The Silent Hill myths are as out of control as its iconic Otherworld today, and the filmmaker''s tactics have only worsened.
The remake of Silent Hill has been bubbling for over a year now, as IP owner Konami entered a partnership with The Medium developer Bloober Team. Now Christophe Gans, the director of the (surprisingly successful) 2006 Silent Hill movie, appears to have confirmed the remake''s existence in an interview with the French publication Movie & Game (opens in a new tab), claiming that the developer is indeed Bloober Team.
"There are several games to play as we discuss," Gans said on Silent Hill, adding that he believes Konami was "really impressed" by the success of Resident Evil''s remakes, which is evidently exceptional.
Gans is collaborating with Konami again on the Silent Hill checkout, and the filmmaker is developing a sequel to his 2006 film. While it''s a little harder to deduce what these "several games" might be. The Korean ratings board has discovered some of the most prominent features of the Silent Hill 2 remake.
In my restless dreams...
It''s not the first time that Bloober Team has been linked to a potential Silent Hill 2 remake, and I''m sure it will not be the last. However, despite the Polish developer''s horror history, I''m certain they''re not a good fit for Silent Hill.
I wasn''t particularly impressed with either Layers of Fear or The Medium. And although the latter was a perfectly fine game, Troy Baker''s lack of scares and a glaring performance from the antagonist left me feeling dissatisfied.
Another reason I''m concerned about a remake is that the original PS2 game utilised hardware limitations to its strengths. Not only because it''s unsettling, but also to conceal sudden texture pop-in. Similarly, the game''s often claustrophobic environments and camera angles helped save money and keep gameplay smooth.
Given the power of current-gen consoles like PS5 and Xbox Series X, the Bloober Team or whoever ends up working on a Silent Hill 2 remake will not have to adhere to those same hardware limitations. That means key elements of Silent Hill 2''s resounding character may be stripped back. There''s even precedent for this, with the disastrous Silent Hill HD collection.
One aspect I liked about The Medium was its outstanding attention to detail in its environment. Despite all the supernatural kookiness, the game''s asylum setting still felt like a real place at times. In this sense, the town of Silent Hill is at least up to task of making a convincing modern interpretation of the lakeside town.
The truth is that Konami won''t be able to keep these rumors until long enough. If a complete reveal for at least the Silent Hill 2 remake isn''t on the cards soon, then I suspect it won''t be long before the Japanese publisher dismisses the rumors completely.