Over the weekend we reported rumors of a multiplayer iteration of Silent Hill. Though the idea of multiplayer in a survival horror game strips away most of the horror aspect, Silent Hill: Downpour Art Director Radek Marek alluded to the possibility of a multiplayer chapter on Xbox Live Arcade. The internet was buzzing with speculation.
Devin Shatsky, the producer of Silent Hill: Downpour, recently addressed the rumors, stating that there would be no multiplayer Silent Hill game. Shatsky informed fans through the Hells Descent forums, mentioning that while the idea of a multiplayer chapter in Silent Hill had been considered in the past, it was quickly scrapped to focus entirely on the isolation of the single-player mode. Silent Hill fans, you can now exhale a sigh of relief.
Regarding the interview in Xbox 360 Magazine Italy, Shatsky said, “Whoever that Italian interviewer was either took Radek’s comments completely out of context, or it was lost in translation. As previously mentioned, we were (many moons ago) investigating a separate multiplayer mode, but that was quickly extinguished when we costed it out and determined how much resource time it would detract from the core single-player experience.”
I’m a firm believer that games that are meant to scare or creep people out should remain entirely single-player experiences. Sure, I had loads of fun with Resident Evil 5, but playing with a buddy (in some really sunny levels) just didn’t provide the classic thrills that the franchise is known for. There’s no doubt that a multiplayer Silent Hill game would have yielded similar results.
