Earlier this yr, the web was awash in rumors, stories, screenshots, and imprecise Instagram posts pointing to a brand new upcoming Silent Hill sport. Perhaps even a number of video games, together with a remake of Silent Hill 2. Now Konami has lastly made the information official, together with that the Silent Hill 2 remake can be helmed by the Polish devs at Bloober Staff. The studio had tried to tip-toe across the hypothesis, however that didn’t stopped some gamers from freaking out about what the beloved PS2 basic may find yourself like within the palms of the staff that made 2020’s The Medium. Immediately’s affirmation has solely reignited the controversy about whether or not Bloober is as much as the seemingly unattainable activity of profitable over Silent Hill 2’s cult following whereas modernizing the 20-year outdated horror sport.
It’s been a decade now because the final new mainline entry in Konami’s Silent Hill collection. 2014’s P.T., the Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro demo for the canceled Silent Hills sport, is the final significant window anybody’s gotten into that horrorverse, and like diehards of different gaming franchises, Silent Hill followers have been determined for information of a revival. That dynamic was a key driver of final yr’s obsession with believing {that a} mismanaged indie undertaking known as Deserted was secretly Kojima’s subsequent stab on the collection.
The rumor mill was up and operating once more this yr as nicely. Right here’s a fast rundown of the the place the Silent Hill reboot rumors began and the place they ended up:
July 6, 2020: Leaker Nightfall Golem says a brand new Silent Hill is within the works at a Japanese developer. February 10, 2021: YouTuber TheGrateDebate lays out dozens of developer tweets and stories to make the case that Bloober Staff might be engaged on a brand new Silent Hill. February 18, 2021: Bloober Staff CEO Piotr Babieno tells Gamesindustry.biz it’s “been working for greater than a yr on one other gaming undertaking, one other horror IP, and we’re doing this with a really well-known gaming writer.” February 18, 2021: VGC stories {that a} Japanese developer is engaged on a Silent Hill undertaking, however that Konami additionally shopped round licensing tasks out to different studios. June 30, 2021: Bloober Staff and Konami announce a strategic partnership to make video games collectively. October 1, 2021: VGC stories Konami is reviving its basic collection, together with Steel Gear, Castlevania, and Silent Hill.March 14, 2022: Reddit person spots new trademark from Konami for the collection. Could 12, 2022: Nightfall Golem shares photos allegedly leaked from a 2020 model of a brand new Silent Hill and claims they have been later copyright striked by Konami. Could 15, 2022: Podcaster and leaker NateTheHate tweets that a number of Silent Hill tasks are in improvement together with a brand new mainline entry, aspect tales, and a Silent Hill 2 remake by Bloober Staff that might be a timed unique for PlayStation. Could 15, 202: VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb says his sources corroborate NateTheHate’s tweet, including {that a} reveal was initially deliberate for E3 2021 however later scrapped. In line with Eurogamer’s Vikki Blake Bloober Staff is unquestionably engaged on one thing Silent Hill associated.Could 16, 2022: VGC stories that along with a remake, new mainline sport, and episodic tales, in keeping with its sources the pictures leaked by Nightfall Golem have been from a P.T.-style teaser codenamed “Sakura.”October 16, 2022: Konami broke its silence and introduced a mysterious Silent Hill showcase. October 19, 2022: 4 Silent Hill video games are revealed to be in improvement, alongside a brand new Silent Hill film, with Bloober Staff making the remake.
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Given the overwhelming proof even earlier this yr that Bloober Staff, whose current psychological horror video games embrace Layers of Concern, Observer, and Blair Witch, was engaged on a Silent Hill, IGN requested the studio on the time in regards to the rumors on the Polish video games convention Digital Dragons earlier this week.
“We will’t touch upon something we’re doing as a result of we respect our relationship with our companions, after all,” Babieno stated. “So we will’t [say] something. We’ll make an announcement about our future tasks as quickly as we will. So then you’ll know far more.”
To make this non-denial even weirder, IGN reported that Babieno went onto chuckle whereas including “formally,” implying the rumors already on the market weren’t fully bunk. He continued, “I might say that it’s exhausting to work with somebody who [owns an IP you’re working on], however we’re at all times speaking with these licensors, [saying] ‘Guys we want to use your license, however we want to inform our personal story.’”
Now that we all know the rumor was true, it depart’s Bloober with the unenviable activity of remaking a basic regardless of its noticed report of success within the horror style. Any departure from the spirit and vibe of the early Silent Hill video games is precisely what followers are afraid of, and why Bloober’s potential involvement invited a mini-backlash earlier this yr and once more following the showcase.
“This horror sport just isn’t very spooky, however generally very boring,” Zack Zwiezen wrote in Kotaku’s evaluate of The Medium. Bloober’s video games have often been criticized for struggling to construct pressure and falling into cliche. “bloober staff remaking silent hill 2 is sort of a scholar in math class who failed each examination all of the sudden grew to become the instructor,” podcaster Bobsvids tweeted in Could. “The phrase ‘Bloober Staff Silent Hill 2 remake’ evokes the identical emotions that ‘Quantic Dream Star Wars’ does,” learn one other tweet that gained traction on the time.
Some individuals’s disappointment with Bloober’s method to horror was summed up in a clip of YouTuber Jerma taking part in Layers of Concern and breaking down cackling as a ghost youngster slams right into a wall and falls over. The sport got here out only a yr after Bloober launched the Bomberman-inspired Basement Crawl, one of many worst-rated PS4 video games on the time, and marked the studio’s polarizing flip towards first-person horror. Some have discovered it refreshing. Others have discovered it extraordinarily meh.
It was adopted up by 2017’s cyberpunk-themed Observer which was genuinely wonderful and extra broadly praised, however would find yourself proving the exception somewhat than the rule. Whereas there are those that liked The Medium, Bloober’s most up-to-date string of tasks has left others feeling like its expertise has been stifled by an over-reliance on worn out psychological tropes and tacky leap scares. An ideal recipe, in different phrases, to fully bungle Silent Hill 2’s return.
Right here have been among the reactions instantly following right now’s official announcement:
After all, no psychological horror sport might be higher than the one followers are taking part in with themselves as they pour over comparability pictures pixel by pixel whereas ready for the sport to lastly come out.
Replace 10/19/22 5:40 p.m. ET: A model of this story initially ran on Could 19, 2022. It’s been up to date right now following Konami’s Silent Hill showcase.
