Everyone’s favorite resort town really needs a sequel. It’s no secret Silent Hill hasn’t seen the same success it did with the original three games, and honestly, I think that’s because it hasn’t been ballsy enough. In Silent Hill 2 you had rape, domestic abuse, incest, suicide and murder all in one game. That’s the bravest goddamn game I’ve ever played, and it released in 2001.
That’s not to say recent games haven’t tackled taboo topics — Downpour touches on pedophilia and murder (with lots of the latter) — and that was why the story and characters ended up being the highlights of that game — that and the open world format, which was riddled with seriously cool side quests. It’s intensely disappointing we won’t be seeing another game from Downpour developer Vatra Games, because they built a fantastic foundation for another, and possibly next-gen, Silent Hill. They knew what they were doing, and I think they would’ve seen greater success had they been given the opportunity to iron out the kinks with another Downpour-like entry.
What has me most excited about the future of this series is the (admittedly small) chance that Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima may have a hand in a future title, even if it’s only in a supervisory role. That man has a definite aptitude for open-world games, which Downpour certainly was, as well as an eye visual flair. If anyone can rejuvenate the series and make it truly boundary breaking (and maybe a little weird, too) again, it’s Kojima.
Also, build it using the Fox engine. That thing is sexy.
This is where I might divide you guys. I really think it’s time for a Dead Space reboot. Isaac’s had his fun, I think we need to be placed in the stomp-happy boots of someone new. More importantly, we need this series to be unnerving again. Dead Space 3 had its moments (Disclaimer: I did contract work for Visceral on Dead Space 3) and Visceral once again showed us they know how to unsettle with its Awakened expansion, but it wasn’t nearly as scary as its predecessors, nor did it feel as fresh. The co-op, which is entirely optional and doesn’t punish you with an A.I. partner, was implemented in a genius way and that approach is something Capcom needs to look at for future Resident Evil games.
As much as I love this series, it’s showing signs of growing stale. Refreshing a series before it reaches this point is the sign of a studio that knows what they’re doing. Capcom turned the Resident Evil series on its head with Resident Evil 4, and that was after the very successful Code Veronica. They did this to keep it from reaching the point where gamers would find the experience too familiar or tedious.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Electronic Arts is very willing to invest much more into it, seeing as it hasn’t been as successful as they would’ve liked it to be. Dead Space and its sequel performed well, but Dead Space 3 and Extraction weren’t as successful.
What I really want is for Dead Space 4 — if we ever see it — to be totally different. A new lead character, a new arsenal of weapons, new enemies, everything. If you read Martyr, the book that follows Altman, whom the Church of Unitology is based on, and humanity’s first encounter with the Marker. This takes place on Earth, which ups the stakes and gives the Marker more organisms to infect — this can translate to new types of Necromorphs (maybe even animal-based, like the Stalkers).
That would make everything unfamiliar again, while still remaining part of the fiction we know and love. Or you could give us a Resident Evil Remake-style Dead Space remastering for next-gen consoles. I’d love to experience that game again, and unfortunately, it’s showing its age.
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