Silent Hill V dev seeks to allay fan fears over changes

Speaking to SilentHill5.net, Silent Hill: Homecoming lead designer Jason Allen has moved to allay fears that the latest in the Konami horror series won't bear the trademark aspects of previous games.

Homecoming is the first Silent Hill title to be developed in the US.

"The Silent Hill series is all about narrative, exploration and atmosphere; even though this has been developed outside of Japan with an entirely new team (with the notable exception of Akira Yamaoka), we are still creating a Silent Hill game," he said.

"Foremost in our design philosophy for this title has been a strong desire to maintain the trademark atmosphere of the game. If we were to change that part of the experience - in my mind - it would cease to be Silent Hill. For a lot of western horrors, the key components are gore, shock and brutality. Atmosphere in Silent Hill is much more about dread, loss of identity and a sense of the futility of struggle; it hits you in an entirely different manner and in some respects is much more frightening to behold. So in a roundabout way, yes, you can expect the same creepy atmosphere."

There's quite a lot more through there on combat, the inventory system, and so on.

Silent Hill: Homecoming releases for PS3 and 360 in September.