Breaking Down All of The ‘Silent Hill’ Announcements
Dani Bethea
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In our restless dreams we saw this announcement coming…shambling through the high-definition fog…with its high fidelity mandolin and guitar riffs…with not just one but four new Silent Hill games for a new generation of consoles, technically. Rumors have been rampant online for years about a remake of the original Silent Hill games, especially the most critically acclaimed entry Silent Hill 2. Lo and behold, the very first trailer in the Konami: Silent Hill showcase was a gorgeously rendered remake of the aforementioned title developed by Bloober Team.
The story, monster designs, jump scares, and the twist of Silent Hill 2 are so ingrained into the culture that every horror fan, gamer or not, recognizes its iconography. For example, three beautifully designed and horrifying manifestations of the main character James Sunderland’s overwhelming guilt and trauma surrounding his wife’s death that appear in Silent Hill 2 are the first bound figure that starts the game with its radio-static accompaniment; later, the bloody bubble head nurses that were always a mainstay in his wife’s hospital room; lastly, the violent Red Pyramid head with its great sword as a manifestation of James’s anger and resentment toward’s his wife’s terminal illness. Apologies for the spoilers, but it’s been 21 years since this game debuted. So I hope you’ve had the opportunity to brush up on your Silent Hill lore.
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The original Team Silent that created or had a part in the original four games truly made magic nostalgia-laced memories for generations to come. The gaming community has been yearning for games that tap into the psychological horror, eerie atmosphere, bodily transformation, and the depths of darkness that can lurk in the human soul since the original quadrilogy. The first, third, and fourth games all had intersecting stories with the religious cult that doomed the town in the first place to be an incubator for malevolence. Each of those entries were spectacular in their own right, but the second was the first that ever made a departure from the original source material and made its own stamp in the original franchise. Perhaps, this is why Konami has decided to reintroduce a beloved and disentangled singular experience to a new generation. Lest we forget the dollar signs associated with brand loyalty.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t sing the praises of the other entries in the series. Many were anticipating all four of the original games to be remade in the showcase. But perhaps Konami is holding those in their back pocket to see how many units the Silent Hill 2 remake delivers. I digress.
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The original Silent Hill from 1999 was the shining star to close out the reign of the first-generation Playstation console. With its richly textured pixels that pushed the limits of the console and introduction of the fog-monster-radio static mechanic, the first Silent Hill most certainly made its mark with a beautiful father daughter story that continued in Silent Hill 3. The third outing for the Silent Hill franchise is the only entry that’s ever had a female protagonist as its lead character. If we’re being fair, the side story for Maria in Silent Hill 2: Born from a Wish, would technically count but Heather Mason has an entire game to herself. It’s never happened again in the franchise until the reveals at the Silent Hill showcase. But I’ll get there momentarily.
Silent Hill 3, visually, is one of the most macabre and bloody experiences in the entire series, with many persons extolling the virtues of its nightmarish experience. A remake of this game in 4K would probably be nauseating to the extreme and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
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Lastly, what some might call ‘the black sheep’ of the series (which has the most recognizable game cover art by the way) with its chained door from the inside of Apartment 302 was Silent Hill 4: The Room. It’s the most radical entry from Team Silent to date. With its first-person camera perspective inside the apartment, paranormal activity therein, ghostly apparitions that would stalk the main character, and a serial killer hunting and sacrificing people for his own ends Silent Hill 4 is either the best or the worst entry for many within the fandom. However, in the decades since the game’s release, many are discovering just how imaginative and grisly the fourth game truly was. Maybe one day, in the next Konami showcase, we’ll have remakes of these other entries in the series. But until then…
We must contend ourselves with Silent Hill: Townfall, a game toeing the line in its teaser trailer between Hideo Kojima’s P.T./Death Stranding and Remedy Entertainment’s Control. Or perhaps Silent Hill: Ascension is more your speed with its ‘choose your own adventure’ online multi-player-based gameplay.
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Picking up that thread from earlier about another game finally having a female protagonist (or antagonist?) after all of these years comes Silent Hill f. Not only was this trailer one of the longest, after the Silent Hill 2 remake’s length, but it was the most visually arresting and another first for the entire franchise is that it takes place entirely in Japan. A schoolgirl is running from a parasite (or her destiny to be reborn. Hmm, where have we seen that before) and the trailer ends with her becoming consumed by an admixture of marigolds, dahlias, and corpse flowers. The imagery is beautiful and haunting of her trying to escape this Junji Ito-styled, doomed inevitability scenario as the flowers consume her and the Japanese flutes and strings crossfade into the Silent Hill theme song.
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There was also news about another Silent Hill movie directed by Christophe Gans, entitled Return to Silent Hill, and I sadly wasn’t that excited about it. However, I know the visual details are probably going to be astounding. The thing is the first film was already an amalgamation of the first two games with a gender-swapped protagonist because the director took issue with the father being too emotional in the first game with stereotypical feminine traits and the character seeming unrealistic for the film he was trying to make. That’s a lot to unpack just on its own. Plus, we’re already getting a Silent Hill 2 remake so two projects dipping into the same story-pot seems like overkill (to me personally). I’m just here for the games, please, and thank you.
On one final note, I just have to share that October the 19th was my birthday and I’ve never been happier to be alive to see a franchise that I grew up with in my childhood welcoming me back into its familiar fog and ear-splitting sirens. In our restless dreams, we saw that town…Silent Hill. Konami promised they’d take us there again someday and yesterday they finally did. Well, we’re all together now, in our special place, waiting for the game’s release.
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