Silent Hill 8 formally announced

By Robert Purchese Published 8 September, 2010

A horror game fans "truly deserve".

An eighth Silent Hill game will be released next year on PS3 and Xbox 360, Konami has announced.

This is the same game that was revealed at E3. Czech developer Vatra Games will do the honours.

There's no major brand-renovation being done. Instead, Konami wants to "stay true to the franchise's roots" and deliver, as Shinji Hirano (publisher boss) put it, "A next generation horror game that the fans truly deserve".

Silent Hill 8 will be third-person, then, and naturally involve a new and super spooky story. That revolves around prisoner Murphy Pendleton, who's stranded the town of Silent Hill when his convict transport vehicle crashes.

Pendleton will need to solve tricksy puzzles to progress through this "dark" and "thought-provoking" tale, beating off monsters with wooden chairs and glass bottles. We're promised various side-quests, too.

Silent Hill 8 at E3 2010.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (62) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Freek #1 1 year ago

    Silent Hill is quickly turning into Sonic. Big promisses, high hopes from fans, but it always ends in dissapointment.

  • mattparselle #2 1 year ago

    I always enjoy "beating off" monsters.

  • darleysam #3 1 year ago

    Formally.

  • SomaticSense #4 1 year ago

    What about the 'latter' announcement ;)

  • sfp_noodle #5 1 year ago

    I haven't pissed my pants since SH2 & 3. That was many years ago. I long to piss my pants again in an SH game. This won't be it though.

  • thewool #6 1 year ago

    Keeping my expectations very low for this.

    Also doesn't feel the same without Akira's compositions.

  • sonicyoda #7 1 year ago

    Or you could avoid upcoming dissapointment and buy Shattered Memories! Support good games!

  • Water1111 #8 1 year ago

    no pc version then? fuck.

  • Silent-Hal #9 1 year ago

    I'm assuming all of you talking about the decline of the Silent Hill series never played Shattered Memories then? Come on guys, that was a fantastic game. Easily the best Silent Hill since SH3.

  • Machetazo #10 1 year ago

    "Pendleton will need to solve tricksy puzzles"

    I can only hope that he will still need to, once the game's released. For my liking of SH, it doesn't need to be about the monsters or combat. That just needs to do its job. It needs to be about atmosphere, exploration, mystery and puzzles; with all else as a compliment to that. Otherwise, the result is not Silent Hill.

  • GamesConnoisseur #11 1 year ago

    Shattered Memories good as the old series?!

    Come on, only had few good puzzles and lots of running and even more running!

    No, better than ones just before yes but not as good as the pinnacle of the series that still is the SH2.

  • Milkman1 #12 1 year ago

    Are Xbox 360 and PS 3 still next gen?

  • GreyBeard #13 1 year ago

    Err... shouldn't that be "formally" announced?

    Pathetic.

  • Paulie_P #14 1 year ago

    I love Silent Hill but I didnt really like Shattered memories. There was no tension because the monsters only appeared in the ice world.

    Loved the twist at the end though. It only clicked with me when I reached the lighthouse.

  • thewool #15 1 year ago

    I started to play Shattered Memories but the jaggies looked horrendous against the contrast of the torch light, really wrecked any immersion the game had for me.

    Going to go back and play SH2 though.

  • richarddavies #16 1 year ago

    I'll probably do with this what I normally do with Silent hill games. I'll whine the whole time leading up to it how there not as good as they used to be and then buy this one anyway in the vain hope it'll be a goodun. Oh and im down for some Shattered memories. I liked it. The ice world sections started to get a bit more annoying than scary though by the end but it's cool.

  • vyseofhr #17 1 year ago

    Formerly lol

  • midnight_walker #18 1 year ago

    Probably a good idea to keep the illiterate work experience kid making tea and coffee rather than writing stuff for the website.

  • Silent-Hal #19 1 year ago

    Shattered Memories was great because of its story and the way it was told. It managed to subvert fan expectations of what a 'reimagining' of Silent Hill 1 should entail in a very touching, deeply tragic way. It was a game where gameplay came second to narrative and I can understand why some people may have been turned off by that; I however, loved it.
    Edited by 1 at 08/09/10 @ 13:03

  • Lionheart #20 1 year ago

    It already looks dissapointing. SH is screaming out for something new. I couldn't tell the difference to that video, compared to the last 3 or 4 SH's.

  • AdamAsunder #21 1 year ago

    Just take it out back and shoot it. You can tell all the fanboys that it's now on a farm in Winsconsin.

  • systems #22 1 year ago

    Does that mean we didn't deserve the other games? Probably right it's been downhill since SH2.

  • menage #23 1 year ago

    Milking a dead cow it seems.

  • razzastuta #24 1 year ago

    With only Shattered Memories being the only SH I've never played, I thought the series began to wane from SH3 onwards, but Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 are classics. I always live in hope that it returns to it's former glory though.

  • kangarootoo #25 1 year ago

    A minor complaint, but I'm not keen on the design of the lead character. When the writeup said he was a con, I was expecting some rough at the edges, "not actually a very nice person" anti-hero. Then the movie gets started, and he is some floppy haired boy band veteran. Very imaginative.

  • AdamAsunder #26 1 year ago

    Horrors are most effective when you don't know much about what's going on. Silent Hill's been exposed too comprehensibly for it to be of any relevance or power to shock. It's like when they changed the ending to Paranormal Activity to a Hollywood friendly 'boo' moment, it's always more unsettling when you don't see what happened.

    It's time for the series to die off.

    It would be nice if the genre wasn't so devoid of good examples at the moment. My girlfriend demands that I get the latest 'scary' game so she can watch it but each one this gen has been a dog to play and/or totally not scary.
    Dead Space, Homecoming, F..E.A.R 2 have all been underwhelming in my humble opinion.

    She's resorted to buying Silent Hill 2 so she can make me play that again.
    Edited by 1 at 08/09/10 @ 12:31

  • kangarootoo #27 1 year ago

    Rest of the movie looks suitably spooky though.

  • tengblad #28 1 year ago

    Wow, surprised by the number of people who don't get that "formerly" is a pun/in reference to the fact that the game was announced once at E3 and then once again yesterday!

    Anyway, can't say that the trailer impressed me much. But then again no Silent Hill game has impressed me since SH2.

  • Cappy #29 1 year ago

    What did we do to deserve Homecoming and Shattered Memories Konami? :-(

    I'm not sure I can take another round of punishment as reward.

  • kiroquai #30 1 year ago

    @mattparselle: So, if you were in a whole room of monsters, you would have to beat them all off?

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=4SGbxFmK_LA

  • richarddavies #31 1 year ago

    ^I just try and be sensible about it. I don't try and beat them all of at the same time. That's just asking for trouble. Take them on one at a time and you'll manage it.
    Edited by 1 at 08/09/10 @ 12:51

  • Vlad27145 #32 1 year ago

    Since nobody asked this yet, I assume it's common knowledge or something but I'll go ahead and ask anyway. If this is SH8... WTF happened to 6 and 7?? Homecoming was 5, right? So is Shattered Memories n6? In that case, still what's n7?? What have I missed?

  • kiroquai #33 1 year ago

    Origins - technically I guess it is number 1 in terms of story progression, but I believe it was the fifth game released in the series.

  • Bulbatron #34 1 year ago

    I hated Shattered Memories. Even Homecoming was better.

  • Cronan #35 1 year ago

    Formally, formally, formally, write it down 100 times please before you go home.

  • Vlad27145 #36 1 year ago

    @kiroquai

    Right, I hadn't considered that. Still though, it doesn't make much sense on Konami's part. Origins was only on PSP if I'm not mistaken, it would make more sense to do what mostly everyone else does and consider the handheld games spin-offs. As for Shattered Memories, it was a remake/re-imagining, so that shouldn't really be considered a numbered release either. Oh, well, their game, their rules...

  • brseg #37 1 year ago

    I think theres a place for a new Silent Hill, I'd possibly be interested, but god these games all look the same.

  • kangarootoo #38 1 year ago

    I thinl they are counting the different control variants of SM as different games when calculating the number 8 position.

  • Markitron #39 1 year ago

    Im actually hoping for a PS move port of shattered memories, that would be pretty sweet. Was praying for that with dead space extraction and it happened :)

  • Silent-Hal #40 1 year ago

    If you include Origins and Shattered Memories as entries in the main series then Origins = 5, Homecoming = 6 and Shattered Memories = 7. Not sure why Konami would choose to number the game in such a way but there you go.

  • Gromit #41 1 year ago

    XBOX 360 & PS3 are CURRENT gen!

    XBOX 720 & PS4 are NEXT gen!

    Just think "next gen never comes!"

  • Zebula77 #42 1 year ago

    I'm super-biased cos Silent Hill is my fave game series ever, but I'll pick this up day one. No doubt about that. It could suck, and I'd still love it lol.

    I've enjoyed all of 'em so far, tho certainly not to the extent I did with number one and two. Those two games I've replayed about five times each (and probably will revisit them again some day) and are in my top ten games of all time.

    I REALLY hope they drop the 8 in the title, tho. Makes absolutely no sense (seeing as how Shattered Memories was a reimagining of number one, and Origins was a prequel).

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #43 1 year ago

    Formerly wrong; formally corrected. Apologies.

  • sonicyoda #44 1 year ago

    @richarddavies

    And who would pay for the dry-cleaning?

  • Jim_Lahey #45 1 year ago

    Gutted Climax are not getting another stab at it. SM had all the hallmarks of a Silent Hill game and although not perfect , it was a helluva lot better than Homecoming. I have a feeling this will be Homecoming Mark 2.

  • Dark_Stranger #46 1 year ago

    Alone in the Dark clone.

  • Daeltaja #47 1 year ago

    Loved Shattered Memories. Couldn't put the controller down once I started. Loved the phsyciatric evaluation and how your choices changed little details in the game world. Only gripe was that it could of been longer, oh and the nightmare sections were crap. Might play it again. Homecoming was ok, never finished it though.

    Dying for a proper Silent Hill game. Come on Capcom, we know you can do it!
    Edited by 1 at 08/09/10 @ 14:57

  • Silent-Hal #48 1 year ago

    @Daeltaja - Silent Hill is a Konami franchise, not a Capcom one.

  • AdamAsunder #49 1 year ago

    If Capcom were given the reins, they'd whack in Co-op, or have you herd some retarded AI. Pyramid Head in MvC3 would be awesome though.

  • SpaceMonkey77 #50 1 year ago

    Frankly, while the series has had it highs, I think Konami should give this a break and get to developing something fresh and new. It still seems to me, that beyond MGS and Pro Evo, Konami still aren't sure whatelse to create.

    How many times can we go to the same small town, for a decade or so now. Time to get that money spent on a new Snatcher, Suikoden or Vandal Hearts game.

    Namco had this problem too, but have turned the corner, As a result, Splatterhouse looks cool, and they also have new product like Knights Contract and Tekken X SF in the pipe.

    Is there anything else us gamers would like to see from Konami?

  • abigsmurf #51 1 year ago

    The trailer looked incredibly bland. Silent Hill Homecoming all other again. There's more to Silent Hill than just the visuals and a plot twist involving the main character having killed someone. Silent hill Shattered memories was innovative and interesting, finally moving the series in a new direction.

    Giving an established, popular franchise to a completely unproven dev... It reeks of Konami just shipping off the franchise to whoever could do the game cheapest.

  • Lunatic4ever #52 1 year ago

    They tried it seven times already. So when's it gonna be the FINAL GAME WE DESERVE?

  • berryl227 #53 1 year ago

    For me silent hill was an awesome experience a adult survival horror to resident evils more fantastical approach. Silent hill 2 on the ps2 was jaw dropping with one of the most frightening enemies ever in the form of pyramid head. Since then it's been a series of diminishing returns. I think only a rethink about the game dynamics can return this to it's former glory.

  • Bulbatron #54 1 year ago

    Yes, to be fair to Shattered Memories, it was just the Nightmare sections that ruined it for me. Unfortunately, they ruined it enough for me not to want to play the game again.

    I did like everything else about it though.

    I'm willing to bet this new game won't actually be called Silent Hill 8. That's probably just a temporary name. Silent Hill Homecoming was called Silent Hill V at first.

    Silent Hill Origins also came out on the PlayStation 2, so it isn't handheld only, though I understand the PSP version is supposed to be superior.
    Edited by 1 at 08/09/10 @ 18:03

  • sega #55 1 year ago

    Yeah I too LOVED Shattered Memories and would class it as my favourite Silent Hill game because the characters, atmosphere, story and visuals were all of a very high quality. I can understand why some people didn't like it, though, but in games like this it's the narrative and the exploration I enjoy so I was glad to not have to worry about combat. Infact I like that a game has been made as an immersive interactive story for those of us who feel we'd rather not have to shoot things in every game we play.

    Although another reason I loved Shattered Memories is it did away with the supernatural element of the game. I just found it hard to buy into the witches story of the original. This made it more psychological and much more emotional since it was a subject some people really have to deal with in life.

  • Silent-Hal #56 1 year ago

    @sega If you take the continuity of the previous games into account, that might not even be the case at all. Harry was obviously interacting with real people (like Cybil, for instance) throughout the game, which leads me to believe that he was more than just a memory, kind of like the character of Maria in Silent Hill 2.

    Anyway, I'd be hard pressed to say getting rid of the supernatural aspects would be a good thing. One thing I always liked about the previous games was the idea that the town itself was some kind of malevolent entity that would draw people to itself and actively try to mess with them. Silent Hill 2 probably did this best, with the theme of James being judged and the whole trip beneath the earth about half-way through the game in which you found yourself in places that couldn't possibly exist.
    Edited by 4 at 08/09/10 @ 22:27

  • sega #57 1 year ago

    Well, Silent-Hal, that's your interpretation of it and a valid one at that. That's another reason why I like it - the ending is open to interpretation. You saw a supernatural side to the story and I saw a psychological one but I don't think either of them are right or wrong. I was believing it to be a supernatural story when was playing through it until I reached the end and came to a different conclusion.

    Anyway, it needs yet another play through soon - it's really starting to become my favourite game of all time.

  • MadSnip #58 1 year ago

    I think we can all agree that Silent Hill no longer holds any surprises. After SH 1, 2 and 3 we have pretty much seen all of the highlights of what Silent Hill can offer.
    Hey we could visit room 312 together again. Or we could sneak into the hospital to hit on some of the nurses. Oh, I know, let's go to Heaven's Night tonight and get madly drunk!

    Simply put, all that Silent Hill has to offer are second rate venues and mild surprises. Which pretty much sums up all games after SH3 (and in my opinion, SH2 is a superior game to SH3).

  • MattyD #59 1 year ago

    Please Konami, please just let this series die a dignified death...

  • leketin #60 1 year ago

    Silent Hill had stuck back in 2002 and doesn't look like pulling through any time soon :(

    I think it's a matter of setting itself which has nothing more to offer.

  • actionfitz #61 1 year ago

    ""A next generation horror game that the fans truly deserve".

    funny. I've been waiting for that since I finished SH2.
    for me 1 and 2 and the only decent SH games. 3 was passable i guess... the rest? forget it.

    I was very pleasantly surprised by Alan Wake though. It got an average EG review that I now totally disagree with.
    Finished it in a couple of weekend marathon sessions and fucking loved it :D
    Very linear, but it's what I imagine Silent Hill would have been if it had been a western game to begin with. awesome sauce.

  • curtlikesmeat #62 1 year ago

    I thought the trailer looked alright, but I haven't played a SH game since 2. Hope it's good.