Upcoming Game Silent Hills Promises a Merging of Mediums

 On August 12, 2014 a playable teaser of an upcoming video game named “Silent Hills” was released on PS4. Silent Hills is to be the first survival horror game that utilizes a powerful newly developed engine known as “Fox Engine.” Fox Engine has highly refined capabilities, allowing it to create shockingly photorealistic graphics. The reason Silent Hills piques my interest is because of its interesting development approach; namely how it is being directed by game director Hideo Kojima in collaboration with famous Hollywood film director Guillermo del Toro. It marks one of the first times in history that a highly esteemed game director joins forces with a similarly prominent film director. The potential of merging gaming and cinematography is boundless, paving the way to the creation of a revolutionary new field of creative work.

     A trailer released on Sep 17, 2014 demonstrates Silent Hills’ unparalleled photorealistic capabilities.

According to Gamespot, Silent Hills may even adopt cinema’s episodic format, being released in a similar manner to Telltale Game’s revolutionary The Walking Dead. Another reason to keep an eye out for Silent Hills besides its adoption of cinema techniques and directing is the style of gameplay it promises players. While many contemporary horror games rely on threat of death and jump scares to perpetuate its feeling of terror, Silent Hills explores a dimension of human psyche that unnerves people on a very fundamental level. There is a story behind the game that is waiting to be unraveled, creating a nervous dynamic between the player’s fear of the unknown and their curiosity to learn more. Silent Hills’ form of horror is a slow burn, gradually wearing away at the player’s mental state as it forces the player to question how much they are willing to risk in order to continue further in the game.