At 10.02pm last night, alone in the kitchen, I screamed aloud in an empty room.
To be fair, screaming is something I do a lot when Silent Hill is involved. Shocked screams, scared screams, oh-shit-I-panicked-and-now-I’ve-gone-the-wrong-way screams; I’ve done them all. Last night was the very first time I think I’ve ever screamed in abject delight, though.
After a full decade of neglect – and eight years after the eye-watering decision to scorch the earth of Kojima’s seminal PT – Konami has resurrected the horror franchise. But rather than dip a cautious toe into the sea of public opinion, the Japanese publisher’s about-face was so abrupt it was dizzying. At 11pm on Tuesday night, Silent Hill was dead and had been for years. 24 hours later, we have a sequel, a remake, a new Hollywood movie, and an interactive streaming series (I’m not convinced I understand what that last one is yet) in the works.
Just in case the screaming didn’t make it clear: I’m deliriously excited about all this. I know some are cautious about the prospect of Bloober Team taking on Silent Hill 2. I know the studio’s own titles have sometimes made clumsy work of dealing with mental health issues, and some games were marred with tech and performance issues. But I firmly believe that the studio has evolved with every release, and whilst I still don’t quite understand why James’ face changes so dramatically throughout the course of last night’s teaser (tell me you noticed it too?!), I’m hopeful. It’s a quiet, trembling kind of hope that needs a little coaxing, sure, but I’ll take it. Quiet hope is better than no hope, right?
Silent Hill 2 is being remade alongside concept artist Masahiro Ito and sound designer Akira Yamaoka, both of whom worked on the original Silent Hill 2. Bloober CEO Piotr Babieno says “Silent Hill is the title that made [Bloober Team’s devs] fall in love with horror games”. We can only hope that ardent fans with that kind of insight will have the confidence to do that remake justice without damaging the game’s DNA. I think Motive’s Dead Space remake team just may pull it off; I desperately want Bloober to do so, too.