Summary
Kojima Productionshas a lot in the works right now. WithDeath Stranding 2announced and a live-actionDeath Strandingfilm on the way in collaboration with Hammerstone Studios, the iconic video game auteur and his studio have their hands full. Beyond this, however,Kojima Productionsis working on another game for the Xbox family of systems, one that promises to utilize cloud technology to push the boundaries of the medium. While little is known about the title, leaks have suggested it will be a horror game. Kojima’sSilent Hillsis never going to see the light of day, but this is the perfect opportunity for the director to return to some of what he came up with forP.T.
Founded in 2015 as a successor to the production team within Konami, Kojima Productions is the brainchild of its namesake, Hideo Kojima. So far the studio has only released one title,Death Stranding. WhileDeath Strandingis not a horror game, it has many horror elements, and its difficult opening hours can be quite frightening. Other than this, Hideo Kojima’s only foray into the horror genre has been withP.T., the demo forSilent Hills, a game that was canceled soon after its announcement. This cancelation andP.T.’s removal from the PlayStation storegrantedP.T.a cult classic status.
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P.T. Nails Environmental Horror
Despite Kojima and his production house’s relative inexperience in the horror genre,P.T.is a master class in ambient horror, and inspired many similar games. The demo alone is a strong indicator that the famed auteur is primed to shake the genre up. When players beginP.T.they walk through a doorway into a hall. A radio plays, telling of a man who murdered his wife and kids. The loudest sound however is the players own footsteps, which sound eerily like heartbeats. As players reach the end of the hallway, they travel through a set of doors and the hallway loops. Each trip down the corridor introduces new puzzles and becomes gradually more unsettling.
There isn’t a tremendous amount of gore or explicit imagery in the demo; instead it relies on ambient noise, lighting, and ghostly figures. The whole game is more or less relegated to a single hallway, which meansP.T.does a lot with very little. Kojima Production’s rumored horror game should use this as a stepping off point. Rather than going for an overly grotesque visual language, the game should expand on the ambient environmental horror oftheSilent Hillsdemo.P.T.has become a beloved horror game in its own right, and while its vision was never fully realized, it can live on through Kojima Productions' rumored horror game.
Kojima Production’s Horror Game Has A Lot Of Potential
Leaks of Kojima Productions' Xbox gamehave suggested that it will be a horror game titledOverdosestarring Margaret Qualley, the actress behindDeath Stranding’s Mama. While Qualley is not as well known as Norman Reedus, this suggests that likeDeath Stranding, the leaked Xbox game will be star-studded. Having a cast of top-notch actors like Qualley would further enable the new game to lean into the more subtle and subdued horror aspects that theSilent Hillsdemo thrived in utilizing. Excellent performances will bolster Kojima Productions' ability to create a horrifying game that, likeP.T.,is able to scare players with little need for gore or explicit threats.
While almost nothing is known about Kojima Productions' Xbox title, one of the most discussed elements is that it will be utilizingMicrosoft’s cloud technology. This technology has only seen limited use, most notably inMicrosoft Flight Simulator, allowing the developer to stream textures and real-time weather data for the whole globe to players instead of requiring a huge download size. This could hint that Kojima Productions' cloud driven title will feature a vast number of tremendously detailed environments. The feature could also be used to emulate real world conditions at the players' location, creating a truly eerie experience. Because of the power of cloud technology in crafting environmental elements, borrowing fromP.T.’s use of environmental horror makes sense forKojima Productions' Xbox game.
