The Silent Hill series, already known for its excessive strangeness, is looking to become even weirder with the release of Silent Hill: Book of Memories for the upcoming Playstation Vita. This new game, developed by WayForward (Bloodrayne: Betrayal, A Boy And His Blob), has been revealed to be a top-down multiplayer experience, a completely new design for the series that could either be a step forward or two steps backward.
Revealed at Gamescom this week, Book of Memories will feature the traditional melee and gun combat, but mixed with some new RPG elements. It also looks like players can create their own characters, which could be an interesting mechanic. On top of that, it’s rumored that series staples such as Maria, James and Harry will be coexisting in this spin-off.
I’m a huge fan of the series, and any news about new games make me squeal more than a Japanese schoolgirl. But it seems like this newest entry is focusing more on diverging from the normal psychological freak-outs rather than scaring the crap out of players.
One of the scariest parts of Silent Hill was the feeling of loneliness that permeates every corner of the fog-covered town. Being paired up with other characters might take the terror out of a series built on just that.
We’ll give more information as it is released. For now, how do you feel about this new direction Book of Memories is taking? Could it breathe new life into the series or just be another disappointing spin-off?
