Best 8 Suggestions for the Silent Hill 1 Remake

Following on the heels of the recent teaser trailer for Resident Evil: Requiem, it was also announced that a Silent Hill 1 remake is in early production from Polish video game developer Bloober Team as a “successor” to last year’s modern update of Silent Hill 2. While this is an exciting announcement, and I’m already eager to see what Bloober does with the original game, there are still a few suggestions that I hope they take into serious consideration.

8. Maintain the Design Aesthetic  of SH1 in Silent Hill 1 Remake’s Monsters

A major point that I hope Bloober thinks over for the Silent Hill 1 remake is keeping the general design aesthetic of the monsters intact: the appearances of the monsters in the first game are actually quite different than the those featured in both versions of Silent Hill 2 – in particular, they’re comparatively less abstract (and sexualized) than the latter. Whereas the monsters in SH2 are highly metaphorical in design and implementation, the ones from SH1 are more recognizable in symbolism and themes, as befitting the basic fears a much younger (and very specific) person would likely have.

7. Don’t Overdo Additional Content

While Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 remake was generally well-received upon release (despite some major reservations of it being remade in the first place), even its largest supporters admitted that the heavy expansion of the game’s preexisting content unnecessarily dragged the original’s relatively shorter pacing to a noticeable crawl (which I felt myself during multiple playthroughs). For the Silent Hill 1 remake, I hope that Bloober will take those criticisms about SH2‘s somewhat “bloated” game length and try to find a better balance with any additional content they might be weaving into the original.

6. Expand on the PTV Backstory

Despite what I suggested in the previous entry regarding additional content, I do recommend that the Silent Hill 1 remake delve deeper into the original game’s minor backstory detailing the cult‘s drug trafficking to fund itself via the production and sale of PTV (as derived from the implicitly mystical “White Claudia” herb). In the original SH1, there’s an optional (but very late game) detour players can take that briefly elaborates on this plotline, but I’d recommend having the remake expand this to more locations placed across the town (and maybe tying it to a brand-new ending).

5. Make the K. Gordon Mystery a Side-Quest

Going back to an unresolved mystery that I mentioned in a previous article on the overarching franchise, I suggest that the Silent Hill 1 remake should make an interesting little side-quest for players to take if they want to find out what specifically “happened” to K. Gordon (an unseen supporting character from SH1 who’s implied to be dead). Starting at Gordon’s house, players will follow clues directing them to other locations within Old and Central Silent Hill; however, while the side-quest will reward players with a special item, Gordon’s fate will ultimately be left fairly vague.

4. Reinstate the “Missing” Newspaper Clipping

As I alluded to in another previous article, the appearance of an in-game file elaborating on the fire that burned the Gillespie house – and where it started – doesn’t always trigger during playthroughs of SH1; further complicating matters is that the conditions for its appearance are completely unknown (with an additional file in SH: Origins suggesting a cover-up). For the Silent Hill 1 remake, I suggest having the first file always appear (but partly redacted) in the police station, and with the second one from Origins now randomly triggering in “Nowhere” to institute a sense of uncertainty.

3. Canonize the “Ambulance Ending” Hoax

And pulling from yet another article, I think it might be fun to include a brand-new “joke” ending that would be accessible during subsequent playthroughs via the seemingly believable steps tied to the rumored “ambulance ending” that was circulated in older video game-focused message boards back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s (when it was much harder to debunk). Not only would this provide another ending for players to unlock in the Silent Hill 1 remake, but it would also serve as a neat little “Easter egg” for older fans of the original PS1 game to enjoy (even if just as an in-joke).

2. Incorporate “Dynamic” Elements for Enemies

I’m probably getting way over my head again, but another thing that might be fun to incorporate into the Silent Hill 1 remake would be a sort of “carryover” from Shattered Memories: namely, an in-game mechanic where the monsters’ appearances and attack patterns will gradually change over the course of a particular playthrough. Like in the latter title, both these elements would largely hinge on how players approach enemy encounters and/or what specific game ending they’re heading towards (but with presumably far more advanced variations than SH: Shattered Memories was capable of).

1. Keep the School from Kindergarten Cop

Admittedly, I’m being a bit silly (though also sincere) with this one, but…I really hope that the Silent Hill 1 remake maintains Midwich Elementary‘s direct modeling, similar to John Jacob Astor Elementary in Astoria, OR, the same school featured in the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Kindergarten Cop. While this is a very odd (and quite ridiculous) element from the original game, I feel that it’s also an iconic and bizarrely charming detail that has become a major part of SH1‘s identity, and – if at all legally and logistically possible – should be retained for the sake of prosperity.