A fan has used PlayStation’s creation game Dreams to resurrect Konami’s ill-fated Silent Hills. The cancellation of the Silent Hill reboot was a heartbreaking experience for Silent Hill fans after experiencing its critically renowned PT demo for PS4. Since then, the franchise has fallen dormant, but fans remain hopeful for new entries after a recent update for Silent Hill's trademark by Konami.
Silent Hills is regarded by many as one of the most tragic cancellations of a video game to date. The reboot would have been co-directed by Hideo Kojima and acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro, and it would feature Norman Reedus in the leading role. When its Playable Teaser (PT) hit the PS4 in August 2014, it received universal praise for its psychological use of gameplay and unsettling atmosphere to terrify its players. However, despite all its achievements, the Silent Hills project was terminated in April 2015 due to disputes between Konami and Kojima, ultimately leading to Kojima’s untimely departure from the studio. The impact of PT continues to resonate through the industry, with many horror games, including the recent Resident Evil entries, taking cues from PT's experience. Though highly unlikely, fans believe a full official release of the PT-based Silent Hill would be the Snyder Cut of video games.
An article from TheGamer reported that a dedicated fan has created a fully playable interpretation of the canceled Silent Hills reboot using PlayStation's game creator Dreams. The report stated that Redditor DrJones20 recently gave a video update on the passion project revealing its newest graphical upgrades. DrJones20 first uploaded the Silent Hills project onto Dreams in 2020 and has continuously made updates to the game ever since. The video showcases a rather impressive leap in quality between updates, with the newer version featuring several accurate recreations of PT’s assets, including its iconic hallway, along with some creative imaginings of other locations and characters. The game even features fully voiced dialogue and cutscenes.
Silent Hills Lives On Within This Fan's Dreams Recreation
Much like Media Molecules’ iconic user-generated content platformer, Little Big Planet, creative fans have used Dreams to create several homages to their favorite franchises. One fan had created an entire game based on DC’s Justice League within Dreams after becoming frustrated with Warner Bros. for not making one itself. Ironically, this motivation is not so different from DrJones20 and several other Dreams creators. While the cause for such motivation is often unfortunate, it's good to see that such circumstances can drive industrious players to make lost or unrealized art a reality.
As long as desired franchises like Silent Hill continue to languish in limbo, players will continue to use creation tools like Dreams to bring these games to life despite publisher negligence. With the neglect of popular franchises like Silent Hill fast becoming a frustrating trend, players have since begun taking matters into their own hands to resurrect these forgotten experiences. With so many options like Dreams available to aspiring game designers today, projects like DrJones20's Silent Hills should serve as a message that if publishers won't make these games, fans are now capable of doing it themselves.
Source: TheGamer, DrJones20/Reddit