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Silent Hills’ Cancellation Is For the Best

Silent Hills’ Cancellation Is For the Best

The internet collectively weeps. At least, the people on it who love horror games, Guillermo del Toro, Hideo Kojima, and Normal Reedus do. Which honestly, should cover most of us. Seriously, who doesn’t love Reedus? Konami has come out and confirmed what we’ve all suspected – that all three people are no longer part of the game once known as Silent Hills . The P.T. demo was a lie.

And you know what? I know this hurts. The P.T. demo was great. I personally didn’t play it, because I’m the kind of person who spent the majority of the movie Mama with a hoodie over my face, but I’ve heard enough from friends and colleagues I respect to know it was some kind of wonderful. That, coupled with the knowledge that three fantastic people were involved, was enough to persuade us that the ensuing product could be something special, even though there was only an interactive trailer to showcase it.

However, we have to all acknowledge that the Silent Hills cancellation could be for the best. Our hearts may be broken, but we’ll go on. It’s better to mourn what could have been, rather than experience something that might have ruined everything. With the way things at Konami are going, that could have happened.

Look at the relationship between Kojima and Konami. We have no idea what’s going on. It’s definitely not good. Kojima’s inclusion as a director was part of the reason a number of people would come to the game. He’s known for his storytelling, and Silent Hill is a series that’s strayed when it comes to delivering a mind-blowing experience. Had he remained on, we would have been guaranteed something interesting. Whether “interesting” would have been positive or negative, we’ll never know.

Without Kojima’s assistance and guidance, it’s probably best that del Toro is off of Silent Hills as well. He’s an amazing man who has told incredible stories, to be sure. The thing is, he’s never had any experience with video games before. He was supposed to work on Insane, which was cancelled. While he should definitely work in a more interactive medium, it would probably be best for all involved if his first project weren’t part of an established series. The expectations could be too high.

Silent Hills’ Cancellation Is For the Best

Then, there’s the Reedus element. Norman Reedus seems like a cool guy, and he’s definitely a good actor. But an actor can only do so much with the material before them. Even if he had remained attached to the project, that probably wouldn’t be enough to ensure Silent Hills would be a worthwhile endeavor. Would you really play a game because of one actor’s performance? I wouldn’t.

What happened to Silent Hills is sad. It will never be the game we wanted it to be, but that’s probably for the best. So much has happened since P.T. was released. Even if things hadn’t jumped off the tracks, the chance of bitterness could have tainted everything. Instead of wallowing in sorrow, the strong-willed among us should fire up the demo one last time as a send off for what might have been.

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