Vatra Games design director Brian Gomez doesn't feel that his studio's upcoming survival-horror title, Silent Hill: Downpour, is being too adversely affected by the absence of longtime series composer Akira Yamaoka. "I was worried when we lost him, we lost him really early on in Downpour. But I was a big fan of Dexter already, so I'm happy we got Daniel Licht," Gomez told me this morning after a GDC Europe panel on the SH franchise. "It was the closest to Akira but also brought something new to it," he added.

Back in 2009, Downpour producer (at Konami) Tomm Hulett told us, "If Akira's music isn't there, it just doesn't sound quite right. And I'm sure that there are people out there who could emulate the sound and try to get it close, but there would be something missing." But time heals all wounds, and Gomez thinks the game will still fall in line with the franchise's established standard of audio. "As much as I would've loved the honor of working with Akira, I don't feel that we're missing out by not having him."

That said, it's clear that Gomez wants Yamaoka back at Konami, and back on the Silent Hill franchise. Speaking to the ongoing friction between Yamaoka and his formeremployer, Gomez added, "I think this whole feud between he and Konami is just *crag*ing stupid. Everyone needs to calm down, and bring him back in, and do something."

Gomez had yet to play Yamaoka's latest work, the critically acclaimed (but commercially ignored) Shadows of the Damned from Grasshopper Manufacture and EA. "I've just been too busy with Downpour, unfortunately."