Rumors of a reincarnation of the Silent Hill universe have been abounding for years, only urged on by pleas from the loyal fans of the series. The 2014 release of “P.T.” or “Playable Teaser” by Kojima Productions involving Guillermo del Toro on the Playstation 2 in 2014 only stoked the rumors of an imminent return to Silent Hill. However, fans were left heartbroken in 2015 when it was revealed that any Silent Hill project related to P.T. had been canceled.
Almost seven years later, Konami announced a “Silent Hill Transmission” for October 19, 2022. After huge anticipation, it seems the community is reaping the long-awaited benefits of their patience. Konami announced a remake, two completely original installments of the Silent Hill universe, an interactive series, a new film adaptation, and lots of merch!
Didn’t have the time to pour over the transmission frame by frame? No sweat because we have an in-depth breakdown of all the announcements here for you!
Silent Hill 2 Remake
Konami’s first big reveal is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Regarded as a fan favorite and possibly one of the best horror games made, a remake of Silent Hill 2 is currently in the works. Concept artist Masahiro Ito and composer Akira Yamaoka, who both worked on the original game, are set to return for the remake. Since the original development team, Team Silent is now defunct, Bloober Team will be stepping in to handle this game. Bloober Team has previously worked on Observer, Blair Witch, and The Medium.
During the announcement, it was implied that the project had started 3 years ago, with all those involved struggling to keep things under wraps amongst the frequent questioning from the highly passionate fandom.
The trailer dives right in, showing us our main character James immediately, with a glimpse of everyone’s favorite “red pyramid thing” just a minute into the trailer. The characters are rendered in an incredible amount of detail, especially compared to the original game, which debuted in 2001.
We were also given a look at how exactly the game is being developed. The team is utilizing Unreal Engine, combining modern tech and mocap, in an attempt to preserve the feel of the classic original game while bringing it up to date and making it more immersive. All of these factors would explain the incredible quality of the graphics presented even in just the short trailer presented.
Silent Hill Townfall
Anytime I see Annapurna involved in a game, it makes me giddy. This brief introduction to the new installment of Silent Hill Townfall from Annapurna and No Code Games is no exception.
The teaser has a very old-school feel. It opens on a desk with a “pocket tv,” a landline phone, and what looks like a disposable camera sitting on a woodgrain desk. The pocket tv shows much static, spliced with very quickly flashed images. First, the tv shows a stone ledge, then what appears to be self-shot night vision footage of a man being suddenly attacked from behind by someone or something unseen. The teaser cuts back and forth between this scene and one of the ocean waves crashing in, all accompanied by a voice-over speaking about punishment or atonement for having done awful things. The images on the TV grow increasingly gruesome- bloodied appendages, a hall and doorway shot, a body facedown drenched in a pool of blood, a boiler room- as the lighting in the room and the ocean from the other scene both turn red. One of the final images flashed on the tv screen is that of a man with glasses who appears to be in a questioning/interview room of some kind.
The teaser was followed by a brief message from Joe McKellan of No Code in which he hints that many probably missed a lot of details in the trailer. This resulted in a frame-by-frame rewatch for me to complete the description above. Joe says that the team looks forward to building upon the “deep psychological horror” Silent Hill is known for.
Silent Hill 2 Film
The first film adaptations of the Silent Hill series are now 15 years old. Victor Hadida and Christopher Gans, the producer and director of the previous adaptations will return to develop this new adaptation, this time telling the story of Silent Hill 2.
Though Victor Hadida originally came to Konami about possibly developing a new film, he was unsure it would gain enough traction even though the series has been dormant for so long. Much to Hadida’s surprise, talks of a remake of the second game were already underway, so the timing was perfect.
Storyboards and concept artwork seem to be done as some are shown. However, casting and filming for this project is not yet in progress, leaving much unknown about the film. We do, however, have a title- Return to Silent Hill.
Silent Hill Ascension
In development by Genvid, Bad Robot, and DJ2 Entertainment– Silent Hill Ascension is being described as a real-time interactive series. Jacob Novak, CEO of Genvid, speaks on the project, stating that it was inspired by his time watching streamers play through the Silent Hill series with their communities.
Viewers will simultaneously watch the series live while getting to interact, be part of scenes, affect the outcomes, and make life-or-death decisions that will ultimately shape the Silent Hill canon.
The website given (Ascension.com) shows a brief teaser of one of the creatures featured in the game, the tagline “Face your trauma together.” and a go-live date of sometime in 2023.
Silent Hill F
The second original spin-off game announced during this transmission is Silent Hill F.
Our teaser shows the streets of a retro Japanese neighborhood and a young girl wearing a school uniform armed with a pipe. The girl visits a small shrine covered in flowers, then continues down the street. As she walks, she becomes increasingly weathered- body injured, clothes tattered. The ground and walls of the alleyway she walks are being consumed by red plant life, which reaches out at her from the walls, ultimately completely consuming her. Her limbs now appear porous as flowers sprout from all over her body. As a closing image, we get a close-up of the young girl’s face as her face peels and falls off.
The story for Silent Hill F is written by Ryukishi07, the pen name of an individual who has also written the When They Cry visual novel series. Character design is being done by Kera and directed by Motoi Okamoto. The game is still in development by Neoboards Entertainment, whose previous works include Devil May Cry HD Collection, No Straight Roads, and several installments in the Resident Evil universe.
Other Announcements
Lastly, any fans looking to get their hands on more official merch to show off their love for the Silent Hill universe were in luck! During the transmission, Konami announced a slew of official merchandise. The products include statues and dioramas of many of the characters from the series. Some of the most notable new additions include the first official statue of Maria, as well as a coin bank and a plushie commemorating the Inu Dog alternate ending of Silent Hill 2.
If you enjoyed this piece, please feel free to follow Deemarie on Twitter for similar content.
As always, for more news, reviews, rankings, and gaming news, you can keep up to date at Entry Level Games. Did you enjoy this week’s news? Were there any articles that stood out to you? You can let us know and discuss with other gamers over the official Entry Level Games Twitter account!
