It may be hard to believe, but there are even more reasons to be disappointed with Konami than you might think.
Whether you are a fan of Metal Gear, Castlevania, Suikoden, or any of their other franchises, the company seems to be doing its best to disappoint everyone they can. Arguably the series that has gotten the worst treatment for the longest time is the Silent Hill series. After three amazing titles, and one that was divisive, Konami has made some serious missteps with the franchise ever since. From the divisive sequel games to the dreadful remasters, and the decidedly mixed films, there’s no shortage of things to point to as examples how just how mishandled the Silent Hill franchise has been.
The most well known and publicized cancellation was, of course, Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills project that was teased with the incredibly popular (and terrifying) P.T. But what if we told you there was another cancelled Silent Hill title that sounded just as ambitious and faithful to the series’ horror roots? That’s exactly what was discovered in a leaked document detailing a brand new pitch for a Silent Hill title. If you’re ready, lets grab our radios and flashlights and see what horrors await us in the foggy town of Silent Hill.
Silent Hill: Cold Heart
Back in 2007, developer Climax Studios created a pitch for an all new entry in the Silent Hill franchise they were hoping to develop. An entire booklet was created, full of details on features, story ideas, and game play concepts to try and convince Konami to agree to publish the game. This game would’ve been made exclusively for the Wii, taking advantage of the hardware’s motion controls. The team had previously made Silent Hill: Origins so already had experience working with the franchise.
Silent Hill: Cold Heart would have focused on a new character named Jessica Chambers. The booklet describes her as an athletic college student hiding emotional issues. She seeks help from a psychiatrist as disturbing nightmares become more and more frequent, and feelings of depression and despair start wearing away at her. She eventually decides to take a trip to visit her parents, but a snowstorm detours her to follow an ambulance looking for safety and winds up in Silent Hill.
The game play features highlight the Wii’s motion controls by having the player directly control the flashlight. In addition to just being a light source, it would have also been able to stun or burn enemies, melt ice, discover hidden items, and find secret messages through a variety of flashlights that utilize things such as infra red or UV light. Combat would also be done through motion attacks, as well as puzzle solving.
Cold Heart would also re-frame the entire setting of Silent Hill by featuring a “Frozen Other World” rather than the traditional fog. What was truly promising about this pitch was their attempt at making it the “world’s first true psychological horror.” The game was going to “profile” the player based on how they played and what answers they gave in flashbacks to Jessica’s therapy sessions to make a unique horror experience for each individual player. Monsters, dialogue, combat difficulty, items, and even lighting and sound effects would be altered depending on the profile the game would create.
The booklet, only leaking online in 2014, contains tons more details and even a small walk through for one of the proposed levels called “The Lake.” That could imply that a build of that level was developed to some extent, but there is no evidence one way or the other.
The Salvaged Ideas
What was most exciting about Silent Hill: Cold Heart are all the ambitious ideas the team had for the title. The psychological profile, changing narrative, character building, and even utilizing the Wii’s WiFi to incorporate the real world news in the player’s game all sound like a perfect fit for a new Silent Hill. However, Konami didn’t seem to feel the same way. Instead, Climax either had to, or chose on their own, scale back the project and create Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. While not a bad game at all, and did include some concepts from Cold Heart, was not nearly as ambitious in any way.
