Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro Team for New Silent Hill

[WldCard]

Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro Team for New Silent Hill

Interactive P.T. teaser reveals Kojima and del Toro's upcoming Silent Hill offering starring Norman Reedus.

One of the big mysteries heading into Gamescom this week involved what looked to be a new survival horror game for the PlayStation 4, teased by Sony for the past week with short videos showing axes, bloody snowflakes, and other dark imagery, taunting viewers to watch "Horror Reinvented" on the PS4. That all culminated with the release earlier today of a new demo (or "interactive teaser", as it's called in the trailer), available on the PS Store, of a game simply called P.T.. At first glance, P.T. appears to be an eerily frightening, first person survival horror from previously unknown developer 7780s Studio.

But like any good horror flick, there's an unexpected twist ...

After playing through the demo and finally escaping to the outside world, the player is greeted with a cutscene of the main character walking away. The screen fades to black when a name comes up:

"HIDEO KOJIMA"

A few more steps and the screen fades again with another name:

"GUILLERMO DEL TORO"

The camera then pans up to the main character, who slowly turns to reveal the visage of The Walking Dead and Boondocks Saints star, Norman Reedus.

Finally, the screen fades once more, this time to white. Then, in black letters, two simple words appear:

"SILENT HILL"

As soon as that surprise sinks in, one more letter appears ... turning "SILENT HILL" into "SILENT HILLS"

So there you have it. It appears that Konami is bringing Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro on board to reinvent the Silent Hill franchise for the PlayStation 4. They're also bringing along one of the biggest cult icons of the day, Norman Reedus. While the P.T. teaser was a part of Sony's Gamescom presentation and has only been released for the PS4, there's no official word yet on if Silent Hills will be a PlayStation exclusive. If so, it would definitely help Sony to make up for Microsoft's announcement earlier in the day of Rise of the Tomb Raider becoming an Xbox One exclusive [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/136785-Rise-of-the-Tomb-Raider-Will-Be-Xbox-Exclusive].

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[Uratoh]

This game...cannot possibly be mediocre. It might be epicly awesome, or it might be a horrible failure...but there's no way it will be bland.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

Well that's neat. Kojima and Del Toro are never bad things (Except for Hellboy II), and I guess Norman Reedus is cool too? I liked Boondock Saints, but I don't like Walking Dead, so I could go either way I suppose.

Hope it comes out on other platforms though, especially the PC. I still haven't played Downpour, mostly because I hear it's mediocre, but it definitely didn't help that it snubbed my platform of choice.

Downpor was kind of crap. It was glitchy and pretty broken. In my opinion, it was almost as bad as SH4, so you weren't missing out. I just hope that Kojima doesn't include any snukes in the game, otherwise I won't be able to take anything about it seriously.

 

[Fox12]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It is nice to see Konami put more effort into Silent Hill than... none at all. It's like they finally realized that they're sitting on one of the most iconic gaming franchises out there, maybe they should give it to their talent.

I don't like Kojima. I think he's a poor writer, and he puts crazy detail into the least important aspects of his games. I don't care how fast your ice cubes melt or whether or not bullet wounds show up on your characcter. I care about the quality of your writing. I'm also weary as to how his insanity will come out on screen. It's kind of funny with Metal Gear, but this is an entirely different animal.

Del Torro could be interesting. I know he loves horror, though none of his horror titles ever seem to come to fruition. This could be hit or miss for me. If I put faith anywhere, than it's with him, but it's not like they got H.P. Lovecraft to work on the thing. Del Torro jumps between art pieces and mindless action flicks pretty frequently, so he's really the wild card here. Is he the writer? The executive producer? Does he have time to devote to this with so many other projects in development? A lot hinges on him, I think.

As for Norman Reedus, I don't even know. A strange choice, I think, but he's certainly not a bad actor. I know he's worked in low budget horror before, and he's in The Walking Dead now, so there's something there. I'm curious, but not yet convinced. You have a lot to live up to guys.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It is nice to see Konami put more effort into Silent Hill than... none at all. It's like they finally realized that they're sitting on one of the most iconic gaming franchises out there, maybe they should give it to their talent.

I don't like Kojima. I think he's a poor writer, and he puts crazy detail into the least important aspects of his games. I don't care how fast your ice cubes melt or whether or not bullet wounds show up on your characcter. I care about the quality of your writing. I'm also weary as to how his insanity will come out on screen. It's kind of funny with Metal Gear, but this is an entirely different animal.

Del Torro could be interesting. I know he loves horror, though none of his horror titles ever seem to come to fruition. This could be hit or miss for me. If I put faith anywhere, than it's with him, but it's not like they got H.P. Lovecraft to work on the thing. Del Torro jumps between art pieces and mindless action flicks pretty frequently, so he's really the wild card here. Is he the writer? The executive producer? Does he have time to devote to this with so many other projects in development? A lot hinges on him, I think.

I'm of the same mind. I think Del Toro could do it. His style and the way he merges visuals with the psychology of characters is exactly what a Silent Hill game needs. But Hideo Kojima? Hell no. Neither his goofy, idiot nonsense, nor his overblown, incredibly shallow pretension is good in this kind of a setting. Personally, I can only see it going wrong.

 

[Gennadios]

OMG. The only thing that would make me more excited about this teaser of a nonexistant game with nothing to go on, would be if it was co-starring Skeet Ulrich. I don't even have a PS4 and I'm already sold.

 

[Spartan448]

Whelp, if there was ever a proper application for a cardboard box, I'd say staying out of Pyramid Head's line of sight is a perfectly acceptable use.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well that's neat. Kojima and Del Toro are never bad things

Kojima's work is idiotic, pretentious and tone deaf. He's a natural fit for Silent Hill like Michael Bay is for Ico.

 

[Mahorfeus]

I am pretty sure that Kojima's involvement is more related to the FOX Engine being used in the game. With a name like Del Toro on board, it seems way more likely that the actual writing is his hands.

At any rate, I like Kojima, and I like Del Toro. Reedus isn't too shabby, though seeing him in Silent Hill will take some getting used to.

Really damn excited for this, to be honest. Need to give the teaser a try.

 

[OuendanCyrus]

I remain cautiously optimistic about this, as long as Kojima doesn't go over the top with easter eggs and dumb jokes and whatnot since Silent Hill is most powerful for its subtlety.

 

[Mave]

Ok this is ALMOST amazing... why almost? there´s one name missing so I can go nergasming, where is Akira Yamaoka ? ._. if theres no Yamaoka then it's not a silent hill.

 

[Fox12]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It is nice to see Konami put more effort into Silent Hill than... none at all. It's like they finally realized that they're sitting on one of the most iconic gaming franchises out there, maybe they should give it to their talent.

I don't like Kojima. I think he's a poor writer, and he puts crazy detail into the least important aspects of his games. I don't care how fast your ice cubes melt or whether or not bullet wounds show up on your characcter. I care about the quality of your writing. I'm also weary as to how his insanity will come out on screen. It's kind of funny with Metal Gear, but this is an entirely different animal.

Del Torro could be interesting. I know he loves horror, though none of his horror titles ever seem to come to fruition. This could be hit or miss for me. If I put faith anywhere, than it's with him, but it's not like they got H.P. Lovecraft to work on the thing. Del Torro jumps between art pieces and mindless action flicks pretty frequently, so he's really the wild card here. Is he the writer? The executive producer? Does he have time to devote to this with so many other projects in development? A lot hinges on him, I think.

I'm of the same mind. I think Del Toro could do it. His style and the way he merges visuals with the psychology of characters is exactly what a Silent Hill game needs. But Hideo Kojima? Hell no. Neither his goofy, idiot nonsense, nor his overblown, incredibly shallow pretension is good in this kind of a setting. Personally, I can only see it going wrong.

I would love to see From Software take a crack at it. They're the only studio I think is qualified at the moment, honestly. Their understanding of subtlety, and telling a story through the environment would be uniquely suited toward the survival horror genre. Dark Souls already felt more like a survival horror game than anything in recent memory anyway. Of course, I would also love to see them make a Berserk game, so I guess that shows how far that goes.

 

[Infernai]

I guess there is only one thing to say about this:

Strap in kids, this game's about to get fucking weird...er, probably more so then it already is.

 

[Xerosch]

This game...cannot possibly be mediocre. It might be epicly awesome, or it might be a horrible failure...but there's no way it will be bland.

That's exactly my first thought. I adore Silent Hill 1 to 3 and even liked the 4th one. I think I don't have to explain how rapidly the quality descended from there. Even though I played through all of them. Except 'Homecoming'. Fuck that one, it's likely that it's my most hated title in 30 years of gaming. And 'Book of Memories' doesn't count.

Anyway, I'm excited to see that Konami is finally putting some effort into the franchise again. There is potential in the line up and I am one of the players who can ignore wonky controls as long as atmosphere and story drag me in. But I'm also aware of what the quoted Uratoh said: There is the potential for an abomination. That would be the final nail in SH's coffin. And if these two guys can't safe it, then I guess it's better to just let it go.

 

[animeh1star1a]

I look forward to battling the materialization of some random bastard's subconscious in a giant robot made from cardboard boxes.

 

[Remus]

I look forward to battling the materialization of some random bastard's subconscious in a giant robot made from cardboard boxes.

And armed only with a crossbow.

 

[yellost]

wait, is hating on Kojima a new thing ?
Man, the internet is moving too fast, I can't keep up anymore...

 

[Khanht Cope]

I'm optimistic for this. Hideo Kojima has a reflexive and experimental approach to crafting player experiences and playing off of their expectations. He's also used to weaving allegorical/reflexive threads into a narrative. These things should work for Silent Hill. The main thing he has to get around for this to go well, is embracing the concept of "show, don't tell" over his characteristic lack of elegance. (and having a good editor, if he's doing any writing)

Hope they can get the best out of these guys and make a proper stellar Silent Hill again.