New Silent Hill Game Might Be a First Person Shooter

[BobYoMeowMeow]

With Konami revealing very little about its all-new Silent Hill game, we're left to speculate about which direction the psychological horror franchise will go. Will Silent Hill, like XCOM, make the first person shooter switch?

Such was the speculation when Czech developer Vatra was pegged as the latest developer on the Silent Hill franchise, taking over where Climax and Double Helix left off. The source of that rumor-mongering was a profile of Vatra from its video game talent agency Digital Development Management. DDM labeled Vatra's specialties as "FPS and Action," noting that it was working on two projects, one an unnamed "major franchise" and the other Rush'N Attack Ex-Patriot.

That lead some to conclude that the unnamed game—which is likely Vatra's take on Silent Hill—was a first-person shooter. Not hard evidence, and we contacted Konami to see there was any truth to the matter, but here's the slide in question.

The facts that prevent us jumping to conclusions are Vatra's portfolio. While the studio is new, the talent isn't, having worked on titles like gangster action game Mafia and third-person tactical shooter Hidden & Dangerous.

When Kotaku reached out to Konami and Vatra to see if that FPS speculation was correct, both companies told Kotaku pretty much the same thing: "Wait for E3." No confirmation or denial, unfortunately. Konami reps walked us through the teaser shown at Konami's recent Gamers Night, which was apparently not shown from a first-person perspective, and ended with the line "...the silence ends at E3." The publisher had no official statement on the matter, we were told.

If the next Silent Hill for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC does go "FPS," it wouldn't be unheard of for the series, which featured first-person sequences in Silent Hill 4: The Room—sans shooting, though—and first-person light gun shooting action in Silent Hill: The Arcade. The latter, by the way, is actually quite fun.

Clearly, Konami is comfortable experimenting with the series, as shown by the more action heavy Silent Hill: Homecoming and the nearly combat free Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

But as a first-person shooter? Is it just crazy enough to work? Or is the "FPSing" of beloved franchises a step in the wrong direction?

Is The New Silent Hill A First Person Shooter? - Silent Hill - Kotaku

There goes all hopes of a good silent hill game this generation
NOTHING is scary when you have a shotgun
Left 4 dead proved this already

It's not Silent hill anymore
even Shattered Memories for the Wii seems more Silent Hill

[Cucurbita]

NOTHING is scary when you have a shotgun
Left 4 dead proved this already

Agreed.

L4D had horror factors until you realize the shotgun makes you about as powerful as a lawn mower with zombies being grass.

[Zid]

... and third-person tactical shooter Hidden & Dangerous.

I'd like to point out, Hidden & Dangerous isn't a third-person shooter solely. It has both first and third-person; first-person for precision aiming, third-person for viewing environment, self, and positions like hiding behind a corner.

[Chiri]

.-. But what about my rusted pipe?

[Ketchup]

.-. But what about my rusted pipe?

how about a rusted shovel

[Rime]

It might be too early to say, but if they make gun usage limited, like so super limited that you can only use it to escape, then there might be hope for this project after all.

[Chockeh]

...I plan on buying Silent Hill's Shattered Memories on the PSP for Suoh and July...Buy or Not?...

[Cucurbita]

It might be too early to say, but if they make gun usage limited, like so super limited that you can only use it to escape, then there might be hope for this project after all.

Maybe it can be a double barrel shotgun that requires constant reloading, making shot spamming a little harder.

[BobYoMeowMeow]

Maybe it can be a double barrel shotgun that requires constant reloading, making shot spamming a little harder.

Silent Hill games already have shotguns
but they have extremely limited ammo
like old resident evils

[Hitaki]

NOTHING is scary when you have a shotgun
Left 4 dead proved this already

Yes.

I found it hard to believe I was massacring a horde of zombies much faster with a shotgun then with an SMG.