This week, one of Konami’s longest-standing franchises, Silent Hill, is set for a big reveal. At a dedicated showcase scheduled to air on Wednesday, October 19, fans are expecting more information on the “several” Silent Hill games said to be in development, with Konami preparing to spill the beans on the “latest updates” for the series. Who knows what we’ll get, but with recent rumors suggesting Layers of Fear dev Bloober Team might be taking Silent Hill 2 for a re-spin, surely something in the realm of remakes or remasters is in the works for the most cursed town in video games.
Elsewhere in Konami’s enduring portfolio, Suikoden and Suikoden 2 are finally getting official remasters in the West following years of fervent speculation. Having both launched in the late ’90s on the PSOne, the classic turn-based fantasy JRPGs are among my favorite video games of all time. And while some of that feeling is undoubtedly rooted in nostalgia, just about everyone I’ve spoken to who also played these games in and around launch feels the same today. The Suikoden Revival Movement (opens in new tab) certainly does – a passionate fan group who’ve spent the last decade campaigning in the hope of seeing the long-forgotten series revisited (whose last mainline entry was 16 years ago) – having orchestrated several mass-mailing initiatives, where fans have sent physical letters, pictures and other testimonials to Konami en masse, along the way. Now, as revealed at the Tokyo Game Show in September, both games are being remastered on a global basis – Konami having chosen to re-do the Suikoden and Suikoden 2 remasters that appeared on the PSP as Japan-exclusives in 2006.
With Suikoden, and now Silent Hill, in-line for a fresh, much-needed lick of paint, it seems like Konami is one step away from realizing my own, nostalgia-driven holy trinity. My question, then, is: when are we getting a Metal Gear Solid remake or remaster?
Snake?
Despite its valiant, commendable, and sustained efforts, it’s hard to say how much sway the Suikoden Revival Movement actually had on Konami’s decision to revisit the series’ esteemed first and second entries. Sure, the fan group’s presence was acknowledged by the developer more than once during its several years of campaigning, but my gut tells me had it not been for Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes – a similarly-structured upcoming JRPG from ex-Suikoden devs that was successfully Kickstarted (opens in new tab) by 46,307 backers to the tune of $3.2 million (£2.8 million) – Suikoden would have continued to lie dormant. That’s sheer speculation on my part, of course, but it’s otherwise an interesting coincidence that Konami has chosen to revive the series now, in the face of an incoming game that caters to the exact same audience, without any notable milestones in sight.
The cynics among us may say the same of Silent Hill. We’re in the midst of a survival horror renaissance of sorts at the moment, with a swathe of classics having been remade or remastered, or in the pipeline for similar treatment. The Resident Evil 2 remake of 2019 might be considered the catalyst of this genre revival, whose near-tone perfect reimagining of Raccoon City some 21 years on from the original set new standards in both horror remake terms, and horror games more generally moving forward. The action-focused Resident Evil 3 remake of 2020 didn’t quite reach the same heights as number two – but this has only served to heap pressure on Capcom to deliver something special with its upcoming Resident Evil 4 revisit. With Dead Space and Alone in the Dark facing similar modern-day undertakings, and with Dead Space’s spiritual sequel The Callisto Protocol on the cusp of launch too, it would seem the juggernauts of survival horror are butting heads while Silent Hill continues to cower quietly behind the couch.
That’s set to change this week, of course (how exactly remains to be seen), but it’s probably less of a surprise to see Silent Hill finally come out of retirement in 2022, than it might have been, say, five years ago. Silent Hill’s last main series entry was Downpour, now over 10 years old, so the idea of re-pitching its Japanese horror film slant on survival scares to both new and older audiences won’t be lost on Konami. None of which is a complaint. Again, Suikoden and Silent Hill are two series close to my heart, ones that played a big part in my formative years as a player and a person. GTA aside (a series whose games have been remade and remastered umpteen times), Metal Gear Solid is the other standout series from my youth that I’d love to see revisited today. Similar to Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid’s last mainline outing was, somehow, released over seven years ago. The falling out between series mastermind Hideo Kojima and Konami has been well-publicized – the former having once flirted with Silent Hill, and having since gone indie with Death Stranding – but 2018’s action-survival offshoot Metal Gear Survive, despite its obvious flaws, proves there’s still life in that universe yet.
“So it’s over to you, Konami: Give Ubisoft’s stealth savior a run for his money by bringing Solid Snake out of retirement.”
Recapturing the magic of Solid Snake’s maiden voyage of the PSOne era is something many fans of the series have wanted for some time. With talk of a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake being made by the company behind the Dark Souls Switch port having surfaced last year, and with reports of a Metal Gear Solid trilogy remaster emerging earlier this year, there are plenty of rumors – but little substance. Our Metal Gear Solid 6 wishlist considers what we’d love to see if the series were to be picked back up moving forward, but I honestly just want to revisit a shinier, prettier, reinterpretation of the Shadow Moses facility; to wander its sterile halls, and choke out its hapless genome soldiers. I want a resculpted Revolver Ocelot; a fiercer, more terrifying Raven; and an even more blockbuster showdown with Liquid. Seriously, could you imagine how creepy Psycho Mantis could become, as per modern animation standards, reading your save files and, I dunno, cursing you through your controller’s speaker this time around?
With series such as Dishonored and Hitman operating with stealth at their core, and with everything from The Last of Us Part 2, to Spider-Man and Deus-Ex Mankind Divided offering players stealth-driven mechanics in combat over the last several years, stealth games are in pretty rude health today. Still, Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain tops our best stealth games list for a reason – there just hasn’t been a better stealth game since. And so, if it can be suggested that Silent Hill’s return is being fueled in-part by the current horror game resurgence, and that Suikoden is being remastered in the face of external rival Eiyuden Chronicles, perhaps something like the long-awaited and much-anticipated Splinter Cell remake could force Konami’s hand to finally return to Metal Gear Solid.
Sam Fisher’s heroic reimagining features a rewritten story for modern-day audiences, we learned last month. So it’s over to you, Konami: Give Ubisoft’s stealth savior a run for his money by bringing Solid Snake out of retirement. It’s been almost a quarter of a century since we first discovered the Shadow Moses incident, and I reckon now’s the time to retread that familiar path.
Hug the shadows with the best stealth games creeping around right now.
