When the long-awaited remake of Silent Hill 2 received a release date and a new trailer during the PlayStation State of Play on May 30, it caused a great deal of controversy. The title, which would be released on PS5 and PC on October 8, promised to offer players the same story with some significant changes. While certain adjustments, like those made to protagonist James Sutherland, weren’t particularly noteworthy, changes made to Maria’s outfit were thought to remove much of her character’s symbolism.
[Warning: Spoilers for Silent Hill 2. Content warning for themes of suicide and sexual content.]
Silent Hill 2 is perhaps the acclaimed series’ most beloved entry, so a remake was almost assuredly going to come with some ill-received changes. Maria’s new outfit was just one specific criticism, but represented for many an indication of the remake’s larger inability to grasp the intentional design of the original. Other critiques of Maria’s redesign were less legitimate, though, harping simply on her appearance, rather than why she appeared as she did in Silent Hill 2 initially. Either way, many of them were put to rest when the game was finally released.
Silent Hill 2 Remake: Maria’s Outfit Controversy Explained
Maria’s Notorious Design Being Altered Angered Some Fans For The Wrong Reason
Within hours of the new gameplay trailer dropping, franchise fans began to comment on her new look. In the remake developed by Bloober Team, Maria now wears a long black dress and a pink jacket belted at the waist. It didn’t take long for some of the more unsavory corners of the internet to angrily blame developers for undoing the often unnecessary sexualization female and femme-presenting characters face. It’s not that her new outfit makes her unattractive – it’s what this small change immediately undoes for her character.
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The game has been remade with “modern audiences” in mind, according to Bloober, but as players who understand Maria’s implicit symbolism pointed out, her new look doesn’t just cover more of her exposed skin, it distances her from the themes Silent Hill 2 originally dared to explore. This isn’t about wanting another woman companion to be a visually appealing tag-along to the male main character, but instead, the issue with the redesign is about erasing key parts that made Maria such a complex antagonist (who was far ahead of her time).
Maria’s Sexualization Is An Integral Part Of Her Character
X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit users were quick to comment on Maria’s new look, noting the more reserved outfit is no longer – in their opinion – sexy. This led to heated debates across the internet, with people weighing on everything from the hypersexualization of women in video games over the years, to those who just feel the original characters should be represented more accurately. However, the outfit change may mean more than each of these points. Though the transition may initially seem like an effort to desexualize Maria’s character, it instead surfaced new concerns about how the game’s original themes would be handled.
In instances like Maria’s character, the sexualization is part of a larger commentary. Silent Hill 2’s themes look at masculinity in a critical light – something not particularly common, especially for games released in the early 2000s. Maria serves as a manifestation of James’s guilt for both killing his wife and feeling dissatisfied with her appearance as she became more ill. By changing her outfit, Bloober Team rightfully caused players concern over how these progressive themes will be explored in the remake.
As a character, Maria is the antithesis of Mary. James remarks upon their first encounter that she looks almost exactly like his late wife, noting only that the “hair and clothes are different.” Where Mary was boring and moody, Maria is sassy and extroverted. Where Mary was unattractive as a result of her illness, Maria is beautiful and healthy. Where Mary was conservative, Maria is the opposite.
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Mary’s original clothing design features a look similar to one Christina Aguilera wore to the Teen Choice Awards in 1999, with a cropped cardigan only partially buttoned, a pink cheetah print skirt with a matching choker, and a jangly gold belt. It’s implied, when James first encounters her at Heaven’s Night, that she works at the strip club. In between her attempts to hold James’s attention, her remarks about Laura and memories with James tie the invisible string between her and Mary.
How the player treats Maria throughout their playthrough of Silent Hill 2 determines which of the different endings they’ll receive. Rejecting Maria’s advances and letting James come to terms with his guilt and grief over his wife’s death will make the doppelgänger the final boss, while accepting her affection makes Mary the final enemy to fell. Choosing Maria, though, leaves James in the same dissatisfied cycle, and Maria’s subtle cough implies Mary’s illness (and James’s resentment) will only resurface again.
Maria Is Speculated To Be More Than Just An Antagonist
The Born From A Wish Scenario Gives Her Sentience
Maria is often referred to as one of the more complex characters in the second Silent Hill installment. In the Born from a Wish scenario, which serves as an introduction to her character before she meets James, players see Maria searching for a purpose. In between recalling pieces of Mary’s memories, she aids Ernest Baldwin in a series of tasks before he warns her of James, though she never sees his face.
Just before leaving Baldwin Mansion to begin her hunt for James, Maria holds her revolver to her temple, seemingly considering suicide. It’s a vulnerable moment where the character is more than just a sexualized version of James’s dead wife. Though she ultimately tosses the revolver away before searching for James, it’s a brief glimpse into the person behind the reflection of her target’s guilt.
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Though the simple change in her clothing may seem like an inconsequential difference between the original and the remake, this design adjustment immediately removed some of the commentary built into Maria’s character. It’s possible, as some players theorized, that her original outfit will be available as part of a future DLC or add-on, and it was briefly referenced in the remake as an Easter egg. But this (otherwise unconfirmed) outcome doesn’t explain the design decision.
Maria’s Reception Post-Launch
Bloober’s Redemption Arc
Despite concerns that Bloober’s changes to Silent Hill 2 would get the original game wrong, the remake was released to critical acclaim, hailed as a faithful adaptation. Its fresh take on the original Silent Hill 2 extended to Maria, too, who was accurately characterized as Mary’s polar opposite despite her change of clothes. Mary still follows James a little too closely, uses innuendo a little too frequently, and speaks with a tone a little too sultry for the fog-shrouded, monster-infested town of Silent Hill. There’s still a layer of shame behind all James’ interactions with her.
Seeing that her character remained mostly untouched, many players also warmed to Maria’s new design after the game was released. Some, like @JamesResEvil on X (formerly Twitter), commented on how encountering the new Maria for the first time provoked nostalgia.
Frankly, it’s still not totally clear why the Silent Hill 2 remake chose to change Maria’s outfit – nothing about her character is different, so it’s not like the redesign had some thematic purpose. This may have been a somewhat misguided attempt to desexualize her visually, while allowing her to maintain the same role in the story. It may have also been an effort to remove what designers at Bloober viewed as excessively cheesy early-2000s fashion. Still, in the otherwise faithful remake, criticizing Maria’s switch from a pink cheetah-print skirt to a black dress seems nitpicky and petty.
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There have still been those, however, who have been unable to accept Maria’s design changes. Just days after the Silent Hill 2 remake launched, Nexus Mods user swiz19 released a mod called Original Maria Outfit, which does exactly what it says on the tin. This isn’t the only mod to change Maria’s design in the remake, but it was one of the earliest. Otherwise, the reception to Maria in the remake has been largely positive, and this remains a small yet vocal segment of the fandom.
Players who enjoyed the original game’s commentary on masculinity and autonomy had valid reasons to be hesitant about Bloober Team’s direction for the remake. Maria was never an unnecessarily sexy character — being sexy was part of the larger message Konami meant to convey to players in the original. Thankfully, her design, though different, served the same purpose in the overall faithful SIlent Hill 2 remake.
Sources: PlayStation/YouTube, @JamesResEvil/X, swiz19/Nexus Mods
The Silent Hill 2 Remake is an upcoming Survival Horror release from Bloober Team, the same creative squad behind Layers of Fear and Observer. Developers are reimagining James Sunderland’s adventure through Silent Hill, with updated graphics and gameplay.
- Released
- October 8, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Bloober Team
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence
