Almost ten years ago, a company called 7780s Studio released a game titled PT. Revealed during Gamescom 2014, the Studio described the game as an “interactive teaser.” The game quickly went viral because of its horrifying atmosphere, diabolical jumpscares, and nefarious level design. PT was composed of one looping house that is almost impossible to traverse without solving some of the most obtuse puzzles in gaming history. But once players made it through the maze, they were rewarded with a surprise: Hideo Kojima, Guillermo Del Toro, and Norman Reedus would be collaborating on a new Silent Hill game.
Konami’s Silent Hills would’ve been the first new Silent Hill game in years. It quickly became one of the most anticipated games, let alone horror games, of all time. However, a year after its announcement, Konami officially canceled the game. Later, they fired Hideo Kojima, and as a result, the Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill franchises halted further development.
Yet despite its cancelation eight years ago, people still talk about PT with infamy, and horror games released over the last ten years have featured elements inspired by the teaser. So why? I believe PT‘s iconography is due to how it completely revolutionized horror games in an era when the genre was dying out. Here’s an overview of why PT is one of the most influential horror games in the last ten years.
Unmatched Terror
PT‘s horror comes from how it uses its level design and atmosphere to induce paranoia in the player. You only have two hallways to navigate when entering the house at the game’s core. There’s one bathroom you can pass by and a balcony above you, nothing else. Hideo Kojima uses the simple layout further to escalate the game’s horror through subsequent loops.
In the first loop, nothing is amiss about the house. It looks like an ordinary house you’d pass by on your way to work. In later loops, though, things begin to change. An unseen assailant slams on the bathroom door, you hear crying from inside the room, and as time passes, a figure begins to stalk your every move.
Every time you enter the door at the end of the hallway, the house changes slightly. The lighting shifts, voices begin to surround you, and as a result, the player is always on edge. It doesn’t help when you unhook the camera from the player’s eyes. In the years since its release, it has been revealed that the monster you encountered earlier, Lisa, is always trailing you even when you can’t see it.
Kojima, Del Toro, and Konami use what you can and can’t see to enhance the horror and terror the player is experiencing. That alone made it stand out from other horror games at the time. That being said, another factor in PT‘s infamy is its cancelation.
Rare Goods
I would argue that part of PT’s iconography comes from its cancelation. While it was an already popular game, its cancellation caused something no game before or since has ever done. To this day, people still talk about how much they miss PT and Silent Hills. Essays fill the entire internet about the game’s meaning, its cancellation, and why people still talk about it. PlayStation 4 consoles with PT installed still sell for thousands of dollars.
Had Silent Hills not been canceled, the game would still have succeeded. That said, when Konami chose to cancel it, they could’ve left PT on the PlayStation Store. Instead, they opted to remove it entirely from all storefronts. As a result, players still chasing the high that PT instilled have tried to recreate the game through Unity, Unreal, and even Halo.
Konami unintentionally heightened PT‘s iconic nature through its cancellation. Even today, the legacy of Silent Hills can still be felt throughout the industry. I would argue that its cancelation made the game more infamous than it would’ve been if it had just been released.
Legacy
PT‘s impact on the video game horror genre is immense. At its release, Five Nights At Freddy’s, Outlast, and Slender: The Arrival were the only major horror games available. The last entries in the Resident Evil and Dead Space franchise were more action than horror. The only horror games available then were those that relied heavily on jumpscares to gain attention on the internet.
The level design and atmosphere separated it from the games at the time. PT used survival horror philosophies and mixed them with games that had become viral on YouTube during that period. As a result, the game became a massive hit. Dozens of content creators played and explored the teaser to its completion, and to this day, those videos have millions of views across the board.
Although, it wasn’t just Youtubers that fell in love with PT. Other game designers did too. In the past few years, several prominent developers have taken inspiration from the Silent Hills demo for their horror games. Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village had free demos before their release that focused on a claustrophobic house-like setting.
In the case of RE Village, a giant baby/fetus chases protagonist Ethan Winters throughout the House Beneviento section. The segment is a clear nod to the baby found in the playable teaser and the demo’s level design. Additionally, games like Returnal and Until Dawn feature several segments directly inspired by the game.
Even the original developers have held on to the success of PT. Kojima released Death Stranding a few years ago, a game featuring Norman Reedus, Guillermo Del Toro, and several horror elements that Silent Hills would’ve likely implemented. Additionally, Konami is developing a Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill f, and Silent Hill Townfall.
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That said, even with all of the games inspired by PT over the past few years, nothing can ever fill the void that Silent Hills left. The playable teaser captured lightning in a bottle: a free demo with an impossible-to-grasp level design and a secret that most never even discovered. Yet it was compelling, terrifying, and brilliant. Whether intended or not, Kojima brought the themes of obsession inherent within Silent Hills into the real world.
Maybe Konami could try to release their version of Silent Hills one day. At the end of the day, though, nothing will ever come close to Guillermo Del Toro and Hideo Kojima’s vision for the series.
