Seven developers we want to finish inSANE with Guillermo del Toro

Announced to much fanfare at the end of 2010, inSANE was a big deal before one screen was shown thanks to the talent attached. Director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) was in charge of the game and he had big plans for the supposed trilogy. Then we heard less and less about the game until news finally broke this week that troubled publisher THQ had cancelled the game. However, the rights for inSANE were then transferred back to del Toro, meaning he could now create the game with any willing developer he could convince to help. But what team should resume work on the horror title? We have a few suggestions…

Famous for: Dead Space franchise, Dante’s Inferno

Why they should handle it: Put aside for the moment any conjecture that Visceral’s parent company, EA, might not want to take the plunge on such a huge new property. We want to see Visceral take it on because they’d be great at making inSANE a blockbuster title it should be while also keeping the violence as intense as it could be. Guillermo del Toro’s films have been both personal and more mainstream – see Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy – a balance the platinum hits artists at Visceral have proven to be pretty great at as well. If inSANE wants to be a financial success, Visceral is the game’s best chance.

Famous for: Enslaved, Heavenly Sword

Why they should handle it: In film special effects can do so much, something del Toro has used to great success in the past, but you still need an actor to make it come alive. You can see that in how Guillermo continually uses actor Doug Jones to bring his strange creations to life. Ninja Theory no doubt sees eye to eye with the director, because its games are always known for the impressive performances of its digital characters. And Ninja Theory knows how to mix those expressive faces with compelling gameplay. The upcoming Devil May Cry reboot may be its first vaguely scary game, but we trust that the team already knows how to illicit emotional response, no matter

Famous for: Alan Wake, Max Payne

Why they should handle it: With both of Remedy’s most famous franchises, they are clearly influenced by famous films (along with books and music), so they know how to translate the language of film to gaming. Alan Wake was a great, if disjointed, horror game that proves they could deal with what del Toro has in mind, but Wake was full of T-rated scares. Knowing the director’s love of graphic horror films, Guillermo’s inSANE would push Remedy into the interesting situation of combining Alan Wake’s haunting setting with Max Payne’s striking violence. Sure, some would rather have Alan Wake 2, but we want to see something new from Remedy next console generation.

Famous for: Ico, Shadow of the Colossus

Why he should handle it: In interview after interview about inSANE del Toro continually mentioned the games of Team Ico as inspirations for him. He saw titles like Shadow of the Colossus as proof that games are be art and he wanted to make similar masterpieces. As luck would have it, just as THQ is letting go of inSANE, Team Ico’s leader, Fumito Ueda, is exiting Sony once the dev’s next game, Last Guardian, is complete. Ueda should team up with his biggest fan and help Guillermo figure out just what he wants to do with his would-be horror franchise. Sure, the game wouldn’t be out till 2017, but it’d be worth the wait.

Famous for: Condemned, FEAR

Why they should handle it: Also experts in trippy horror, Monolith as proven its chops at scaring people to death in spooky franchises like Condemned and FEAR. The dev has a variety of scary skills, be it the ghostly dread of the omnipresent Alma in FEAR 2 or the visceral sense of bashing in a hobo’s head in Condemned 2. That versatility would suite del Toro well, but the real reason we want to see Monolith take over inSANE is to get them back to making AAA games again. Gotham City Impostors was fine for a downloadable, but we want to see what they can do with a retail release again.

Famous for: Eternal Darkness, Too Human

Why they should handle it: Forget what you know about Silicon Knights based on the two lackluster games it put out in the last six years. Before then the company, owned by controversial figure Denis Dyack, was known for its ability to illicit screams of terror from players. That began with action-horror title Legacy of Kain, but the developers proved their true aptitude for frights with Eternal Darkness. The scary GameCube game didn’t play by the rules, tricking players with unpredictable Sanity Effects that seemed to shut down their system or have your character commit suicide. That outside the box thinking having to do with sanity would help inSANE greatly and dedicating themselves to this franchise would help refocus the developer after its recent setbacks.

Famous for: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Why they should handle it: You’ve likely not heard of Climax before, since the British developer is mostly known for ports of racing games and portable movie tie-ins. And many foolishly skipped over the dev’s first-rate Silent Hill remake for the Wii. Those that played it enjoyed one of the most mature, introspective and stirringly personal horror games ever made; a world where the characters’ real enemies were their own psychological demons. Guillermo’s films like Pan’s Labyrinth takes a similarly personal edge to horror, and since Climax has proven they can make games for grown-ups, those two could make beautiful, hideous music together.

That’s who we’d go with if it were up to us, but you might have other ideas. Would you rather see it made by the teams behind BioShock or Amnesia? Tell us in the comments!