This would be a pretty drastic change for the series, but tossing the player into a dangerous and unfamiliar environment unarmed is a trend that’s become uber-popular lately. Outlast, Daylight, Amnesia, Slender, Telltale’s The Walking Dead (more or less) — removing the player’s ability to fight back can be seen in a bevy of recent successful horror games, and it’s easy to see why.
For starters, if you can’t defend yourself, you’re instantly more cautious and aware of your surroundings. With the feeling of empowerment championed by more action-oriented horror franchises like Resident Evil and Dead Space taken away, it becomes easier to immerse yourself in your character’s terrifying situation. If you’re immersed, you scare more easily.
A combat-free approach would be a stellar fit for a franchise like Silent Hill, which has always leaned on flight over fight. If you look at one of the complaints people have had with the series over the years — even with the earlier games — one of the most consistent problems has been the combat, which has never really felt right. You could argue that it’s an issue which stems from a move made by a developer that might be purposefully nerfing combat to make its game “scarier” (i.e. Capcom’s comical excuse to omit strafing from Resident Evil 5 in order to “heighten the tension”), but there’s more to it than that. It’s never really fit, so get rid of it.
If this tweak is a tad too drastic — you big ole’ baby — at the very least we need to trash that annoying weapon degradation “feature.” A crowbar shouldn’t break after coming in contact with 8-10 semi-hard surfaces. Gordon Freeman would not approve (please don’t take that last sentence as a Half-Life 3 confirmation — I don’t want the Valve Illuminati coming after me).
If that last idea didn’t lose you, this one might do it. Before you light your torch and hoist your pitchfork, give me a minute to explain what I mean. I’m not saying Konami should tack on a poorly conceived multiplayer mode, and if you’ve spent any time with Dark Souls, you know that game’s multiplayer offering is anything but poorly conceived. Partially thought out multiplayer modes have hurt many a horror game, including Dead Space 2 and Condemned 2, to name a few more recent mistakes. The last thing I want to do is hurt Silent Hill, for I love it far too much.
If you haven’t played Dark Souls, the bit I’d like Konami to borrow is an innovative feature that lets players see text written by other players playing games in adjacent worlds. Should you feel so inclined, you can scrawl a message on a floor or wall to assist a fellow player, or if you’re stuck on a particularly frustrating puzzle or boss you can seek help without breaking out a manual or scouring Google.
It’s also apparently the cool thing to do, as Shinji Mikami recently hinted that a similarly sourced idea may find its way to The Evil Within through DLC. You want to be cool, don’t you, Konami?
That’s my list. If you have an opinion on all this malarkey, feel free to voice it in the comments below! Just remember to be nice, for I am a fragile butterfly and all insults always lead to my sobbing violently in the corner of my room. Sometimes for days.
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
