Silent Hill: Ascension wasn’t the comeback that longtime fans were expecting.
Instead of capturing the dark, unsettling mood the franchise built its name on, it crashed because of awkward paywalls, lackluster gameplay, and a format that resembled a glitchy interactive show instead of survival horror.
But one thing stood out for the better: its unused monster designs.
Could These Have Been the Best Monsters in the Series?
Buried beneath the bad writing and soulless audience-vote mechanics were concept artworks that reminded everyone why Silent Hill still has a pulse.
The monsters were grotesque, creative, and distinctly Silent Hill. We're talking twisted anatomy, flesh sculpted into unnatural forms, exposed organs wrapped around limbs, and disturbing silhouettes that looked like they clawed their way out of a fever dream.
Some featured insect-like limbs or burned, sagging skin; others had Cenobite-like flair that felt closer to Hellraiser than a mobile app. The worst part is that one of them made it into the final product.
How Did Ascension Waste Its Best Designs?
The game never gave these monsters the screen time—or respect—they deserved.
They existed just as background details in cutscenes, seen for a moment and never directly dealt with. Players had no way to interact with them, fear them, or even understand what they symbolized. Compared to previous Silent Hill titles, where every monster represented a slice of trauma, guilt, or repression, these felt like missed opportunities.
Many fans felt that, ironically, the one redeeming feature of Ascension was utterly wasted. Hats off to the artists, though it’s a shame these creatures got stuck in a project that never took off. It reminded me of the monsters from The Suffering, Resident Evil: Revelations, and Halo’s Flood, only twisted in a way only Silent Hill can do.
These designs would have worked better in a mainline game or even something like Silent Hill F, which already seems to be leaning into more grotesque body horror. To be fair, Ascension wasn’t lacking ambition. It attempted to bridge the gap between games and TV by running a live story with community voting, quick-time events, and daily episodes.
However, the uneven voting power, clunky interface, and time zone locking made the experience feel flawed from the beginning. People lost progress constantly, and the only thing left to latch onto was the artistry that didn’t get used.
Has Silent Hill Done This Before?
This isn’t the first time Silent Hill has buried something good.
Silent Hill: Origins also had several creepy enemies, such as miners, twisted bellhops, and pierced scorpions that were cut late in development. The original PS1 game even had unused code showing designs for headless ostrich hybrids, manta-ray demons, and more, scrapped simply because there wasn’t time to finish them.
In the end, Ascension’s monster designs became a strange kind of success. They’re valued now, not for the game they appeared in but for the possibilities they hinted at. They reminded fans of the creative horror that made Silent Hill a household name in the first place.
And maybe that’s the silver lining. Even the franchise’s most disappointing entry gave fans something to admire. These scrapped monsters are too good to forget—and hopefully, not too good to return someday.
Stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com: the best site for Silent Hill coverage.