For years now, Resident Evil's only true competitor has been Konami's runaway success series Silent Hill. The original came towards the later years of the PlayStation, but it managed to amass a solid following. A following good enough to warrant the game its fifth iteration ten years later. Silent Hill 5, while not top-secret, was formally announced back in E3. And while we don't know a great deal about it, here's what Konami has revealed.
The game stars Alex Shepherd, a war veteran who's returned from home after completing duty overseas. Alex was given a leave of absence, after being informed that his brother Joshua has gone missing. Investigations lead our main character into a small, nearby town that seems to have little life left in it. As is standard with the series, Alex finds himself in an empty mist-filled town called Silent Hill.
Clearly, Konami will be emphasizing the focus of creating an environment as terrifying as possible, all with the help of the new found power from this generation's consoles. Silent Hill 5 will be released for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which means that we'll be treated to the most visually satisfying and complete Silent Hill experience yet.
Likewise, Konami also touts more control over the main character than ever before. One of these control enhancements comes from the combat system, which will allow you to pull off various offensive and defensive moves, as you fight off whatever fiendish creature that attacks you. Despite a new emphasis on combats, puzzles will continue to be a hallmark of the game, and will require the player to concentrate on his surrounding in search of clues. And to aid in the feeling of fear will be a soundtrack composed by famed Japanese composer Akira Yamaoka.
"Silent Hill V is an international, cross-cultural production, with leading development talent from around the globe collaborating to raise the bar even higher for this incredible series," said Brian Christian, Vice President of Product Development at Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "With gritty graphics and sound combining to create a haunting atmosphere and all-new visceral gameplay elements, Silent Hill V shows the level to which next-generation hardware can enhance the player's overall gaming experience."
Konami has issued two screenshots of Silent Hill 5, neither of which are highly indicative of the final product. The game is still fairly early in development, but is already looking promising. You can expect to see an environment that's coated with fear and terror, creating a broodish picture. Keep your eyes peeled to the screenshots section, as Konami will be releasing more shots around the time Tokyo Game Show 07 is set to start; so, within 2-3 weeks.