Looking back at the early 2000s, Konami’sSilent Hillfranchise was easily one of the biggest gaming properties in the entire world. The blockbuster horror franchise centered on an eerie town filled with creepy pyramid-headed demons and monstrous mannequins was a critical and commercial success, withSilent Hill1, 2, 3,4,and eventuallyPTall quickly becoming iconic staples of video game culture.
The series became so iconic, in fact, that it even spawned numerous movies and comic books in its wake, withSilent Hillquickly transcending the world of video games to become a beloved horror property in its own right. Alongside its simultaneous success with theMetal Gear Solidfranchise, Konami had cultivated a second flagship IP that was quickly becoming one of the biggest names in the horror genre.
Cut to 2020, and, aside from a handful of controversial Pachinko machines,Silent Hilllies entirely dormant. Mainly due to thecancellation of Kojima’s highly-anticipatedSilent Hillsback in 2015, the franchise slowly faded away, with fans disheartened after losing the monumental promise of Kojima’s vision and Konami seeing more money in arcade machines that fully-fledged video games. However, It appears that might not be the case for much longer, with a new leak claiming that Konami is looking to restoreSilent Hillthrough two new major entries to the series.
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For those who didn’t see the report, it seems Aesthetic Gamer (a notorious leaker known for sharing credible insider information onResident Evil) discovered that two newSilent Hillgames are on the way, with Konami allegedly looking to bring the franchise back from the dead. The first would be a soft-reboot of the series that would stick closer to the traditionalSilent Hillgames and the other would be a ‘choose your own story’ adventure game in the vein ofUntil Dawnor Telltale’sThe Walking Dead. The leaker also revealed that Konami asked forSilent Hillpitches from other developers, meaning it’s likely the company has outsourced both titles to other development teams.
It’s no doubt an exciting revelation for franchise veterans, but more importantly, it’s an exciting revelation for horror buffs in general. After all, this is currently the best time forSilent Hillto make its comeback, both for reasons relating to the franchise itself and thesurvival horror genreas a whole.
For one, old school horror games have been seeing a renewed resurgence in popularity over the last year alone.Resident Evil 2’s2019 remakemight have ostensibly seemed like a title that was custom built for fans of the original PlayStation 1 classic, but it went on to become one of 2019’s biggest surprises, even managing to score a Game Of The Year nomination at the tail end of last year. More importantly, it kickstarted a major demand for the return of old school survival horror games. Players raved about the claustrophobic atmosphere of roaming Racoon City’s hallways, the frantic tension of managing resources mid-battle, and the exhilarating fear of being stalked by the towering Mr. X. It became such a massive success that Capcom rushedResident Evil 3into development as soon as possible, having it slated for release just over a year afterResident Evil 2to capitalize on the excitement surrounding the game.
But what does that have to do withSilent Hill? Well, if there’s any series that came to define survival horror, it was Konami’s incredibly successful flagship horror franchise. Alongside the likes ofResident Evil,System Shock, andFatal Frame,Silent Hillone of the key games to truly cement the survival horror genre, with the first and second games, in particular, showing how unnerving subtle sound design, a haunting atmosphere, and claustrophobic level structure could be. With some overhauls to how it looks and plays, aSilent Hillrevival could slot into the same niche thatResident Evilis currently occupying now, especially with fans clambering to see video game horror return to its more survival-oriented roots.
Regardless of the new craze for survival horror, players are also more desperate than ever to see modern horror games that offer something deeper than cheap jump scares or chase sequences, andSilent Hillfeels like the perfect franchise to fill that gap. The franchise’s long history with haunting gameplay and psychological scares means that it could appeal to fans looking for a truly unique horror experience, with the game potentially using the immersive nature of the medium to mess with the player’s head.
Many of theleaked gameplay details surroundingSilent Hillsare definitive proof of the franchise’spotential to be something much deeper than a simple horror game, with the sequel supposedly sending real-life text messages to users as they played the campaign. It’s a pure example of how diverse and interesting the world ofSilent Hillhas the power to be, with its focus on psychological horror meaning developers can deliver an experience that truly seeks to deliver something wholly different and substantial.
Speaking of Hideo Kojima, it must also be said that his work on the franchise has meant that, despite it lying dormant for so long, there’s still a ton of excitement surrounding a potentialSilent Hillreturn.PTis, after all, often touted as one of the best horror games ever made, and that was merely a small taster of what the creator ofMetal Gearhad lined up for his vision of the franchise.
While aSilent Hillreturn withoutPTmight’ve been a questionable financial decision, the excitement surrounding Kojima’s ill-fated adaptation means the franchise could come back tomorrow and still get a ton of invested interest, with or without the esteemed director. Looking at the far-reaching popularity ofPTalone shows that Kojima helped attract more attention to the franchise than ever before, and that extra fan investment will no doubt equate to massive sales whenSilent Hilldoes eventually return. Who knows,Kojima is supposedly moving on to a brand new horror game, so perhaps one of the developers supposedly contacted by Konami about making aSilent Hillreboot was Kojima Productions?
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Even without Kojima on board,Silent Hillhas had such an extended break that - if Konami really is looking to try something entirely new with the franchise - there’d be far more leniency towards experimenting with its formula. While many people will no doubt want to see aSilent Hillthat attempts to modernize the somewhat cumbersome, claustrophobic, and tense nature of the franchise’s first handful of games, whatPThas shown longtime fans is that sometimes trying something entirely new can completely reinvigorate a franchise.
The first-person perspective that Kojima brought to the forefront was an entirely new lens on the story ofSilent Hilland showed that the series still worked without the often awkward tank controls and combat that lay at the forefront of all four of the original games. After all, with a world as open to interpretation asSilent Hill,the ways a developer could go are almost endless.
With so few of the big names that worked on the franchise originally still at Konami as well, it makes sense that a new lens on the franchise might be the best way to go. Whether that’s following something closer to the new over-the-shoulder shooter gameplay of theResident Evilremakesor perhaps sticking to the idea of a moral choice adventure title similar toUntil Dawn,there will be far more acceptance towards trying something new now the game has been out of the public conscience for so many years. After technically skipping an entire console generation, it’s easy to imagine that fans aren’t going to have as many expectations as to whatSilent Hillshould look like in 2020, meaning Konami can resurrect the game in whichever way they choose.
Overall,Silent Hillhas so much potential in the current climate of video games that it would be a shame not to see it make some form of return. WhileKonami’s track record for reboots hasn’t exactly been stellar, hopefully, its decision to potentially outsource the project will mean fans finally get to go back to an authentic rendition of the classic horror franchise.Whether that’s with Kojima, some of the members of the now-disbanded Team Silent, or an entirely new developer on board, now is indeed the perfect time forSilent Hillto make its long-awaited comeback.
