Konami and lead developer Genvid have offered a first proper look at Silent Hill: Ascension, their “interactive video streaming experience.” Ascension was the vaguest announcement from Konami’s big Silent Hill blowout from last year, and though details remain foggy, we now have a somewhat clearer picture of what to expect. Take a look below:
Ascension is being made in collaboration with the Dead By Daylight studio Behaviour Interactive, JJ Abrams’ production company Bad Robot, and Genvid Entertainment who seems to be taking the lead on this project. Genvid have previously released other “massively interactive live events” on Facebook, with events based on The Walking Dead and Pac-Man. Essentially, this sounds like a multiplayer choice-based game à la the voting modes in Telltale’s old stuff. Or maybe something like Twitch Plays Pokémon.
“In Silent Hill: Ascension the actions of millions will determine the outcome,” reads a recent press release. “By the time the last scene streams, which characters have survived?” It continues to say that even the project’s developers don’t know how Ascension will end, and that “the character’s fates are in the audience’s hands.” Ascension will apparently debut later this year, although there’s no word on where the series will stream, and whether or not we can replay the project.
The trailer was much less cryptic thanks to the fleshy monsters, brooding characters, and voice-over that explained what intergenerational trauma was. Silent Hill is at its best when it implies disturbing subject matter, or explores it in a hushed voice. In contrast, Ascension’s first trailer begins with the sledgehammer statement: “I can feel it. Your guilt… so thick it chokes the air.” Maybe it’ll lead to a few good goofy laughs, but I doubt it’ll have the lingering scares the series is famous for, based off this first look.
Konami are working hard to revive their survival horror series through other projects too. Bloober Team are remaking the most beloved entry, Silent Hill 2. The folks behind the great Observation are leaning into the series’ hazy mysteries with Silent Hill: Townfall. And then there’s the 1960s-set horror game called Silent Hill f, which takes the crown as the most nebulous one here.
