Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

I have been a Silent Hill fan since the first game. The series was a masterpiece. It took what Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil had started and then capitalized on it with its own brand of survival horror. Everyone seems to love the story of Silent Hill 2 the best ( I to am one of those people) but for the atmosphere and pure terrifying chills, the first Silent Hill is the one to visit.

When I heard that Silent Hill was being remade, I was very skeptical. Then I thought, well it might not be so bad if its a direct remake with amped up graphics. First we find out that most of the characters from the first Silent Hill are in Shattered Memories in name only. They bear no resemblance or anything for that matter to most of the characters. Lisa's character still holds some of that crazy charm she had in the original but keep in mind this one has nothing to do with the original. Instead of having the town turn to what most describe as "hell mode" it turns to this iced over frozen realm where we basically get the same creatures re spawning time and time again. The Silent Hill series has always been noted for its grotesque creatures and you never know when you are going to run into a new one. Not the case here.

I have a few hunches on what happened with this game. First of all I don't think this game was originally written to be a Silent Hill game. Both have sort of similar beginnings in which we have a father wrecking with his daughter and his daughter goes missing. I feel like when writing this story people caught on that it sounded a whole lot like Silent Hill 1 in the sense of the wreck and Harry searching the town for his missing daughter. So they decided to just reboot the franchise with this game. To me this game should not have Silent Hill in the title at all.

When driving through the quiet vacation town of Silent Hill, Harry Mason crashes his car(this takes the idea of doing so and its potential consequences and runs with it), and awakens to find his daughter, Cheryl, missing. He goes looking for her, and instantly discovers... that the similarities pretty well end there. This references the original(with locations and events), but "nothing is quite right", making you question how this relates to it(alternate dimension, sequel, coincidence…?), and we get to feel less and less like we know who our protagonist is… his characterization(appearance and behaviour), by the way, along with every other person in this, can be altered by the brilliant and unique psychological profiling feature. You are asked yes or no questions and go through tests, a great addition to replayability(since you can now(for the first time in this series) get more than different endings, it affects scenes throughout it(not how they end up, but how they get there... read on)), and if you are honest, it will find things that will upset you, and use them against you, things will go the way you fear they will(while I can only speak for myself, it utterly nailed me). It is a short experience(and you may just want to rent it if you aren't intending to see all the different versions), taking me only 5 and a half hours - and now that I know where to go and what to do, it probably wouldn't even be that. Since everyone has a cell-phone today, and it can do quite a bit, this puts one in your hand, as well... literally; the Wii-Mote doubles as it(with the D-pad navigating the menus), as well as the now regular type flashlight(it's no longer in your chestpocket), which you can point anywhere you want to(and it'll adjust your view, and thus what direction you're headed in). It can engage and receive calls(any number you find in this, you can call, though it doesn't particularly change things), and you'll get text messages and voicemails... the latter two not only from those you've met in this, but also ones giving a few details on tragic stories(like the ones where you'd get a block of text(from a book, a newspaper article, etc.) that you'd have to stop right there and read, in the others... that wasn't bad in those, still, it's nice to do something else), it's where you save progress(it may go to the nearest checkpoint; you won't have to redo much), you can take photos(of anything, really... what it's meant for is the area-trapped ghosts, which make up essentially all the supernatural aspects of this... this is psychological thriller, not psychological horror with fantasy in it), and the map(that no longer automatically draws out the spots where you can't pass... you can do so, yourself, putting decisions back into our hands(again, the other way wasn't bad)). The puzzles are almost all focused on utilizing the motion controls(they're on the level of Homecoming, if that, immensely easy), you "pull open" a closet, etc. When solving them, you zoom in by using B, then grab something with A, and you can now interact with what you grabbed(which is highlighted so you can find it). A key to a door is in the same room as you need it(there is no inventory). In fact, other than aforementioned, you can only pick up "mementos", things that means something to someone, somewhere. This is rather immersive, if it isn't as effective at that as the Penumbra Collection, maybe because here you can't do things that you'd expect to be able to. Unlike in those, when facing enemies, this doesn't allow you to distract(by way of throwing something to make a noise), fend them off at a slight range, blocking their path can only happen in very specific spots and hiding from them doesn't seem to do any good. The two types of monsters(both pale, skinny humanoids, one of them looking like a doll with extremely thin(or nonexistent?) joints) try to grab you(if one or more of them are successful, you can shake the joysticks to throw them off(and remember, there's no health pickups)) and chase you(running as fast as you...!), making you think of the Dahaka, the guardian of the timeline, in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within - except here, you don't know where you're going, several paths lead back to where you started or into a dead end, and bringing up the map(or putting it away afterwards) both take far longer than they should(why can't you bring it up and lower your arm within a second or two, like you could in real life?). Walking quietly and without a lightsource makes them a little slower to find you, and if you find a flare(there's at most one per sequence), activating it holds them off(until it runs out), only you then can't check where you're going(without dropping it to the ground, and you can't grab it afterwards). And yes, all of this with the foes is only true of the Nightmares, the altered Otherworld(outside of them, there are no attacks), that are now brief, intense bits(though as I described before, they get increasingly frustrating) where you have to get from point A to B as quickly as possible. And in place of fog, rusty metal grates and grotesque imagery, this has everything ice over, looking very unwelcome and isolated. It is hard to recognize where you are because of the visibility and the bluish tint. The story is the focus as usual(and as it should be), and it really draws you in. Because of the length, it also moves ahead at a fast pace. Voice acting is great, with our lead providing the occasional exception to prove that rule. There is disturbing content, and a little moderate to strong swearing, blood and violence in this. I recommend this to any fan of the series(provided they can keep an open mind about the changes) and of this sort of thing in general. 9/10

Ah. "Silent Hill." A media franchise that began as a very frightening and highly regarded survival-horror video game series, before branching off into films, comics and other mediums. It's usually accepted that the first few entries in the series are modern classics of horror gaming. (Although even there, there is some controversy, as some fans feel the series peaked with its third entry, while others feel the fourth game was just as good as the previous games. I fall into the latter, and love the fourth game, but I digress.) However, starting at the fifth game, many fans have noted a fairly consistent de-evolution in the series, and found that the games have subsequently dropped in quality with each new release.

That being said, there is an odd enigma amongst the recent titles in the series. A game, that unlike the others, isn't a sequel, but rather a drastically different and new re-imagining of the original game. (1999's "Silent Hill") That game- "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories", released on the Nintendo Wii on the franchise's 10th anniversary.

And it is a game that thankfully broke the mold of recent releases, by actually being pretty darned good in its execution- happily telling a dramatic tale that honors the original, while introducing some intriguing new gameplay ideas into the series. Is it perfect? No, far from it. But it is a good entry into the overall series? Yes, most definitely!

The player assumes the role of Harry Mason, a father who crashes his car on the outskirts of Silent Hill- a quiet little town where he lives. His daughter Cheryl, who was in the passenger seat, has vanished from the wrecked car, and Harry is forced to try and locate her within the town. However, something is wrong- save for a few strange characters, the town has become almost completely abandoned, and is being covered in snow by a horrific storm. And seemingly at random, the world changes into a Hellish frozen wasteland populated by monsters that Harry must flee from to survive. All the while, the game occasionally cuts back to a psychiatrist's office, where the character (who is recollecting the events) must answer questions that will impact the game in varying ways through psychological profiling.

While the bulk of the story may sound familiar, with only some changes, players should be aware that this is a radical departure from the original game. While it is true to the tone and intent of the original, and features many returning characters, everything has been re-imagined. Harry is more fleshed out and vulnerable. Dhalia is now a younger woman who may or may not be involved with Harry. Cybil is much more proactive in the story. And the entire aesthetic and gameplay is altered to tell this new tale. (Particularly evident during the psychological therapy sessions, which are unlike anything in the series before. And the fact that there is no combat system, and characters are forced to flee creatures rather than fight.) That being said, fans of the series should find much to like about this game, even though it is different, and the changes don't feel insulting at all to the canon. Rather, they feel fresh and interesting, and honor the original game. To be honest, the storyline, characters and new ideas almost lead to a flawless entry in the series, and I would say this is easily the best the franchise has offered since the fourth game.

However, this game cannot be called flawless due to a few big issues holding it back. First and foremost is the controls. When it works, the game controls beautifully. It makes great use of the Wii's motion- controller, and feels fluid and intuitive. But that's when it works. When it doesn't work, the game is a mess. Particularly during sequences where Harry has to flee from monsters, the controls become nightmarish- it's very easy to have your motion-control cursor (which controls the direction you look and move) stuck on the side of the screen, causing you to run into walls and become stuck. And at other times, it's just too "jittery" to do fine control work, which this game often requires. The controls themselves bring this game down a point.

The other main issues involve the pacing, length and over-simplified nature of the game. The game is definitely very hasty and overly short. And that is a big problem. My first playthrough only took about five hours, and my second playthrough (which I am currently in the process of) seems like it may come in under 2 hours. (Granted, I am rushing through the game) It is by far the shortest entry in the series, which hurts it- it feels like it needs more time to develop. And the game is often very overtly simple, thus losing the puzzling quality of previous entries, and the sense of problem-solving that other games in the series have. Puzzles are not only simple, they are so simple, they seem as though they were made for children. If you find a locked door, chances are the key is in the cupboard next to the door- that sort of thing. There's no real thought to be put into the game, and it does hurt the experience somewhat.

However, those issues being said, this is still a good game and a strong entry in the series. It's creepy, fun, fascinating and it introduces some cool new elements to the gameplay, all while honoring the series and particularly the original game. Despite its flaws, those aspects alone make it worth buying.

I give "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories" a good 7 out of 10. Fans of the series need to check this out!

The Silent Hill franchise has gathered a cult following over the last decade from the series take on psychological and survival horror games, the newer instalments have been meet with oh hum reviews. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is the first instalment of the Silent Hill franchise on a Nintendo console and a re-imagining of the first game in the series. This being my only gaming experience with the franchise (I have seen the movie, one of my favourite video game based movies), Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is the best horror game I've played since Resident Evil 4. During the game there's 2 different perspectives: the first is a psychological therapy session with a pretty blunt psychologist which has you fill out a few.. tests. The other part of the game has you in control of Harry Mason who wakes up from a car crash and is searching for his daughter during a cold winter's night in Silent Hill. Harry's mission takes him all over the town while the tests from the therapy session alter the town in slight ways. The therapy sessions are short, so you spend most of your time as Harry. Shattered Memories plays a lot like an adventure game (such as Hotel Dusk or Myst), you go around the town and search for keys when you hit a locked door. Thankfully the keys are never far to find, no expansive backtracking like in Metroid games. During times in the game the world shifts from normal to a frozen nightmare with creatures that look like meat skeletons that will chase you down. Harry's only option is to run and this creates some of the most intense chases I've played in recent times. Climax Studios, developer of the game, clearly made this game for the Wii. While a PS2 and PSP version are available the Wii version seems to be tailored made for the flash light controls. Controls in general are extremely well done. Climax clearly learnt a lot from their previous Wii title Overlord: Dark Legend and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories controls better, looks better and sounds better. That being said, the game has a few faults to it. The game is very liner, only one way to go. During the chase sequences you will end up running in circles a couple of times because it's too dangerous to stop, whip out your in game phone and check the map to see the next goal. Minor really, but the game does an amazing job at crafting a wonderful and creepy experience and will have you excited all the way to the end credits when your psychological evaluation is given..

Positives:

• Musical score
• Presentation
• Some of the atmosphere
• Most of the gameplay

Negatives:

• Lack of horror