Should we really be excited about the Silent Hill revival?

On Sunday, Konami did the penultimate thing we’ve come to expect from a publisher and revealed that Silent Hill is making a comeback. The only way to shock fans more is to announce that Metal Gear Solid is actually being remastered.

Regardless, as expected, the excitement among fans was immediate. Fans of Silent Hill are enthusiastic about the series, although many of us are primarily keen to see these original games on modern consoles. Playing Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 on modern devices is a battle these days, and honestly, they may be old and gaunt at this point, but they still have something very special about them.

It’s been ten years since we last received the mainline Silent Hill game, Silent Hill: Downpour, and it’s been ten years since we received a pretty good Silent Hill game (excluding PT, if you really count it as Silent Hill game because it never had a chance to actually be one). I’m personally a huge Silent Hill fan, although I’ve only been a fan of the first three games, excluding my date with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

My excitement about bringing Silent Hill back to life quickly faded. Mainly because friends and ResetEra are reminding me that this is Konami we’re talking about, not Capcom. Konami released a number of successful games between 2006 and 2013, including Silent Hill; none of them were truly considered a Silent Hill game, nor did they receive the same acclaim as the original trilogy.

Silent Hill almost feels like a negative attachment to these games. I can only speak for Shattered Memories, it’s not a bad game by any means. Not great either, but it was still a pleasant experience. If anything, what caused the game to fail in this case was Silent Hill’s connection to it, and managing the expectations of Silent Hill fans. Having said that, can Konami recreate the feel of the original Silent Hill for fans? I do not believe.

You see, a successful return isn’t just about throwing players into a foggy town with terrifying monsters and unraveling a lifetime of trauma through another world. If it were that simple, The Evil Within would tick those boxes. Silent Hill is almost an overwhelming feeling. A feeling of vulnerability and the unknown, and a general shock at how Silent Hill tells a traumatizing story — a horror that many of us consider a very real one.

Once Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 laid the groundwork for what they did, I could see why the rest of the game would suffer. It wasn’t just that Konami kicked Team Silent to the curb, but Silent Hill didn’t set itself up as a sprawling franchise. In Silent Hill, we begin the search for his adopted daughter Cheryl as Harry Mason, after a car accident. Then, in Silent Hill 2, we played the character of James Sunderland, who was looking for his late wife, who somehow sent him a letter from outside the grave inviting him to the town of the same name.

Now, Silent Hill 2 no longer focuses on the characters or plot of Silent Hill, but it all takes place in the same town, and players find themselves unlocking a fascinating (but disturbing) story in both games. In Silent Hill 3, we follow Harry Mason’s daughter, Heather Mason – which is not bad even if a good portion of the game isn’t actually spent in the town of Silent Hill. This is where the series starts to suffer.

After this, most people’s interest in Silent Hill usually fades away. Sure, we’ve seen Alessa and Pyramid Head shine in later games, but it’s more of an Easter egg for fans of the series than an actual development of past games. There aren’t any more plot threads or characters to put people into, which I think is the main reason for the blandness of Silent Hill’s later years.

With all of this in mind, we should manage expectations for whatever comes next. Don’t get me wrong, it’s comforting to know that Silent Hill isn’t over yet. After all, PT shows us some promise that the series will someday rekindle the Silent Hill feeling that fans have been chasing for so long. Also, after a decade away from Silent Hill, Konami may finally realize that the series needs some wholehearted love and attention.

However, given Konami’s track record in Silent Hill, I doubt that’s the case. Rumor has it that the Bloober team is also working on a Silent Hill 2 remake, and I’m worried that what comes next may be as average as past installments. Or mid-range like The Medium – Silent Hill, which deserves better.

Honestly, as someone who’s long advocated for Silent Hill’s return, I’m now thinking, and hoping, that Konami will someday simply port Silent Hill 1 to 3 to modern consoles without slaughtering them (see You, Silent Hill HD Collection), let Silent Hill rest in peace.