out to prove Silent Hill 2 Remake wasn't a one-hit wonder built from a trustworthy, pre-existing blueprint. Speaking with Bloober Team less than 24 hours after its newest horror game, Cronos: The New Dawn, was revealed during the latest Xbox Partner Preview, and just two weeks after the Silent Hill 2 Remake parade of praise kicked off, I learned the studio's next project is intended to reinforce a newly emerging narrative: the Bloober Team redemption arc.

"We don't want to make a similar game [to Silent Hill 2]," director/designer Wojciech Piejko told me during an interview focused on the team's first post-Silent Hill project, which began to take shape a few months after The Medium was released in 2021. Though Cronos: The New Dawn and Silent Hill 2 Remake were being developed on overlapping timelines, they come from largely different teams within the studio and are meant to feel like "different pizzas with different toppings--both delicious," he said with a laugh. Silent Hill 2 Remake was better than most seemed to expect, but Cronos: The New Dawn seeks to prove they can build something special from scratch, too.

[...]

Still, the entire staff was keenly aware of the tenor of the internet's criticism surrounding the Silent Hill 2 remake and the studio as a whole. When the team was revealed as the developer of Konami's major revival project, much of the online reaction was pessimistic or skeptical. People felt Bloober Team wasn't cut out for the job, not having made true survival-horror games before, and thus never having shown it could build out deeper mechanics like inventory management and combat. Eventually, the company put out a statement aimed at the general public in which it asked for patience as it worked on Silent Hill 2, all while the people inside the company were unable or unwilling to block out the noise.

"It was tough for those couple of years before [Silent Hill 2's] release," he said, but added that the remake team was tough, too, for not letting it get under their skin. "They made it. We made it. Bloober made it. And now, it's very good spirits inside [the studio.] We want to show what we can do on our own, how we can evolve our ideas."

"They recreated a legendary game," Piejko said of his colleagues on the remake team. "They made the impossible possible, and it was a bumpy road because of all the hate on the internet. The pressure was big on them, and they delivered, and for the company, it's an amazing moment."

When Cronos was revealed, "we all felt relief," Piejko revealed. "All the comments were like, 'Yeah, this looks great. I love the design of the character.'" To him and others, it was uplifting to see how the perception of the studio is already noticeably changing. Despite all the pressure of Silent Hill 2 Remake, there's arguably still plenty bearing down on the team as it seeks to prove it can conjure magic entirely of its own, but the directors told me this genre is where they want to be, and they're willing to prove they have what it takes.

"We want to be a horror company," Zieba told me. "We want to find our niche, and we think we found our niche, so now we just--let's evolve with it. [...] And how that happens is more complex, but it also happens organically in a way, like with [2016's] Layers of Fear, people in the studio were like, 'Okay, we made some shitty games before, but we [can] evolve."

"We gathered a team that loves horror," Piejko added. "So I think, for us, it would not be easy to switch [to other genres], and we don't want to."

I tried to add most of the interesting tidbits from the article, but I'd still recommend reading it in full on Gamespot's website.

Bloober Team Says It's Done Making "Shitty" Games And Silent Hill 2 Remake Wasn't A Fluke

With Cronos: The New Dawn, the oft-maligned studio seeks to continue its redemption arc.

www.gamespot.com

 

[Hohenheim]

I have faith in these guys.

Not to compare, but FromSoft also made quite a few mediocre games (and a few stinkers) before things started to click for them.

 

[Luipadre]

The new game they revealed looked really interesting, great trailer too and after SH2 remake, im definitely keeping an eye on this one

 

[The_Observer]

If any of you Bloober people is reading this by any chance: be proud of what you created. It’s amazing and I (and I think many others) consider you now among the top of the industry.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

A lot of studios don't get the opportunity to mature.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Sometimes it takes a banger to unleash a beast!

 

[Yoshichan]

Kaachan

 

[diffusionx]

Medium-sisters... have we lost?

 

[Big Baller]

Always had faith in Bloober

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

... they remade a cult classic considered as a master piece... and they didn't even achieved 90+ on meta. I'm highly sceptical

 

[Mister Wolf]

I'm happy for them. I could see their potential with The Medium. They understand now that the market(men) want action. Even in horror games. We don't want to run from the horror. We want to confront it. Their next game is likely a day one for me.

 

[hyperbertha]

Way to throw the medium fans under the bus. Not that I'm one

 

[midnightAI]

Well at least they are self aware which then allows for growth

 

[Gonzito]

That statement dont sound good to be honest but hey Silent Hill 2 Remake was good, now we have to see if they can create something good by themselves because their history isn't great

 

[Kurotri]

Kinda refreshing to see a studio be so honest about themselves.

 

[Schmendrick]

I don't know... Working with a complete blueprint like they did here is very different from having to innovate everything from scratch.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Always had faith in Bloober

Preach it brother. I never let go of Bullet no matter how long the game held me there. One of my favorite gaming memories from recent times.

Not to mention Observer was awesome, RIP Rutger.

 

[Big Baller]

Preach it brother. I never let go of Bullet no matter how long the game held me there. One of my favorite gaming memories from recent times.

Not to mention Observer was awesome, RIP Rutger.

Sad fact: Rutger Hauer lived in a small village next to my town.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Sometimes it takes a banger to unleash a beast!

silent hill 2 remake is woke trash. bloober is terrible.

 

[Synless]

Well, a single game (one that already had all the creativity played out before them) being successful is not a trend. So let’s see how it pans out for them in the future.

 

[Bartski]

The game centers on The Traveler, a mysterious person who moves through timelines. On one end is a future ravaged by a pandemic and inhabited by monstrous mutants. On the other end is communist Poland circa the 1980s. The Traveler is tasked with moving backward through time to rescue VIPs who didn't survive, disrupting the timeline to bring them into the future where they may be able to help. If it sounds like things will get wonky in that classic time-travel way, I'd bet you're right. The duo told me the game is inspired by Netflix's Dark, a magnificent series that often felt like an oddly welcome headache for those trying to make sense of its elaborate plot.

Bloober Team's next game is purposely hard to compare to Silent Hill 2 in setting and story. The team wants it to stand on its own.
Despite being built during the COVID era and involving a pandemic of its own, Cronos is not intended to be Bloober Team's "big comment about COVID or something," director/producer Jacek Zieba told me. "We were afraid of [the pandemic plot point] at the very beginning," Piejko added, because it had felt like the worst of the pandemic era was behind them and they didn't want to return to that headspace. They ended up keeping it in when it became clear to them that the story worked too well to discard it.

 

[Facism]

All they needed was someone else's story, setting, characters and music to put out a great game.

 

[Little Chicken]

Shouldn't they wait until they make an ORIGINAL game first?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Shouldn't they wait until they make an ORIGINAL game first?

They've made many.

 

[Badlucktroll]

These guys probably just saved silent hill and made it mainstream

 

[Little Chicken]

They've made many.

And a glorified reskin is their turning point?

 

[dolabla]

They're responsible for the best survival horror remake since Resident Evil Remake on Gamecube. They should be proud. The game is pure excellency.

 

[DeepEnigma]

And a glorified reskin is their turning point?

It's not a reskin. Bad takes are bad.

 

[Little Chicken]

It's not a reskin. Bad takes are bad.

It's hardly their own game, either.

 

[Bojji]

... they remade a cult classic considered as a master piece... and they didn't even achieved 90+ on meta. I'm highly sceptical

Team silent

 

[DeepEnigma]

It's hardly their own IP, either.

FTFY. The development is them, from the ground up.

It's a banger and better than the original, and the original is in my top 5 games that impacted me growing up list.

 

[Little Chicken]

FTFY. The development is them, from the ground up.

It's a banger and better than the original, and the original is in my top 5 games that impacted me growing up list.

So you emotionally invested in the game and that's fine, but you can hardly credit Blooper for creating an original title here, which is why I said they should probably release their next original title first before making lofty claims about not being shit any more.

Then again you're just a dog

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Team silent

that is the point. The OG Silent Hills 1-4 were barely commercially successful.

SH2 got a lot of shit because didn't follow the cult and events of SH1.

it was over the years that SH2 became a cult classic and master piece.

 

[DeepEnigma]

So you emotionally invested in the game and that's fine, but you can hardly credit Blooper for creating an original title here, which is why I said they should probably release their next original title first before making lofty claims about not being shit any more.

Then again you're just a dog

You're splitting hairs, bird brain. Mental gymnastics, even.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

that is the point. The OG Silent Hills 1-4 were barely commercially successful.

SH2 got a lot of shit because didn't follow the cult and events of SH1.

it was over the years that SH2 became a cult classic and master piece.

They pulled off what is arguably the hardest game ever to remake. It's a better game and will be the go to way to play the game from now on. Except of course to the cult like followers the og has.

You act like this was only a new coat of paint like the demon souls remake. It was way more involved than that.

 

[Mr Moose]

We'll see. An original game from scratch being as good will prove them right.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Make me think of:

 

[Big Baller]

silent hill 2 remake is woke trash. bloober is terrible.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

They pulled off what is arguably the hardest game ever to remake

I was thinking of that... and i don't think it is at all. As a videogame the OG game has aged like milk.

. It's a better game and will be the go to way to play the game from now on. Except of course to the cult like followers the og has.

absolutely.

You act like this was only a new coat of paint like the demon souls remake. It was way more involved than that.

and that is my point. Bloober's involvement didn't makes the remake to achieve mid 90s on metacritic

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I was thinking of that... and i don't think it is at all. As a videogame the OG game has aged like milk.

absolutely.


and that is my point. Bloober's involvement didn't makes the remake to achieve mid 90s on metacritic

So mid 90's is when a game is good? I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. It should have been mid 90's? Id agree with that. The only thing wrong with the game imo is some technical stuff that'll hopefully get patched out.

 

[peek]

Nice! Cant wait to see what they come up with in their new IP.

I hope it continues the trend weve all seen and love post 2020! I can already imagine what the protag will look like

 

[Bojji]

I was thinking of that... and i don't think it is at all. As a videogame the OG game has aged like milk.

absolutely.


and that is my point. Bloober's involvement didn't makes the remake to achieve mid 90s on metacritic

No SH game was mid 90 on MC...

Wtf are you talking about.

 

[Clear]

You need to give teams, individual developers. time to improve, and hone their craft.

Especially smaller ones.

I cannot express how much I dislike the mentality of writing devs off after a single misfire. Especially when the same people bemoan the lack of imagination and innovation in the scene.

Stop demanding perfection and punishing devs for every flaw and misjudgement, and start better appreciating growth and advancement.

 

[killatopak]

I cannot express how much I dislike the mentality of writing devs off after a single misfire. Especially when the same people bemoan the lack of imagination and innovation in the scene.

I think it’s largely dependent on budget.

Park illegally and you get a parking ticket. Crash a car while drunk and you get your license revoked.

Similarly, fail a fairly low budget game and you’ll get more chances. Fail a big budget one and there’ll be bigger repercussions. Fame and track record also plays a part in this.

 

[Kacho]

I hope so. Cronos will be my second day 1 Bloober purchase. I have faith it’ll be good.

 

[Killer8]

They shouldn't put themselves down and write their earlier work off as shitty. It's a learning process.

No one starts off making excellent AAA games right out the gate (unless you're a developer who's been set up by a larger company with the express intention to make them eg. The Coalition).

Look at From Software. They made a lot of b-grade stuff (or what i'd call 'cult classics' to put it politely) before they hit it really big with the Souls formula. That took over 20 years.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

So mid 90's is when a game is good? I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at.

what im saying is:

Bloober saying that they are done doing shitty games and SH2 remake wasn't a fluke is meaningless. because their input to the game didn't elevated it to the mid 90s. in fact, the OG has a higher score.

so, when you compare the remake to the OG... of course the improvements are staggering, when you compare the remake to its contemporaries... puts bloober's talents into perspective.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

No SH game was mid 90 on MC...

Wtf are you talking about.

that's is the point

 

[StreetsofBeige]

If a studio was asked to tidy up Tetris, they could probably do a good job too. But making your own successful puzzle IP is more difficult.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

what im saying is:

Bloober saying that they are done doing shitty games and SH2 remake wasn't a fluke is meaningless. because their input to the game didn't elevated it to the mid 90s. in fact, the OG has a higher score.

so, when you compare the remake to the OG... of course the improvements are staggering, when you compare the remake to its contemporaries... puts bloober's talents into perspective.

There are ton of games with a lower mc than this game. Many from studios with bigger budgets. So I still don't think you have much of a point but alrighty then.