SILENT HILL: FUTURE

Disclaimer: No, die-hard fans–Silent Hill: Future is not an upcoming game but rather a good title. I suppose that was a bit cruel of me, wasn’t it?

So–how many of you have heard of Silent Hill? If not, let me tell you a little about it. Silent Hill, named for the fictional Maine town in which the series’ nightmare originated, is one of the greatest horror franchises in gaming history. The protagonists of the games find themselves caught in a world born from their own deep-rooted fears, ones that manifest in the most terrifying ways. 

Last summer I finally got my hands on an AV2HDMI cable and hooked up my old PlayStation 2 with its glorious backward compatibility to the upstairs television. Shaking with anticipation, I slid in that classic PS1 disc, harkened to the angel song of the PS2 startup noise, and was blessed with an image of fan-favorite character Lisa Garland (I LOVE YOU LISA!) running across the screen. Subsequently, I was graced with this oh-so-holy picture:

But why, you might ask, am I speaking of the original Silent Hill like it’s the holy grail of horror games? Maybe because it is indeed a masterpiece of survival horror. A cult classic, I daresay–a pioneer! Silent Hill’s deep, complex story and puzzle-like paths through the map make for a very enjoyable experience. The 1999 graphics are very nostalgia-inducing, especially if you grew up on the early PlayStations. And the soundtrack? Oh, let me tell you about the soundtrack. Akira Yamaoka’s work is infallible. It’s the kind of music you’d listen to while having a philosophical reflection in your head on a foggy day. Or having an existential crisis. Take your pick.

However wonderful Silent Hill is, the future of the franchise was relatively bleak… Konami hadn’t touched on the subject for a long time–until announcing the Silent Hill 2 remake. Survival horror fans have been getting treated really nice with all the Resident Evil remakes that’s been coming out over the past few years–but a Silent Hill game being remade was something I never thought would happen. 

Speaking of the future of Silent Hill, there’s more in the makes than just the upcoming Silent Hill 2. Future games Silent Hill Townfall, F, and Ascension are all in the works with Ascension being the closest to release. Could this hail a grand return to the series? I think so! Maybe after so many years, devs will finally be paying more attention to one of the greatest franchises of all time…

A return to Silent Hill of any kind opens a gateway to a resurgence of true survival horror. The essence of the game(s) is unlike any other–painted by psychological torment and a vibe unmatched by any other game. The concept of an individually-created nightmare coming to life is executed brilliantly both in the first Silent Hill and its successors–and to know it’s coming back? That’s a scary good thing to think about.

DEAD BY DAYLIGHT: OCTOBER TREATS

Survivors and killers, prepare yourself for the upcoming tome: Commitment! With it you shall receive new merch from the official Dead by Daylight store, new outfits (unfortunately including another Feng cosmetic), the return of the annual Halloween event Haunted by Daylight, and good old daily rewards from October 18th to November 6th.

But you know what also is coming around? Something to scare killers clean out of their shoes. The anti-camping mechanic is in the works! That means that killers (especially Bubba mains) will finally NOT be able to sit in front of a hooked survivor and watch them slowly die anymore! 

For those of you who aren’t in the know, a survivor has to be hooked three times in order to be sacrificed, which removes them from the match and leaves their poor teammates behind with less of a chance to survive. And a lot of the time, unskilled or just downright unsportsmanlike killers stand in front of a hooked survivor, preventing the victim from being saved by a teammate because of the immediate consequence of getting attacked themselves.

But with the new anti-camping mechanic, everything changes. The mechanic would bring with it the presence of a gauge. While a survivor is on a hook, the gauge fills up–once it’s full, a survivor can unhook themselves definitively. The gauge fills quickly when the killer is in close proximity to the hook a survivor is on…however, the mechanic is kind of broken, to say the least. What if you’re on a map with two floors, and the hook is on the first floor and the killer is directly above on the second? That still fills up the gauge, even though you’re both on entirely different floors. 

And that, readers, is why killers should definitely be scared clean out of their shoes! 

Oh, wait…there’s a side note that is no less notable that I should add. Killers should also be afraid of the toolbox phenomenon. If a dropped toolbox is picked up by another survivor, it suddenly has unlimited charges, which is arguably much more terrifying than anti-camping. Toolboxes that are commonly used for speeding up generator repair progress. Happy Halloween, killer mains!