‘Silent Hill: Ascension’ Pushes Franchise Boundaries, Leaves Fans Uncertain

Long-time survival horror franchise Silent Hill has pushed the new anticipated game into different waters. In a recent video by the producers, Silent Hill: Ascension gave fans a closer look into the evolving game’s inner workings.

“An interactive streaming series, simply put, is the next evolution of interactive television,” said Stephan Bugaj, chief creative officer of Genvid Technologies. “What we’re bringing to the fundamentals that were created for, say, Telltale Games or Netflix’s Bandersnatch are a few things. One: Community. All of the users, all of the viewers, will interact with our series simultaneously.”

The title’s current official window for release is 2023, and for some that might be too fast and too apart from what the series is known for. Another recent showing of a new trailer at Comic-Con sparked unsatisfactory results for some.

“The old Silent Hill trailers were so well made, akin to psychological horrors like Lost Highway,” says Reddit user Cure_Pain. “This, however, looks very basic. Looks like an Until Dawn death scene.”

More Redditor comments on the reveal can be found here.

Of course, Until Dawn received several nominations at the end of the year. It, however, also won a BAFTA award for Best Original Property. Many wonder what will be in place if not what they feel is the core of the Silent Hill games.

“When we are doing character development, these are really flawed, broken people,” said Shanon Ingles, lead writer for Martian Brothel. “These are people who’ve been through trauma. These are people who’ve traumatized others and they’re working through that. Audience members actually get a chance to help arc these characters. They have a chance to help redeem these characters or push them deeper into their trauma.”