Controversy Surrounds New Voice Talent for Silent Hill HD Collection

In their pre-E3 conference earlier this year, Konami made a flurry of announcements that got fans extremely excited, which included High Definition revamps of some of their most popular franchises. And one of them was the Silent Hill HD Collection, which will consist of critically acclaimed titles Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.

Now, two of the most praised instalments in the genre-defining Silent Hill series is something that any gamer should be excited about; the entire nerve-shattering atmosphere in excellent HD, complete with full trophy/achievement compatibility.

With all the quality of the original titles, there’s not much else Konami would need to work on… right?

Well, due to issues in residual payments and imminent lawsuits with the original voice cast, Konami were left with no choice but to get their hands on some new talent.

As imagined, concerns grew amongst long-terms fans over the quality of the replacement acting. And unfortunately, their worries seem to be justified, after the reception that the new voice comparison video has received. Fans have flooded the forums, showing their disapproval of the new voice work. Critics and Journalists have not been any lenient either.

In an opinion piece by GameFront’s Jim Sterling, he held not punches in showing his disapproval:

Personally, I thought it was almost impossible to ruin Silent Hill 2, which happens to be my favorite game of all time, but I was very wrong. Impressively, Konami has been able to take the best survival horror game ever made and render it almost unbearable to play thanks to the new voice actors found in the HD Collection.

Gamesetwatch.com also showed their fears surrounding the voice acting, which is as they put it “rather lacking”:

One does not need to be an impassioned Silent Hill devotee to find the above rather lacking. One also has to wonder if Guy Cihi, the original voice of James Sunderland, finds perverse satisfaction with the new guy’s abysmal acting chops, or yet another cause for frustration.

Guy Cihi, the original voice and motion-capture actor of Silent Hill 2’s playable character, James Sunderland, has already stated that he will take legal action against Konami if they use his motion-capture and/or voice acting. This comes after previous reports that Cihi never received residual payments for the Xbox and PC release of the original Silent Hill 2.

Make your mind up and let us know what you think with this comparison video.

No official release date for the Silent Hill HD Collection has been confirmed just yet, but speculation points to sometime in early 2012 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

 

Sources: gamefront.com, gamesetwatch.com