Hideo Kojima would have to have a lot more involvement than a recent interview indicated he’d be interested in. If he directed Silent Hill, was involved in the writing for Silent Hill, and did the Quality Assurance of Silent Hill, it could once again be the crowning achievement of horror as it was in its heyday. Rather than the hit and miss sometimes quite-good series it has become.

On the other hand, with respect to Hideo Kojima – any competent treatment could save Silent Hill. We’ve already had quite good recent Silent Hill’s that were well received by the critics, and I think, with more polish, a chance at the HD consoles (and PC), and the needed support and talent, that Climax Studios could make a great Silent Hill. But that’s another article (specifically, this one).

Instead we’ve had Silent Hill farmed off to new studios who make glitchy badly running games, regardless of whether or not you think they have any other redeeming features or whether or not you think they’re any good (and the critics in general, myself included, do not), we can all agree they don’t run as well as they could or should.
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I feel the same way about the possible closure of Vatra as I do about the possible closure of any other producer of sub-standard products that work poorly.

Here’s an idea.

Give the next Silent Hill game to someone with a proven track record, whose optimised code works perfectly, has produced games that stretch what hardware they’re produced on. Remember how poorly Homecoming and Downpour ran? Imagine a Silent Hill for the HD consoles that pushes the limits of the hardware the way Silent Hill used to. The company that has the highest Silent Hill aggregated ratings both from users and critics of the post Silent Hill 4: The Room era. The company that made the games that prove they understand both how traditional Silent Hill works and also how to reimagine it in interesting ways. How much promise would a third game hold?

Maybe it’s time we gave it back to Climax Studios?