Broken Covenant (Silent Hill PS3)

Date: 2006
Developer: Climax LA

In the same year of 2006, Climax LA started working on yet another tentative Silent Hill title exclusively for the PlayStation 3 using the Unreal 3 engine. After the project was declined by Konami it was converted into a stand-alone survival-horror title Broken Covenant.

The game was supposed to take place in the American Soutwest where Alessa's powers and corruption began to spread outside of Silent Hill. A splinter group of Silent Hill cult relocated its operations to an abandoned military base just outside Coyote Flats, Arizona continuing pursuing their main goal of conjuring Samael. Players would assume the role of Father Hector Santos, an El Paso, Texas priest in desperate search of his nine-year-old niece, Anna who has been handed over to the Cult as a conduit for demonic rituals as they believe she might be the next Alessa.

Various pieces of Silent Hill from different time periods would materialize around Coyote Flats affected by growing Alessa's influence. Buildings from different years would appear next to each other distorted by Alessa's imagination looking like a mirage in the desert or rising from the ground. Water would be one of the key features of the game which the protagoinst would use to purify the environment performing holy rites and rituals.

For the purpose of the pitch the team used Silent Hill: Origins assets and its main character Travis Grady which was not intended for the final game. The game aspires towards context-sensitive action, and intelligent – creepy enemy behaviors, while features include stealth action, materializing structures, and dynamic audio. The game still utilized a barricade system from original prototype of Silent Hill: Origins to slow down enemies.

Broken Covenant was supposed to be published in episodic format. After it failed to seek any interest from other publishers it was shelved for good.

Demo footage / story by PtoPOnline

Hovig Alahaidoyan