Konami has unfortunately been a controversial publisher with ulterior motives behind its lucrative decisions, as well as its neglect ofSilent Hillfor nearly a decade—not to mentionthe abrupt cancellation ofSilent Hills. It should come as little surprise to fans thatSilent Hill 2, Konami’s most popular installment, would be what receives a remake, even before the original game. Now that theSilent Hillfranchise is undergoing a modern metamorphosis, it will be interesting to see where the psychological horror progenitor finds its inspirations. One such inspiration seems to be fromResident Evil.
One of the few tidbits from Bloober Team’sSilent Hill 2that fans know about now is that it will feature a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective. This may not seem like an enormously important bit of information, but it does make some obvious suggestions as to how the remake may play.Capcom’sResident Evilfranchise, for example, has set the industry standard for remakes since its seminalResident Evil 2remake. It seems like bothSilent HillandResident Evilare aligning more closely with one another in the modern era, and that could be a boon for both survival-horror franchises.
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How Silent Hill and Resident Evil Are Different
Fundamentally,Silent HillandResident Evildiffer in multiple areas. The former franchise is chiefly involved with psychological horror and a profound lack of action or combat, while the latter franchise has experienced many structural gameplay alterations, but began as survival-horror.
Silent Hillis built upon an incredibly simple premise that can seem overwhelming or nonsensical depending on the lore expressed through individual installments. Rather, whileSilent Hillis thought-provoking, poignant, or deeply depressing in many of its narratives,Resident Evilis primarily composed of insignificant or absurd storylines with cheeky one-liners and bombastic characters.
In gameplay, the two franchises are undoubtedly different.Silent Hillis more explorative with fewer guidelines on how to progress, especially inSilent Hill 2, where progression requires particular items for oblique puzzles.Silent Hillgames do feature combat, but there is arguably not a singleSilent Hillgame that has truly satisfying or comprehensive combat enough for it to be positively regarded.
Resident Evil’s original entries followed a similar explorative design, but even its early installments are much more centered on action and combat.Resident Evilthen became fully action-oriented later on, and has made a celebratory return to survival-horror with its latest releases.
How Silent Hill and Resident Evil Are Similar
BesidesSilent Hill: Book of Memorieson the PlayStation Vita,Silent Hillhas not had an actual release sinceSilent Hill: Downpour, the eighth mainline installment that launched in 2012. That will not be the case for much longer, though, as many moreSilent Hillentries with eclectic genres have recently been announced.
It is difficult to estimate what direction some of these titles may go in, but Bloober’sSilent Hill 2remake is making a decision for its modern gameplay that takes afterResident Evil’s own recent remakes. Indeed, the idea to rehash original installments in reimagined remakes is already an inspiration drawn fromResident Eviland Capcom, which has proven hugely successful for them. In the meantime, not much is similar at all betweenSilent HillandResident Evil. However, theSilent Hill 2remake seems to emulate the cinematic atmosphere and graphical fidelity ofResident Evil’s popular remakes.
It will be interesting to see if combat is improved sufficiently inSilent Hill 2, which is one of its biggest concerns at the moment. But in terms of nailing a faithful tone from the original game,Silent Hill’s futurecould be incredibly bright if it leans more on what has madeResident Evilsuch a beloved franchise in recent years.
Silent Hill 2is in development for PC and PS5.
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