Konami seems to be compensating for its years of neglect by unveiling not one, but three Silent Hill games. With Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake being the most high-profile announcement, you’d almost forget about the other two. Not on my watch though. Let’s take a look at Silent Hill F and Silent Hill: Townfall, in case you ‘mist’ those. Get it? Mist? Whatever…
I’ll start with the latter, Silent Hill: Townfall, since this one holds a lot of potential. Developed by No Code Studios – the team behind magnificent games like Stories Untold and Observation – Townfall might turn out to become a mind-boggler. If you’re not familiar with any of the aforementioned games, make sure to pick those up at some point. They’re a real doozy. It’ll probably also be the only way to imagine what Townfall might become since the trailer doesn’t really tell us much.
Then there’s F, whatever the f that F might stand for. I’m not even sure if I should capitalize the F/f in the first place. Anywho, F/f is being developed by Neobards Entertainment, a fairly unknown but accomplished studio. With their efforts on Resident Evil Re:Verse and the next-gen upgrades for RE2 and RE3, Neobards has its fair share of third-person horror pedigree. And if F/f is anywhere as intriguing as its trailer, it’s going to be a good one. A 60’s Japan setting, presenting us with hollow-faced coral ladies? Sounds peachy to me!
But wait, I’m not done yet. Not only is Konami revamping the games, but it’s also rekindling the film franchise with Return to Silent Hill. With Christophe Gans – the director of the first movie – returning to shape the flick, fans of the 2006 movie might be having some expectations. But things might be a little different, says Gans, who believes that movies – like games – go through an evolution.
“I’m aware that Silent Hill is a very big video game franchise, and a work of art in the noble sense of the word. The people who thought up Silent Hill put a lot of their guts into it. If I know them well, they are people of great integrity.
“For me, it was important to design a Silent Hill for today’s audience. It’s clear that today’s horror movies don’t look like the horror movies of 2006, and so much the better. Not that the horror films of 2007 weren’t good, but every genre goes through an evolution.”
Plus, there’s Silent Hill: Ascension, a streaming series presented as a “massively interactive live event”, Konami taps into the concept of a hive mind, letting viewers determine the course. And with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Games studio taking care of the art and sound design… what can go wrong?
So, tell me. Have you been seeing all of this stuff in your restless dreams lately? Which of these are drawing you closer and which ones produce nothing but static in your mind? Come closer. Whisper it to me now…
