Bloober’s Silent Hill 1 Remake Has a Rare Lore Opportunity That It Can’t Miss Out on

In 1999, Konami and Team Silent unleashed Silent Hill into the gaming world, and forever altered the landscape. Silent Hill 1 was the title that pretty much invented and kicked off the psychological survival horror genre, and has become synonymous with it in the years since. As the series went on, it explored the depths of complicated characters and personalized terror in the titular town further, and many others have taken inspiration from its vision. However, a number of the latter entries were less well-received, and Silent Hill experienced an extended lull that saw it in danger of fading into obsolescence until Bloober Team’s phenomenal remake of the seminal second entry last year put it back on the map.

After the success of Silent Hill 2 Remake, it was assumed that the studio and Konami would continue on. And indeed, in June it was confirmed that a Silent Hill 1 Remake is in the works, although very little else about it has been revealed yet. Still, it makes sense that this would be the next entry to be remade. And although Silent Hill is certainly due its credit, there’s one aspect that it and many other installments contain that often divides fans: the cult of The Order. The upcoming remake then has an opportunity to rectify or improve on this aspect in the way SH2 Remake did with some of its changes.

The Case for and Against Bloober’s Silent Hill Remake Being Longer Than the Original

The Silent Hill 2 remake was longer than the original, and Bloober Team is bound to do the same again with the first Silent Hill.

The Silent Hill 1 Remake Has an Excellent Chance to Improve Upon The Order

Silent Hill’s Cult of The Order is Often One of its More Contentious and Divisive Inclusions

With the exception of Silent Hill 2, largely considered the crowning achievement in the franchise, each title featured the secretive cult known as The Order in some form as part of its tale. And even this comes with an asterisk, as traces of The Order can still be found throughout James Sunderland’s time in the town. The Order was introduced in the original entry through Dahlia Gillespie, its charismatic leader, whose connections to and dark machinations for Silent Hill protagonist Harry Mason and his adopted daughter Cheryl were central to the plot.

The usual issue raised, though, is that while many horror games have made use of a cult for their plots, this can be particularly jarring for some in Silent Hill. By offering an explanation of The Order manipulating and controlling events behind the scenes, it threatens to undercut Silent Hill‘s other unsettling aspects. Instead of it being that the town itself has some kind of supernaturally powerful and inexplicable pull, The Order shown to be responsible for this can remove a layer of mystery and terror, “normalizing” the horror and feeling less inventive or impactful.

How Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 1 Remake Could Update or Recontextualize The Order’s Presence

Silent Hill 2 Remake largely stuck to the original’s vision, but also expanded on some areas, filling in a few gaps that served to make it a more cohesive narrative and experience. While the Silent Hill 1 remake can’t really completely remove or heavily alter the part that The Order plays, it could similarly add in some more subtle touches or slightly switch things around to better flesh it out and keep players on their toes.

While keeping the emotional core and heart of the story intact, the Silent Hill 1 remake could perhaps tweak some characters and their interactions with updated dialogue or scenes that build upon the previous lore, some of which could possibly have greater implications. This might then help make the narrative flow more seamlessly as well as offer intriguing new insights or teases. Bloober thus has another chance to find a solid balance for Silent Hill and improve upon it again through a modern interpretation of The Order and its important figures, while also striving to remain faithful to the original in all the ways that count.