A match made in heaven: the next Silent Hill game will be made by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, and star Norman Reedus.
If you've been watching Gamescom and own a PlayStation 4, then you've probably heard about "The P.T.," a playable teaser that has since been revealed as our first look at Silent Hills, the newest installment in the classic survival horror franchise.
If you haven't played the trailer already, DON'T click the video below. But if you can't muster up the courage to play it yourself, here's what the teaser looks like, courtesy of SoapyWarpig:
Originally attributed to a "7780s Studio," the artists behind the new Silent Hills are Hideo Kojima (Metal Gearseries) and Guillermo Del Toro (The Strain, Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim). Okay, this probably needs some explaining.
Anyone who's seen a Guillermo Del Toro film knows that the man is very good at the dark fantasy thing, which is pretty much what the Silent Hill franchise is built on -- except for the f***ed up monsters trying to eat your face off on every street corner. If you've never seen Pan's Labyrinth, check it out. It's Del Toro's version of a Silent Hill demo reel. You watch a little girl crawl deeper into the rabbit hole not unlike the protagonists of past installments of the video game series.
Del Toro has shown interest in video games in the past. He was previously creating a survival horror franchise called Insane for THQ before the publisher went bankrupt. Still, Del Toro assured fans that the game was still in development. I think he's probably put that game on hold now. He has a better deal on the table.
Working alongside Hideo Kojima, no less. This video game legend seem like an odd choice to you? He's known for the ridiculously whimsical, melodramatic, long, epic, and action-packed Metal Gear series, which is basically the only thing the man has worked on besides Zone of Enders and Policenauts. Why is Kojima so perfect for his series, and honestly the coolest part of this announcement? Because it's been a LONG time coming.
As early back as 2012, Kojima has expressed interest in working on a Silent Hill game. (I see the scenario: Kojima asked Konami, who also publishes Metal Gear, for the franchise and they simply handed it to him. The man is a genius, I'm serious.) And I reckon he's been working on this Silent Hill game since even before then. He's been trying to retire from Metal Gear for years, and I wonder if it's because he finally wants to make a straight horror game...
For years , Kojima has injected a special mix of horror into his games. Think about the ambient psychological horror (something Silent Hill is ALL about) of MGS 3 and 4. Snake Eater takes place in a jungle, where Snake comes face to face with the monsters that prey on him. The Beauty and the Beast Corps from Guns of the Patriots are horrifying in their own right. Think back to that fight with Laughing Octopus: you're running through a small cabin, and Laughing Octopus (who can blend in to any surface) could be around any corner. You only hear her shrill laughter echoing through the wooden walls. Any second, you could die. Fighting these monsters is not unlike being thrust into the Otherworld from Silent Hill.
This is a match made in heaven.
Oh, and you'll be playing as a character that looks exactly like Norman Reedus. I'm sure that doesn't need much explanation if you're a Walking Dead fan or at least have the faintest idea of what that show is about.
Kojima has also expressed wanting to make a video game with Ryan Gosling. If you've ever seen Only God Forgives, you know that Gosling would be great as a video game anti-hero. Please let him have a katana.
Not much else is known about Silent Hills. No release date or consoles have been announced.
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