Just hours before the highly anticipated PlayStation Showcase, more and more rumors suggest that Konami might be working on a remake of Metal Gear 3: Snake Eater. A few days ago, Jez Corden, a journalist from Windows Central, mentioned on his podcast that PlayStation and Konami may have reached an agreement for the upcoming releases from the big K to have temporary exclusivity on its console. For now, this information has not been confirmed by any of the companies involved.
What is confirmed, however, are several releases from the Silent Hill saga, which were announced during the Silent Hill Transmission at the end of last year. Below, we’ll detail all the information we have about the future of this classic survival horror series.
The Mysterious Silent Hill: Townfall
A co-production involving the publisher Annapurna Interactive, globally known for publishing acclaimed titles like Stray and Neon White, among others. The independent developer No Code Studios, winner of several BAFTA awards (the British Academy Film Awards are accolades granted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts), is primarily known for the titles Stories Untold and Observation. And last but not least, Konami itself. After watching the trailer, it’s not very clear what kind of mechanics will be applied, but based on the developer’s previous experiences, we can assume that the narrative and atmosphere will be the main focus of the title.
Silent Hill: Ascension
More than a video game, Silent Hill: Ascension could be defined as an interactive experience, a sort of film that will be broadcast live, where viewers can make decisions that affect the development of the plot. An interesting proposal for movie lovers, but one that promises very little from a gameplay perspective. This project will be a collaboration between the Japanese company and Genvid, Behaviour Interactive, DJ2 Entertainment, and Bad Robot Games.
Return to the Big Screen: “Return to Silent Hill”
French director Christophe Gans will once again be in charge of adapting this survival horror classic to the big screen. Let’s hope this time he can do more justice to the original work, as the first cinematic version of Silent Hill was quite disappointing. In fact, if we take Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic as references, critics in both cases gave it a score of 3 out of 10. The general audience was more generous, giving it 63% and 80%, respectively, although in this comparison, I’d lean toward the former, which has the opinion of over 250,000 users compared to just over a thousand on Metacritic.
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f will feature a unique setting for the saga, with the plot taking place in none other than 1960s Japan. The development will be handled by the independent studio NeoBards Entertainment, founded in Hong Kong in 2017 by a group of industry veterans with extensive experience in AAA companies. This team has developed titles for major video game companies like EA, Activision, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and even Capcom, which entrusted them with producing Konami’s rival license in the survival horror genre: none other than Resident Evil.
In 2020, they released a multiplayer variant of the classic Resident Evil for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC called Resident Evil Resistance, an asymmetrical 4-versus-1 multiplayer game that was poorly received by both critics and players, mainly due to being highly unbalanced and plagued with numerous connection issues, largely attributed to the lack of dedicated servers.
Two years later, they released another multiplayer game titled Resident Evil Re:Verse for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS4, and Xbox One. This time, it adopted a more conventional format, a sort of deathmatch for 2 to 6 players. Once again, it failed to win over players. On its Steam page, positive reviews represent only 38%, with connection issues and character imbalance being the main complaints.
At first glance, these past experiences give the impression that the development team might not be up to the standards of Konami’s saga. However, this doesn’t have to be true, as both games failed in the multiplayer aspect, while Silent Hill is characterized by single-player games. Both Resident Evil Re:Verse and Resident Evil Resistance worked well in their fundamental aspects, such as combat mechanics, movement, and character design. This suggests that NeoBards Entertainment could do a good job with a single-player experience. For now, we’ll have to wait and see if the studio can redeem itself in the survival horror genre.
Silent Hill 2 Remake
The trailer that generated the most excitement among the public was undoubtedly the preview of the Silent Hill 2 Remake. The second installment of Silent Hill was released in 2001 for the best-selling console in history, the PlayStation 2, and was later ported to Xbox and PC. This game, along with its prequel and the two subsequent sequels, was developed by the legendary Team Silent, marking both the birth and the peak of the franchise. The versions released during the seventh generation of consoles never lived up to the first four developed by the original team.
Silent Hill 2 is considered by many to be the best title in the franchise and, for some, the best survival horror game of all time. It’s often seen in rankings of the best PS2 games, and for good reason. The game offers a terrifying atmosphere, a story full of mystery and paranormal situations, top-notch graphics, and an incredibly polished artistic aspect. Both the visuals and cinematics, as well as the game’s music, create an unparalleled atmosphere. Silent Hill 2 is a masterpiece that offers an adventure filled with horrors, an experience that every video game lover must try.
Who is developing the Silent Hill 2 Remake?
The team chosen by Konami to remake this psychological horror classic is none other than Bloober Team, an independent studio founded in Poland in 2008, which rose to fame thanks to its horror and suspense games.
What new features will Silent Hill 2 Remake have?
At the beginning of this year, Bloober Team’s marketing director, Anna Jasińska, gave an interview to Dread XP, where she revealed that they will remain faithful to the original story but will make changes to the gameplay and update the graphics from scratch.
How to get Silent Hill 2 Remake?
The trailer shows that the game will be released for PS5 and PC. Sony will have a temporary console exclusivity of at least 12 months from its launch. For PC users, the only way to enjoy the title for now will be through Steam. On Valve’s platform, you can already access the game’s page and add it to your wishlist. However, there is still no confirmed release date, so we’ll have to wait for the next PlayStation Showcase for more information.
