Can Bloober Team do Justice to Silent Hill?

For those who might be a bit out of the loop on the most recent set of rumors and speculations concerning the potential revival of the Silent Hill franchise, you'll be glad to know there is yet another development in the non-stop swirling torrent of hearsay surrounding the long since dead survival horror series. This time, however, the conversation is about something that is actually confirmed; Bloober Team and Konami have entered into some sort of partnership. According to Konami, the new working relationship is vaguely described as a "Strategic cooperation agreement" and it will involve "jointly developing selected contents and exchanging know-how". Which isn't exactly shedding light on much in terms of detail. But a few things about this partnership and the announcement of it do stand out.

First, Bloober Team is of course known for their moderately long history of developing games in the horror genre. If you've ever played Blair Witch, Layers of Fear, Observer, or The Medium, then you have played a Bloober Team game. For Konami to want to work with them seems to point towards one big franchise under their umbrella; Silent Hill. Unless of course, on the off chance that they're looking to revive their game adaptations of The Thing or Saw, but I think we can safely assume that's probably not the case. Secondly, the timing. Konami is many things, but blind is not one of them. Surely, they have seen the recent swelling of interest in Silent Hill, so is it really just a coincidence that they would announce this strategic partnership with a developer that's widely known for their horror games at such a time? My money is on no. Even if what that Konami and Bloober Team are working on isn't a Silent Hill game per se, surely, odds are, whatever the fruits of this partnership are will ultimately contribute to a Silent Hill game in some way.

But then that brings us to the very reasonable question to ask; is Bloober Team a good fit for Silent Hill? Make no mistake, we're not just talking about any random survival horror IP, here. This isn't Blue Stinger or Overblood. Silent Hill is an incredibly important franchise to its genre and gaming as a whole, and it deserves nothing less than the utmost care, especially considering the ill-gotten treatment it's received in recent years with spin-off dungeon crawlers, bad movies, degrading pachinko machines, and the one promising project we saw glimmers of with P.T. getting unceremoniously cancelled. With a track record that goes all the way back to 2010, which includes 5 pretty decent horror games, the experience for Bloober Team is certainly there – at least on paper. Even though the better games from Bloober Team still aren't necessarily widely regarded as unmissable horror classics, with 5 competent games being released in the fairly short time-frame of just 5 years, which is as long as some teams take to make just one game, the team is clearly well-versed in the nuts and bolts of the genre and has proven they know how to get these sorts of projects off the ground and over the finish line.

This is more than can be said for Double Helix, the studio whose lap Konami dropped the franchise into despite having no discernible experience in horror whatsoever, and ended up making what many consider to be the first truly unimpressive game in the series with Silent Hill: Homecoming. Bloober Team also has the variety of what they've produced on their side. With everything from mobile and DS games back in the early 20-teens, to Basement Crawl which we will promptly ignore, to their eventual horror arc. This started with Layers of Fear, which was decidedly and delightfully disturbing, then Observer which was arguably more of a mystery/psychological adventure game with horror elements, then of course Layers of Fear 2, Blair Witch, and The Medium which admittedly had mixed results, but more importantly, were all a little different in how they approached their horror, and thus, created different flavors of it. The value of the unique experience gained from that level of variety outside of and within the horror genre that Bloober Team has, if leveraged creatively enough, could potentially yield an equally unique perspective for Silent Hill that nobody else, from Team Silent to Hideo Kojima, could ever dream up. Whether or not that perspective would end up being a better Silent Hill game is of course debatable, but I could definitely see Bloober Team being uniquely positioned to provide a fresh take nonetheless.

Of course, there's also plenty of reason to think Bloober Team is not the right pick at this time. While they have churned out some decent horror games in a strikingly efficient manner, none of them really set the world on fire. Layers of Fear was arguably their best work in the genre, but even it still doesn't really begin to approach the overwhelming atmospheric tension or narrative mastery on display in the early Silent Hill games. For Bloober to make something that can stand among those games with any degree of dignity, they would need to make their best game to date. Nothing less. It's also worth pointing out that there are other teams out there, right now, that are making superior horror games to anything Bloober Team has done so far. SadSquare Studio, the folks behind the exceptional game Visage, for example, would fit the bill nicely as they have shown an impressive knack for the more cerebral, atmospheric horror that Silent Hill is known for with just that one game, which has its roots in P.T. anyway. So in a way, they already kind of have a head start.

layers of fear

There are also the folks at Creative Assembly, despite being a team much more well-known for their strategy games, they also made Alien Isolation which was one of the finer horror games of the last generation and is regularly – and rightly – brought up in "best horror games ever" conversations. I would also trust the steady hands of Frictional Games as their work on the original Amnesia and SOMA have been nothing short of outstanding. There's also Kojima Productions whose qualifications I really shouldn't have to explain. Not to knock Bloober Team, but with so many exciting and interesting choices out there to carry the torch for Silent Hill, I can't blame people for being a little puzzled and perhaps even dismayed at Bloober Team getting the nod – if that is indeed what is happening.

You could certainly have either perspective on the matter at this point and be justified. There is a case to be made that Bloober Team is more than capable of taking this on and doing something great with it, but there is just as compelling a case to point to other studios that might have been better suited for the job. Based on what we know so far, if this is what we think it is, I think I lean a little toward the former. While Bloober Team is probably not the team I would have chosen, I can definitely see a path for them to bring something uniquely interesting to the series given their experience and versatility. It might be something I would have to approach with an open mind, but maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it's finally time to let the P.T. dream go, and let a different mindset have a turn at the wheel. Afterall it was the fresh take on survival horror of Team Silent that made the original 3 Silent Hill games so great anyway. Just like it was the completely different perspective Kojima and Del Toro brought to the table that made P.T. such a remarkable experience. Perhaps now it's time for Bloober Team to exhume this corpse of a franchise and reanimate it their own way.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Assassin's Creed – What Is Going On With The Series?

Assassin's Creed has been Ubisoft's biggest flagship franchise for pretty much as long as been around, and given how valuable it is to the company, it goes without saying that they're always thinking of ways to ensure its consistent growth, especially from a commercial perspective. And say what you will about Ubisoft, but so far, those decisions have worked out very well for them. Back in 2009, Assassin's Creed 2 elevated the formula of its predecessor and established an open world structure that would be aped by others in the industry for a decade, until Breath of the Wild came along and provided another new open world structure for others to ape.

When that formula started floundering for the series, Ubisoft went back to the drawing board and came back with Assassin's Creed Origins, expanding the series to new horizons and turning it into an action RPG franchise, once again establishing a new formula that the series has been following since then, and which has, in turn, led to the most impressive commercial growth and performances Assassin's Creed has ever seen. And now, it seems like the time is coming for the series to redefine and reinvent itself once again. Following the quick one-two punch of a report by Jason Schreier talking about this reinvention and the subsequent Ubisoft update officially confirming many of those details, we now have a vague and general idea of what to expect- but the general feeling is that this, perhaps, might not be the best possible direction for the series to take.

Before we get into that, let's cover the basics- what do we know for sure, and what's been rumoured but not officially confirmed? What we do know is that Ubisoft is bringing together its Montreal and Quebec studios to collaboratively work on the next era of the franchise, which is taking the shape of a live service model. This online live service project is going to encapsulate a growing, evolving, and changing experience that will regularly add new stories set across multiple settings, each with their own unique tones and methods, all of which will be connected via a single hub, a unified platform, which, in its current early development process, is being referred to as Assassin's Creed Infinity. It's essentially the Fortnite version of Assassin's Creed, if we're being rather reductive about it (curiously enough, reports suggest that Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to do similar things with a growing and changing map- but that's another discussion entirely).

On top of this, there are some other things that are a little bit up in the air right now. For instance, is Assassin's Creed Infinity going to be a premium release, or will it follow a free-to-play model? Neither Ubisoft's confirmation nor Schreier's report have talked about that, but Ubisoft does seem to be determined to emphasize F2P going forward, and a live service platform would, of course, be rather well-suited to something like that. Not that long ago, insider Shpeshal_Nick suggested that the game would indeed be free-to-play, and would even have Destiny-style raids- but again, that's not yet been confirmed. Meanwhile, it's also unclear whether Assassin's Creed Infinity is going to have multiplayer elements. It being a live service would suggest that it will have multiplayer, but according to Schreier, given the fact that the game's so early in development, a lot of the details are in flux right now. The one thing that's certain is that Infinity is going to be a connected hub, a platform that will contain many games and settings being added to it, but how multiplayer will figure in, or if it will even figure in, is not yet known.

Now, out of all of those details, some things are actually rather encouraging. The fact that Ubisoft has confirmed that Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec are going to be working together on a collaborative and much more cohesive vision for the series is one of those things, for instance- a large-scale live service isn't easy to main (Ubisoft's own The Division is evidence of that), but with the combined forces of the Montreal and Quebec studios behind it, Infinity would have a much better shot at getting things right. And Montreal and Quebec are, of course, the two biggest Assassin's Creed authorities. While Montreal was exclusively in charge of the series from its inception all the way up until Unity, since then, the two studios have been taking the lead on alternate entries, with Syndicate and Odyssey being developed by Quebec, and Origins and Valhalla by Montreal (while Rogue, of course, was made by Ubisoft Sofia). The prospect of these two studios co-leading the next big step forward for the series, then, sounds smart, at least on paper.

Meanwhile, the talent confirmed to be in leadership positions for this project is also top-notch. On the production side of things, the likes of Marc-Alexis Côté, Étienne Allonier, and Julien Laferrière have been named in leadership positions, and they've been involved with the series for a long time now. Meanwhile, Jonathan Dumont and Clint Hocking of Quebec and Montreal respectively have been named as the project's creative leads, and both have impressive track records. Dumont was world director on Assassin's Creed Syndicate and and then creative director on Odyssey, while Hocking has been creative director on games such as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and Watch Dogs: Legion.

Beyond that, however, things start getting either a little murky, or a little misguided- or, in some cases, both. For instance, it's true that fans have been asking for a more cohesive vision for the series for some time now, and Ubisoft has mentioned that as one of the reasons for this radical change. But most series fans would tell you that they're going about implementing a more cohesive vision in the wrong way. When series fans say they want more cohesion, they're talking about the larger, series-wide story, which, frankly, has been a mess and mostly directionless ever since Assassin's Creed 3 (even though it has started getting back on track starting with Origins). Almost no one wants a live service Assassin's Creed that's possibly an MMO-lite, for all practical purposes. Ubisoft are definitely doing the right thing by trying to give the series a more coherent long-term future, but they're not doing it the way they perhaps should.

The biggest problem with Assassin's Creed Infinity, however, is that it has the potential to exacerbate and double down on all of the worst, most exhausting tendencies of this series in recent years. Complaints about bloat, excessive open world grinding, and a deluge of cookie cutter content that almost feels procedural in nature have been growing louder and louder with each new entry in the series, but rather than cutting down on those aspects, Ubisoft's going with a model that is pretty much built on bloat, grinding, and repeatable content. It's virtually impossible to have a live service platform without stuff like that, at least if you want to retain players and increase engagement. Who knows, maybe Ubisoft will find a way to strike that balance- but somehow, I doubt it.

Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, there's been no word yet on whether the game is going to be multiplayer, or whether it will be free-top-play- but if it is, what does that mean for Assassin's Creed? Because of its free-to-play, does that mean that it's going to grow more reliant on microtransactions, as any free-to-play game has to be? If it's multiplayer, does that mean the core sensibilities of the series are going to change? Assassin's Creed has always been an extremely narrative-driven series, so how would that even work in an ongoing live service, potentially multiplayer game? There is, of course, the possibility that multiplayer is just going to be an aspect of the experience, with multiplayer-centric quests like raids, or PvP like from the older Assassin's Creed games, or even co-op missions similar to what we saw in Unity. And all three of those, frankly, actually do sound exciting- but not if they become the primary focus of the experience. Multiplayer content like that will be great to have, but most importantly, Assassin's Creed needs to retain its single player narrative-driven identity… and a live service model seems to be at odds with that.

That said, it's still worth noting that for the last few years, the series has, for all practical purposes, followed a live service model. Odyssey and Valhalla especially are both live service games, with continued and prolonged post-launch support in the form of updates, seasonal content, new features and ways to play, free quests, and of course, the big paid expansions. And if that's the model that Ubisoft intends to keep on following for the series, only this time for a single platform that grows and evolves overtime- well, then that's great! That's honestly a sensible evolution for the series (assuming it doesn't shift focus away from single player content). But then again, we don't know if that's what Infinity is supposed to be.

assassins creed odyssey

I'm not writing Assassin's Creed Infinity off, because honestly, we don't know enough about it yet for it to be written off. What we do know so far doesn't sound very encouraging, and seems to be at odds with what the series should ideally be doing- but with the project so early in development and so far away, maybe Ubisoft does have a plan in place that will simultaneously protect the series' identity and move it forward into its next major era. It will definitely be interesting to see how The Division Heartland is structured and handled when it releases next year, because that might give us a pretty good idea of what to expect from Infinity. If Infinity is a hub that keeps on delivering the kind of narrative-driven single player Assassin's Creed experiences that one would expect to see from the series, and if on top of that it adds the sort of surprisingly good multiplayer content the series has been known to deliver in the past, then it might actually be worth keeping an eye on. But that's the ideal scenario, and several harsh lessons have taught us over the years that when it comes to the very idea of a "live service", the ideal scenario is also often the least likely scenario.

With Assassin's Creed Valhalla having been confirmed to receive support in 2022 as well and with Ubisoft Quebec and Montreal being fully focused on Infinity, it doesn't look like there's going to be another new Assassin's Creed game in the interim. There's a lot riding on it, then, and for the series' sake, and the sake of the millions of fans it has across the world, we really do hope that it turns out to be a good idea- even though right now it seems like it probably won't be.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt To Get DLC "Inspired By" Netflix Show

When it comes to CD Projekt RED, the overwhelming amount of talk about them over the last year or so has been Cyberpunk 2077 and its various issues. But one can't forget about the game that really helped elevate their brand with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The RPG was a massive hit, and helped to spawn a Netflix TV (though technically the games and show are all adaptations of the books series). The show has only helped to bolster an already popular franchise, and now it seems CDPR want to tip their hat back.

As we already know, the game is set to get native PS5 and Xbox Series X/S releases at some point this year. On the official Twitter, they revealed a revised cover art for the release. Along with that, they also revealed there will be free DLCs inspired by the Netflix show. If you're unaware, the show actually adapts two short stories that preceded the main Witcher novels that the games are both based on and sequels to. It's not specified what that DLC will be, or whether it will be next-gen only or also come to older copies of the game. Most likely, we'll know more closer to the next gen release.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. It will also come to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S sometime this year, which you can read more details about through here. The Netflix adaptation, simply titled The Witcher, has its first season available now on the service, with a second season set to come out in December.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles Previews Five Cases With Short Trailers

The Ace Attorney series was an early example of the visual novel/adventure style breaking out in the west. Originally starting on the Gameboy Advance, the franchise would see multiple entries going all the way to the 3DS. However, not every region got every title, as a pair of prequel spin-off titles never saw release outside Japan. That changes this month with The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, and Capcom wants to give you a quick look at some of the cases you'll be tackling. 

In a series of trailers, you can get an introduction to five different investigations you'll be tasked with cracking: The Case of the Visiting Professor, The Case of the Stricken Steamship, The Case of the Deathly Omnibus, The Case of the Pedestrian Knifing, and The Case of the Pawnbrokery Burglary. Each trailer is short and gives just a brief introduction to the known events and evidence. It's not a comprehensive list by any means, but will give you an idea of the tone and style to expect.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is set to release on July 27th for PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. You see some gameplay footage, including how courtroom cases play out, through here.

Genshin Impact – Update 2.0 Arrives on July 21st, Adds Inazuma, New Characters and Cross-Save

Unveiling the next big update for Genshin Impact, miHoYo Games finally showcased the Inazuma region. Ruled by the Shogun and with weather that alternates between strong winds and thunderstorms, it's composed of six islands and numerous islets. Check out the trailer below to see it in action.

Update 2.0, which releases on July 21st, only adds three of the six islands for Inazuma. However, there will be plenty of different landmarks and secrets to discover as players learn more about the Electro Archon and the various conflicts in the land. Joining the Traveler on their quest are three new characters – Ayaka, a katana-wielding warrior; Yoimiya, who runs a forge and is skilled with a bow and arrow; and Sayu, a shinobi of sorts.

Ayaka and Yoimiya will debut in the next set of Archon Quests they should also receive their respective Banners before long. Update 2.0 also marks the launch of cross-save, allowing players to share progress between PS4, PS5 and other platforms. More tactile feedback on the PS5's DualSense controller, like when drawing a bow string or feeling an explosive barrel nearby, is also being added. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

GTA Online Begins To Cycle Out Individual Jobs For Newer Content, Adds New Survival Maps

A Rockstar newswire article has stated that individual jobs within GTA Online will be cycled out in favor of new content as the developer aims to create more space for future updates. Many fans seem to have reported that the Bombushka Run Adversary mode isn't available now, as new content and jobs have taken over its place.

In the same post, Rockstar also announced that it has added 7 new survival maps, which will be doling out 2x GTA$ and RP up until July 19. Completing any of these challenges will net players 100k GTA$ within 72 hours of playing, Rockstar says. There are a bunch of new gear and cosmetic options added to the game as well, as it gears for its Summer update.

There's still no word on when Grand Theft Auto 5's next-gen console versions will be dropping, and what exact additions they would be bringing to the game. Rockstar is also dropping support for GTA 5's online mode on Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year.

Donkey Kong Developer Celebrates Franchise's 40 Year Anniversary, Shares Artwork Online

July 9th, 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the Donkey Kong franchise, following the original release of the arcade game way back in 1981 on the same day, of course. To celebrate the occasion, Donkey Kong Country artist Steve Mayles shared an artwork of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong aboard a minecart.

The artist now works at Playtonic Games, who last shipped Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair following the mediocre original. Fans seem to be quite nostalgic about the "good old days of Donkey Kong", as they share their experiences with the franchise in response to the original tweet.

There's still no word on the next installment in the franchise, although rumors seem to suggest that Nintendo EPD is currently working on a new Donkey Kong game. The game is rumored to be a 40th-anniversary celebration, suggesting its release to be this very year. Nintendo didn't reveal anything related to the matter during its E3 2021 Direct, so fans should keep expectations in check for now.

Xbox Live Gold Will Be Discontinued Once Xbox Game Pass Reaches Milestone Subs – Rumor

Prominent industry insider Jeff Grubb believes that Microsoft is planning to get rid of its base Xbox Live Gold subscription once Xbox Game Pass receives milestone subscribers. In his Grubbsnax show on Giant Bomb, Jeff Grubb reiterated the claim, which he made quite a while ago.

According to Grubb, Xbox removing the requirement for Xbox Live Gold for free-to-play multiplayer experiences as well as Halo Infinite's multiplayer being free-to-play indicates that the Redmond-based giant plans to eventually phase the subscription out sometime in the future.

"I just wanted to reiterate, Xbox Live Gold is still on a board somewhere saying 'this is going to go away at some point,'" Grubb said, "Whether or not they're actively talking about it right now, I don't know, but they still have it on a roadmap saying 'Xbox Live Gold will be dropped at some point in the future'."

"Microsoft's just kind of heads down on getting user acquisition, and that means 'Xbox Live will go away but we need to get to a certain threshold with Game Pass before we can make that choice and unplug that revenue source because we have enough coming from something else,'" he added.

The speculation itself is plausible, since Microsoft did try to raise the prices for the subscription but had to drop its plans following fan backlash on the matter. Xbox Games With Gold continues to be an after-thought, seemingly in an effort to push more people to buy into Xbox Game Pass instead.

Activision Pulls Down Promotional Videos Of ML-Powered Cheating Software

Activision has recently pulled down a promotional video of an ML-powered cheating software that claims to work on any platform, including consoles. As reported by Twitter user ACPD, who also shed light on the original story about the cheat engine, Activision will also be working on measures to combat players who would be using these cheats.

However, the cheat engine reportedly is still up for sale. By pulling down promotional videos for the cheat engine, Activision seems to be acknowledging the situation and will be actively working on its anti-cheat systems to take into account these kinds of cheats.

Given how naturalistic movements the cheat engine produces, its undoubtedly going to be hard to track down these cheats. Call of Duty: Warzone is already fighting an uphill battle with cheaters as it continues to ban wave after wave of them. It also doesn't help that Warzone is free-to-play, so a ban can easily be countered by creating a new account.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is Getting its Next Zombies Map on July 15

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's Zombies offerings were a little sparse when it launched in November of last year, but the mode's been getting beefed up with regular updates since then, and it's next one is going to arrive soon. When the mid-season update for Season 4 arrives on July 15, it'll also be bringing a new map for the Zombies mode.

Mauer Der Toten will take players to an urban cityscape, one that's defined by densely packed streets littered with ruined vehicles and corpses, destroyed buildings, rooftops, cramped and claustrophobic subway tunnels, and ziplines to take you from rooftop to rooftop. And of course, there are going to be plenty of zombies in different shapes and sizes as well. Take a look below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. If a recent report is to be believed, the game is going to be supported for longer than you'd expect even after the next Call of Duty has launched- which, incidentally, is probably going to happen pretty soon.