Silent Hill V sees the return of radio, flashlight ... sixaxis?

by Nick Doerr { Nov 27th 2007 at 11:15PM }

We've been wondering what's in store for us in Silent Hill V ever since we first caught sight of it a long time back. Would the American company, The Collective, simply mash together existing elements in the franchise to give us a ho-hum formulaic view of the mist-ridden town as a different character, or offer something new to bring some life back into arguably the most horrifying series of games known to man? Well, we still don't know, but some of the latest scans from PLAY magazine give us some idea of what to expect, including a little bit about the characters you'll encounter.

Better combat seems like a promise, since the protagonist Alex was taught to be a hunter at an early age, with proficiencies in grappling, using weapons, and evading attacks. The radio, which emits static when enemies are nearby, and the flashlight were dropped in Silent Hill 4: The Room because ... well ... for some reason, but they're returning in this title. The camera will feature full 360-degree motion, which is a nice touch, and the PlayStation 3 version is noted to have some possible Sixaxis functionality.

An interesting tidbit paying homage to Metal Gear Solid 3 is the active wound system. No more health drinks to heal up those scratches! You've got to take care of those wounds the old fashioned way, though there's no detail to go off of yet. It probably won't be as in-depth as MGS3, but it should give you an added sense of fear as you try to get to a safe zone while your arm dribbles a path of blood for critters to follow. We'll keep you updated as we find out more on the game!

Tags: konami, silent-hill-5, silent-hill-v, the-collective

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Hashbrown_Hunter @ Nov 27th 2007 11:44PM

This looks great. Can't wait to see what Collective is gonna do.

kentuckyfried @ Nov 28th 2007 3:05AM

I'm not sure if any of the sequels will ever equal the experience of the first, which was terrifying to play in the dark.

If they're going to include the flashlight, I hope it's like #1 where whether or not the flashlight was on affects the enemy AI. In number 2, it didn't at all, which was a disappointment.

I still haven't gotten around to 3 or 4 yet.

RazielDune @ Nov 28th 2007 4:07AM

i still say the best ones ever was SH 1 and SH 2 the rest were eh...Silent Hill Origins isn't that bad. but hey changes in the system may be good for the series.

Videospel @ Nov 28th 2007 7:38AM

I dont think this is good at all, better combat, 360 camera, combat ready main character, made in the US...I just dont think that it will be psychologically scary, the more control you have over the characters movement and the better you see makes it less scary, I mean, the first and the second game was all about what you didnt know, what you didnt see, that was the scary things along with the music and sound effects. When I read this I feel its gonna be classic horror action that America is so good at making, not the psychological horror that many countries in asia do. I myself think that stuff I dont see and dont know about but feel is lurking in the shadows is more scary than battling some creature with good control over my character and having see all of my enviroment by super control over the camera. Silent Hill 5 looks very nice though.

Sammy @ Nov 28th 2007 9:56AM

I have active wounds :(

Popfrogs @ Nov 28th 2007 10:30AM

Is post #4 spam up there?

The more SH the better. I just hope they remove the fog at some point, with the current generation games we just don't need it to hide lack of polygons and pop-up.

comtar @ Nov 28th 2007 12:25PM

Concidering Silent Hill V has real time nightmare world effects similar to the Silent Hill movie, something tells me the fog is simply for effect now, not to hide a polygon count. Fog in Silent Hill is kinda manditory to the storyline when you are outside. But that doesn't mean we can't have detailed interior effects and lighting... main example is Silent Hill 3, for some reason you'd be in a well lit Subway station, but you could only maybe see 20 feet in front of you cause it was "dark". Which didn't make alot of sence.

It's kinda like Resident Evil Remake on Gamecube. They had the door transitions merely for effect, there wasn't really load times between the rooms, because later in the game a good half the doors in the mansion got blown out from monsters kicking in doors or completely destroying them with force. After the doors were broken you could actually explore most the mansion without the door transition.

To me the Fog in Silent Hill V will be the same thing... merely effect.

Josh @ Nov 28th 2007 1:45PM

Actually this was in Official Playstation Magazine, not PLAY, and it cleary says that in the title of the 'Read' link. Also, its from the last issue, not the most recent one.

lee.cash @ Nov 29th 2007 8:23AM

Silent Hill 4 : The Room was quite good though I never got around to picking up SH3. I remember reading an article where they said that, technically, they could have removed the fog from the later games but that they left it in as it has become a staple effect in the SH series. I'll be definitely keeping an eye on SHV.

JayFight @ Nov 30th 2007 5:32AM

first i've played SH4 a little and i think i skipped 3 not sure though and i don't think i finished 2 but 1 i played like 3 or 4 times because it was keep you on edge scary not make you jump all of a sudden scary which isn't as good and one of the reasons for that on edge scary was the fog and you had the audio radar of a radio i loved that because it made the same sound for one monster right next to you as it did for ten monsters ten feet away so you never knew if you should turn around and fight or run because you didn't have enough ammo for ten monsters and i hope SH5 is like that .....i guess thats all i have to say goodnight

samuel @ Dec 1st 2007 2:08AM

Iam a big fan of silent hill and am in the process of playing
origins.I was woundering if ther is going to be any multiplayer
options?I think it would be cool if there like other players on
line using head sets giving it more of a kick.

(666)Sorrow @ Feb 22nd 2008 4:09PM

I think multiplayer (or at least co-op) would be a good idea for the 'SH' franchise but more further down the road. They could make some sort of strategy like 'GAME MODE' where you can play as 'Pyramid Head' or the 'Butcher' and create riddles and puzzles for human(online) players. Place this key here, that trap there, even design the map. Even stalk them through the map as they try to get to the end. It's sounds like a good idea but damn... i cant even think of a balanced way to conjure such a multiplayer... perhaps just co-op for now (keep in mind it may not be as scary to you split screen)