Longtime series composer Akira Yamaoka left Konami to work on the long anticipated action/horror game Shadows of the Damned. His departure left the future of the series a little cloudy since Yamaoka’s had a powerful influence on the game’s atmosphere since the first game. I was worried until news came out that Dexter composer Dan Licht was going to be working on the music for the upcoming game. Below you’ll find a sample of what he’s been working on, and while it’s decidedly different from what we’re used to, I’m thinking it’s still very Silent Hill.

So that’s the good news, would you like some more? Well, it’s either good or bad depending on how you look at it. I’m a glass half-full kind of guy so I see the confirmation of no multiplayer in Downpour as a good thing. After the jump you’ll find out why. From Brian Gomez, Silent Hill: Downpour’s Design Director: “[Multiplayer] was something that they looked at very early in the game, then just didn’t think we could do it justice yet.” I can think of too many occasions where some sort of multiplayer component has been thrown into a game despite it not being finished. Games like Condemned: Criminal Origins have what could’ve potentially been an interesting online mode but it’s balance issues and poor level design kept people from staying interested in it for very long.

Than on the other side you have a game like Dead Space 2, where the multiplayer is incredibly well done, fun, polished and obviously something they spent a great deal of time on. I’d rather they didn’t waste time and money on a half-assed multiplayer offering and focus on making the single-player the best it can be, but that’s just me.

Then we have cooperative play as an option, and that’s covered by Marek Berka, the game’s Level Designer. “We were thinking with Konami, of course, do some cooperative experiences, but obviously it had its own problems like isolation, atmosphere, working for this type of horror game. We basically tried to do something that was two players playing in the environment, but not in the same place, so they could have had a part where they were playing with each other, but split up, either by events, or their own decisions.” I could use Resident Evil 5 as a superb example of cooperative play taking away any possible terror one might feel while playing a horror game but I don’t feel I need to.

For a long time I’ve been worried about Silent Hill since the franchise has fallen into disarray since the third game, but with every bit of news that comes out regarding Downpour I feel a little more hope for the series. Let’s hope it’s the breath of fresh air the series so desperately needs.