Silent Hill: Ascension footage slammed as ‘painfully generic’
While we're more than happy that Konami is finally seeing the worth in the dormant Silent Hill name, it feels a bit like a case of waiting for a bus and three coming along at once. It's been 11 years since Silent Hill: Downpour's release, but in 2023, it's hard to keep track of all the new titles coming out.
The big one is Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 remake, however, it's joined by the Japan-set Silent Hill f from Neo Bards, Annapurna's Silent Hill: Townfall, and Behaviour Interactive's mysterious Silent Hill: Ascension. After the latter got a look at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, it seems not everyone is impressed.
Silent Hill: Ascension gets ripped apart by fans
How hard is it to create a good Silent Hill? We're starting to come to the grim realisation that we might never return to highs like Silent Hill 2, but that hasn't stopped a growing slate of games trying to breathe new life into the dormant IP. As an interactive media experience, Silent Hill: Ascension is definitely different.
Apparently, opening footage of Silent Hill: Ascension was shown at Comic-Con, with two women taking part in a ritual that goes horribly wrong. The dark and shaky footage shows some tentacled monster snapping the neck of "Rachel," and while it should be a typical fright fest, it doesn't feel very Silent Hill at all.
In a franchise that's used to bondage nurses, the Abstract Daddy, and Pyramid Head, this doesn't echo the scares we're used to. Players quickly tore the footage apart. One fumed, "I think this is a huge mistake to have this release before Silent Hill 2 remake. This will be the first official Silent Hill release in over a decade."
Another grumbled, "I really doubt we'll get any good psychological horror from this one, I'm afraid. I'll still try it once it comes out as it does seem like an interesting experiment in storytelling," a third dubbed it "Silent Hill: Until Dawn," and a fourth concluded, "I'm sorry, but this looks and sounds painfully generic."
What is Silent Hill: Ascension?
Click to enlargeComparing Ascension to Until Dawn isn't that far off the mark, with Supermassive Games' own work on interactive horrors including the 2015 game, The Dark Pictures Anthology, and The Quarry. Those games were largely lauded, but they weren't based on an existing IP known for its straight-up horror.
If you haven't heard of Behaviour Interactive, the team is known for its work on Dead by Deadlight. The asymmetrical horror has brought together icons of the horror scene and even has its own Pyramid Head Killer. DbD is a pretty great experience, so maybe we're being too harsh on Ascension.
Judging Silent Hill: Ascension on a leaked trailer that's grainy at best seems a little harsh. Also, no one is forcing you to play. If you're a fan of interactive horror games, you'll likely love this merger with the Silent Hill name. If not, maybe go somewhere else for your Silent Hill fix.
