Konami held its major livestream presentation this morning, announcing not just the new “Return to Silent Hill” film, but three games and a new interactive streaming series based on the property.
Not unexpectedly, the first of the games is the long-awaited “Silent Hill 2” remake which is being developed by Bloober Team (“The Medium,” “Layers of Fear”) and will be released for PlayStation 5 as a console exclusive as well as PC via Steam.
Original creators such as art director Masahiro Ito and composer Akira Yamaoka are said to be ‘closely’ involved in the remake, with Mateusz Lenart leading the project that has been in the works for three years.
Bloober says it intends to recreate everything that made the original game a classic, along with adding new elements to make the game world more immersive. Such changes include a switch to an over-the-shoulder camera.
The title has been built with Unreal Engine 5, utilizing both Lumen and Nanite. Along with an overhauled combat system and set-pieces is will also boast 3D Audio and DualSense support. There’s also no loading screens.
Next comes “Silent Hill Townfall” which is in development at Scottish studio NoCode (“Observation,” “Stories Untold”), and will be published by Annapurna Interactive.
NoCode creative director Jon McKellan says: “It’s a real honour for us to bring a new title to this series that both respects the source material but also does something a little bit different with it.” More details on that one are expected early in the new year.
Next comes “Silent Hill F,” the proper big-scale new entry in the long-dormant horror series. Taiwan-based Neoboards Entertainment (“Resident Evil Resistance”) is developing the project which will be a completely new story set in 1960’s Japan. It’s a beautiful, yet horrifying world which is being crafted by famed Japanese visual novel writer Ryūkishi07.
Finally there’s “Silent Hill Ascension,” an interactive streaming series where “the entire community shapes the canon of Silent Hill.” Specifics of the project are under wraps, but it seems to allow groups of viewers to collectively decide what happens next in the story. That project will launch in July 2023.
