Yesterday our fears were all but confirmed when Silent Hills co-director Guillermo del Toro and actor Norman Reedus, who was set to lend his voice and likeness to the game’s protagonist, stated that Silent Hills was no longer happening.
With developer Hideo Kojima’s relationship with publisher Konami reportedly strained, it seems that Konami is in the middle of an internal implosion that has led to them allegedly ousting Kojima from his creative director position in the Metal Gear Solid series, along with canning one of the most highly anticipated horror games of all time. While Konami has yet to release an official statement regarding Silent Hills, if they are to continue ahead with it (which, at this point, seems highly unlikely) it will undoubtedly not be placed in the hands of those who were previously in control of it.
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This is very disappointing news indeed, as the game’s “playable teaser” P.T. indicated that Kojima knew exactly what he was doing when it came to the horror genre. All signs pointed to Silent Hills reinvigorating the once mighty series, but now Konami has taken the drastic step of removing P.T. from the PlayStation Store, too, thus meaning that there are now no remnants left of the Silent Hill game that could have been.
But despite one of its most highly anticipated releases being ungraciously discarded, there are still a number of horror games that fans of the genre have to look forward to in the near future. Here’s our selection of the horror games that will almost make you forget that Silent Hills is no longer happening… almost:
Silent Hills Cancelled: Other Horror Games to Look Forward to in the Near Future
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Kodoku
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: PS4, PS Vita
The weirdest entry in this list, Carnivore Studio's upcoming PS4 and PS Vita release Kodoku doesn't hold back on the surrealist imagery, seemingly side-stepping the traditional jump scares of the horror game genre in favor of deeply unsettling images of pigs with human faces.
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Outlast 2
Release Date: TBA
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
The sequel to one of the most warmly received horror games of the past five years, Outlast 2 was arguably the second-most heavily anticipated horror game release outside of Silent Hills.
The original Outlast, released back in 2013 on PC before receiving a current-gen console release in 2014, managed to squirm its way past the crowd of mediocre horror game releases on Steam and make an immediate name for itself.
The pressure is now on for developer Red Barrels to live up to the success of the first game, and potentially turn it into this generation's best shot at mimicking the success of the Resident Evil/Silent Hill series.
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Routine
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: PC
With the world still reeling from a genuinely good Alien game having been released in the form of Alien: Isolation, Routine appears to take its cues from the desolate spacecraft setting of Ridley Scott's first entry in the film series, pitting man against monster in a similarly bleak environment that developer Lunar Software has stated will mimic the look of '80s sci-fi flicks.
The game will also feature a unique twist in that it will boast both procedurally generated environments and permadeath, meaning that once you die, you'll be forced to restart the game from the beginning. That'll certainly help add an extra layer of tension to a game that already looks to put players on the edges of their seats.
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Soma
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: PC, PS4
This upcoming game from Amnesia and Penumbra developer Frictional Games sees the studio taking to a new, alien environment as it places players in a remote research facility which has seen "machines taking on human traits," along with alien constructions that "have started to interfere with routine."
We're not entirely sure what that means, but rest assured that Frictional's previous games have been truly terrifying so we shouldn't expect anything less from Soma. This is certainly one of the most highly anticipated horror games of this year.
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Fatal Frame V
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: Wii U
Released in Japan late last year under the name Fatal Frame: Oracle of the Sodden Raven, the North American release of the game comes with the more simplified title Fatal Frame V, and looks to make use of the oft-forgotten Wii U GamePad.
Using the GamePad in order to take control of the game's camera, the recurring primary weapon of the Fatal Frame series, those who have been waiting for another horror game to make use of the touchscreen controller following the underrated ZombiU need look no further.
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Doom
Release Date: TBA
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
We've been impatiently awaiting the release of a new Doom game since 2004, and id Software's return to the horror franchise that propelled the development studio into the annals of video game history is as desired as it is mysterious.
Aside from a teaser trailer highlighting one of the game's monstrous beasties, we know very little about the upcoming Doom. Hopefully it matches our expectations when it is eventually release.
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Friday the 13th The Video Game
Release Date: October 2015
Platforms: TBA
We've got the feeling that this will turn out to be terrible, but there's no harm in being optimistic, is there?
Details are few and far between right now (which is a little alarming considering that it's penned in for an October release), but we do know that it will be an asymmetrical, co-op and competitive multiplayer predator/prey game, which essentially means that one player will likely take control of Jason Voorhees, while the other players must run away from him.
It's a concept we've seen before this year in the form of Evolve, and it's one that is befitting of the film series, though the fact that it has been created due in order to promote an upcoming Friday the 13th TV series and a planned movie has made us skeptical. We hope we're proven wrong.
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DayZ
Release Date: Q3 2015
Platform: PS4
DayZ is still in Early Access on PC, though that hasn't prevented Sony from snagging the rights to bring Bohemia Interactive's open-world survival game to the PS4.
While its full release on PC is slated for a 2016 release, DayZ is coming to PS4 in the third quarter of 2015, though it's not yet been confirmed how the game will work on consoles. What we do know, though, is that DayZ has an extremely dedicated following, with it remaining one of the most consistently high-ranking games on Steam that isn't a MOBA or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. We hope it makes the transition to the PS4 smoothly, as many console owners have been waiting for a port ever since the ARMA II mod was released.
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Call of Cthulhu
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: PC
H.P. Lovecraft's eldritch horrors haven't yet made a wholly successful transition to the video game medium, and though there have been games inspired by the surrealist horror writer's creations that have admirably emulated his work, there hasn't yet been a game that takes its cues directly from one his numerous short stories that was worthy of its namesake.
Call of Cthulhu looks to buck that trend in 2015, though at the moment the game is as mysterious as one of Lovecraft's indescribable, unnameable monsters. Aside from a smattering of concept art and developers Frogware and Focus Home Interactive stating that it's based upon the tabletop RPG of the same name, we don't know a whole lot about this upcoming horror game.
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Until Dawn
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: PS4
Until Dawn takes its inspiration from slasher flicks, having players take control of a group of 8 teenagers who spend the night in a log cabin on the anniversary of the death of one of their friends, only to find themselves being hunted by a masked serial killer.
Considering that so many horror movies feature this premise, it's quite surprising that it hasn't been utilized too much in games thus far. If Until Dawn manages to nail it, then that could soon change.
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Dollhouse
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: PC
Currently available on Steam Early Access, Dollhouse has one of the most unique premises for a horror game in that the game is viewed through the eyes of the protagonists' pursuer. The identity of said pursuer is not yet known, though we imagine it to be particularly creepy.
With a plot centered inside the minds of a suspended therapist, a lonely housewife and a disturbed child, among the myriad of horror titles that frequently pop up on Steam, Dollhouse looks to stand out from the crowd.
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The Forest
Release Date: TBA 2015
Platform: PS4
The Forest was one of the biggest surprise hits of 2014 on PC, and it is set to have the same impact when it release on PS4 later this year. Taking place on a remote, mysterious island inhabited by vicious cannibals, players are tasked with finding their son and surviving against the odds in the game's dangerous environment.
The PC version of the game has had multiplayer support added to it since its release, so expect the PS4 version to come bundled with it, too. Though the survival sub-genre is certainly over-saturated on PC, this is one of the best examples of it available on the platform, and PS4 owners are in for a treat.
