If you go down to the PS4 demo section today, you’re sure of a horrible surprise – and even when you think you know what’s coming, this interactive teaser for the tenth Silent Hill game, albeit this one’s from Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, will still manage to scare you half-crazy. We can’t get it out of our heads. Even after a third playthrough it’s still possibly one of the most potent slices of gaming horror we’ve endured since we first entered the realm of Pyramid Head.
The sheer simplicity of the PT experience is part of its horrific charm. Based around a simple looping corridor setup, it forces you to study the little things and, as someone wise once said, the devil really is in the details – and no one knows this better than fantasy horror auteur Guillermo del Toro. His now cancelled THQ game, Insane, never made it past pre-production and we can’t help but wonder if he’s channelling his creative horror juices straight into this
exciting slice of terror instead.
Add Metal Gear overlord Kojima to the mix with his own unique brand of storytelling and Silent Hills finds itself in legendary new hands who, even in an interactive trailer, are confident enough to throw in a faux fourth-wall-breaking ‘system crash’ warning. With only the power to listen, look and look harder, PT is an exercise in fear that even the recent Outlast can glare at with great envy.
To top it off, consider The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus in a starring role along with the furore caused by the clever announcement stunt, and horror just hit the big leagues.
So what can PT tell us about the future of the Silent Hill franchise? It’s still two years away, but we’re fully expecting a jump back to the standard third-person view for the game itself – especially to appreciate Reedus’ face in all its digital glory via Kojima’s FOX Engine. The end cutscene as he wanders into the fog is a tantalising dangling carrot of how a new-gen Silent Hill can look. The attention to environmental detail in PT is also horrifically precise as giant cockroaches spill from grimy toilets and rusty bath taps drip ominously.
There are plenty of teases hidden in the gameplay, too. Translated from its native Swedish, a voice on a radio apparently states, “Yes, the radio drama from 75 years ago was true. They are here on our Earth and they monitor and see all.” We’ve all managed to get a UFO ending in a Silent Hill game and this suggestion the War Of The Worlds might be more fact than fiction means Koj and del Toro won’t be straying far from Silent Hill lore.
Format PS4
ETA 2016
Pub TBC
Dev Kojima Productions