Silent Hill 1 Remake, f, and Resident Evil Requiem Are Leading the Survival Horror Charge
Survival horror fans haven’t necessarily had a lack of games in the genre to check out in recent years, with AAA megatons like Resident Evil, Dead Space, Alan Wake 2, and Silent Hill 2, and smaller yet still unforgettable titles such as Signalis, Amnesia: The Bunker, Phasmophobia, Little Nightmares 2, and others having delivered some truly spectacular scares in recent memory, to name just a few. But though the survival horror genre is certainly healthier than it has been in a while, it seems like it hasn’t quite finished its upward trajectory yet. Because of recent announcements and reveals are anything to go by, it looks like survival horror fans have several more megatons to look forward.
Three in particular have stood out in the last few days alone, namely Resident Evil Requiem, Silent Hill f, and a remake of the original Silent Hill. Each of these three is obviously a megaton even where only their names are concerned, but there’s also plenty of reason to be excited about each when you look past just the name they’re carrying- and we’re here to look at all three in turn to identify some of those biggest reasons.
Let’s start things off with the one that has been announced the longest, and is the closest to release- Silent Hill f, the next mainline instalment in Konami’s franchise. Announced back in 2022, Silent Hill f has finally had its marketing cycle kick off in earnest this year, with Silent Hill 2’s stellar remake having kickstarted the series’ revival in 2024. Silent Hill f is, of course, shaping up to be a different kind of experience in several ways, but based on what we’ve seen of it so far, there’s reason to be optimistic about what it’s promising.
The prospect of a Silent Hill game that isn’t set in the eponymous town of Silent Hill is one that’s bound to raise eyebrows, especially for longtime series fans, but with that decision, Silent Hill f could also be setting itself up to do something truly refreshing and exciting when it launches later this year, in September. A new period location in Japan isn’t what you expect to see from the series more often than not, but the upcoming mainline entry is promising just that, with its horror aesthetic deeply tied to the setting as well.
Specifically, Konami and developer NeoBards Entertainment have spoken numerous times about how the game is looking to blend horror and beauty with its art design and visual style. That is something that has very much been visible in its monsters and many of its environments, based on what we’ve seen so far, and it’s an aesthetic that’s definitely working for the game in its showings up to this point. Konami says Silent Hill f is supposedly going to be a more action driven game than last year’s Silent Hill 2 remake, which may give you pause if you’re a horror fan, but we’re hoping that’s a balance that the game can successfully strike without sacrificing the scares, because everything else about it is looking encouraging.
Of course, Silent Hill f isn’t the only major title that Konami’s resurgent franchise has in the pipeline right now. As recently announced, the publisher has also once again partnered with Bloober Team – the studio behind last year’s excellent aforementioned Silent Hill 2 remake – to develop a similar ground up reimagining of the original Silent Hill. That the two companies would collaborate again on another Silent Hill game was something that many had predicted after the critical and commercial success of their first venture together, and Silent Hill 1 was obviously (or arguably, at least) the most obvious candidate for the next game in the series to receive the remake treatment- but the official confirmation is reason to be pumped nonetheless. It is probably going to be a while before we get to see more of the game, much less actually get to play it.
Further information on the project is currently basically nonexistent, with Konami and Bloober Team only having announced its existence with little more than a brief logo reveal- but if Silent Hill 2 is the blueprint that is being followed for this next remake in the psychological horror franchise, it’s safe to say that many are going to find their excitement hard to contain- ourselves included without a shadow of doubt.
But Silent Hill isn’t getting all of the time in the sun, no. Resident Evil has been the primary flag bearer for the genre for years, and has been in spotless form for quite some time at this point, so it should come as no surprise that the announcement of its next mainline entry – Resident Evil Requiem, which is RE9 in all but (official) name, and the follow up to 2021’s Resident Evil Village – has been met with such excitement from all corners. But it’s not just because it’s a Resident Evil game that audiences are hyped.
Requiem is making bold and exciting promises, from a return to Raccoon City decades after it was nuked at the end of Resident Evil 3, to the developer confidently billing the game as the next big evolution of the survival horror genre. As a franchise, Resident Evil has delivered nothing but one spectacular game after another ever since it reinvented itself with RE7 in 2017, so based on its track record alone, you would imagine that its next big flagship entry is going to find a way to impress audiences as well.
Other factors also add to the anticipation. The protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, is a newly introduced character who not only could potentially bring a new flavour of Resident Evil protagonist, but also has unexpected connections to Resident Evil Outbreak that longtime fans of the series are likely going to appreciate more than a little. Recent hands on previews and impressions have also painted an encouraging picture of the game, describing it as a pure survival horror experience that nails the Resident Evil formula, complete with item-gated exploration, a focus on elaborate puzzles, plenty of scares, and yes, even a stalker enemy to relentlessly pursue you through claustrophobic halls.
Resident Evil Requiem, in true Resident Evil fashion, isn’t going to waste too much time between announcement and launch, with a release due for February next year. Between it, Silent Hill f a few months before it, and a Silent Hill 1 remake also simmering in the background, it feels like the classic, old pillars of the survival horror genre have re-erected and reinforced themselves once more. Genre fans have quite a bit to look forward to outside of those three games as well, of course, including the likes of Alien: Isolation 2 (or whatever it ends up being called), Cronos: The New Dawn, ILL, and others, but these three megatons in particular are understandably grabbing a lot of the attention. Our hope, of course, is that that all three will turn out to be worth the wait, but for now, it’s simply exciting to see such offerings waiting in the wings as a fan of survival horror experiences.
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