In the midst of perpetual Silent Hill controversies and rumors, there has not been much hope for fans to cling to in terms of a modern spiritual successor, let alone a renewal or reprisal of Team Silent and Konami’s survival-horror property. Blue Box Game Studios’ own Silent Hill conspiracies, for example, were rampant and discredited the developer. But it seems that a recent rumor of a Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team is being taken seriously with credible sources to back it up.
Bloober Team is known popularly for Observer and Layers of Fear, as well as its recent Blair Witch adaptation and timed Xbox-exclusive The Medium. Interestingly, while Silent Hill rumors have shuffled around with Bloober’s name in the mix, Bloober revealed that it had turned down an opportunity to develop a Saw game, among other popular Lionsgate IPs, to instead develop its Blair Witch game, stating that it saw more potential in the Blair Witch IP. Even though Bloober turned down Saw, the grisly psychological-horror franchise should still be offered to another developer.
Saw Could Use a Redemption in Games
Saw is an interesting property to explore because of its unique glimpses at psychological-horror, such as looking introspectively at oneself in order to take accountability for one’s actions. This is not unlike Silent Hill’s own psychological torments, but Saw often loses its respective audiences when Jigsaw and Amanda’s elaborate torture-traps become unsurprisingly inescapable, thus losing the significance of John Kramer’s vengeance, and when each subsequent film is more gratuitously gory and nonsensical than the last.
There are, however, beats of pure survival-horror that can be derived from Saw’s earlier entries, such as the reprehensible decisions characters make and how characters interact with others when they are placed in these particularly gruesome circumstances. Interestingly, Konami published Saw: The Video Game and its sequel, Saw 2: Flesh and Blood, to reviews that ranged from mixed to poor.
Each game’s story was received fine, but general gameplay was an issue cited with fans, particularly its combat and repetitive puzzles. Because of these games’ poor receptions, it is not surprising that a new, modern take on Saw hasn't been attempted lately. That does not mean that it is an untouchable franchise; there is a chance that a contemporary AAA developer could produce a favorable survival-horror experience out of Saw. If so, there are many options that Lionsgate could consider.
Other AAA and Indie Devs That Could Pull Off a Saw Game
It appears that Saw may be more or less up for grabs now that it has been officially passed on, and there are multiple AAA and independent horror game developers that could honor the license well. Bloober Team may have done a fine job with it also, but a few other developers may be able to apply layers of cinematic storytelling or action to it that Bloober may not have.
One example of a no-brainer developer to take the helm of a new Saw game is Supermassive Games. Supermassive is known chiefly for Until Dawn, which centers around a group of teenagers at a remote cabin in the winter. Supernatural events are woven into Indigenous myth, but there is also a distinct nod to home invasion thrillers with a masked serial killer.
Supermassive has gone on to develop The Dark Pictures Anthology and The Quarry, which also follow its niche gameplay composed of sparse QTEs and dialogue choices between cutscenes. Supermassive would perhaps be too preoccupied with its anthological series to tackle Saw right away, but an emphasis on split-second decision-making and QTEs with a star-studded cast would match Saw’s own formula perfectly.
Further, if Saw needed more emphasis on gameplay and player engagement, Lionsgate could look to Frictional Games, known for several pulse-pounding horror titles such as Soma and the seminal survival-horror series Amnesia, which includes The Dark Descent, A Machine for Pigs, and Rebirth. These games all involve a lot of exploration through simple yet beautiful environments, with the occasional jump-scare or sequence of pure dread as a creature patrols the area. The player is generally unable to fight back, and the protagonist’s sanity may be tested and affect gameplay as well.
Red Barrels, famous for the indie darling Outlast, could potentially show an aptitude for other gameplay mechanics that players have not seen yet outside of sprinting away from assailants and hiding for prolonged periods inside abundant cabinets and lockers. The Outlast Trials, a prequel to the first two Outlast titles, is set to release sometime this year still and boasts a psychological-horror experience with four-player co-op, which could be a fantastic blueprint for a multiplayer Saw title with puzzles to solve and choices for each player to make.
Saw and the Future of Survival Horror
Survival-horror has never been a dead genre, relatively speaking. There have been and always will be games that push horror with new mechanics and motifs, whether it emphasizes combat or not.
One of the most fascinating parts of contemporary next-gen platforms is the fidelity with which games can immerse players into unsettling environments, or the technical performance with which controller haptics and other technological advancements can amplify tension. This will be exciting to see with some of the few horror games slated to release sometime in the near future. For instance, The Chant's psychedelic horror may shine on next-gen.
Moreover, Alan Wake 2 has transitioned from action-adventure to survival-horror explicitly, which will be remarkable to see on next-gen as well, considering how much lighting effects will be involved in rainy tourist streets and backwoods. Saw would need a drastic change to the gameplay players have seen from it in Konami’s installments in order to make it favorable.
This is likely why Bloober was offered the IP, because Bloober games commonly take a first-person-perspective and walk players through eerie environments. These games have less of an emphasis on involved gameplay, and more of an emphasis on immersion and frights.
Meanwhile, Bloober may well be underway on a Silent Hill 2 remake, though that has yet to be confirmed. Other developers such as Supermassive Games, Frictional Games, or Red Barrels would be able to implement elements of action or other cinematic storytelling mechanics, and it would be neat to see these developers add a unique flavor to survival horror and the Saw IP.