Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

I have played every silent hill game made including the one on ps1 that I have never been able to beat. This game was a great buy and one of the best Silent Hill games made yet. Being a remake of the original is what sets this game about from the others, but what does make it good is how it not only references the original but references locations seen in the other games under the same name excluding Silent Hill 4. The full story on who Harry was and how the characters are all related made this game fun to play. The excluding of the guns and other objects used to hurt the guys chasing you was the only down fall I found while playing this game. I hope to see more made, with the story continuing the life of any of the characters already introduced through out all the game made.

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.

After the mediocre Silent Hill: Origins, Climax got the rights to develop a new part of the series again when Konami realized that the developers from the previous game Silent Hill: Homecoming were much more incompetent. And to say that I like this game much more is to say nothing. Honestly, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories broke my heart. But it is also worth noting that if you abstract from all the previous parts, and perceive this game as a self-sufficient interpretation of the first game without any nonsense with occultists, and with the desire to dive into the psychological depth of its characters, as the second part did, then everything you see in it you will really like. And even if to be much more honest, and do not treat this game as "Silent Hill" lacking the intensity of horror, because of which we mainly loved this series, then you will like it as I did. This game is not scary, and running from banal monsters sometimes tires, which is stressful, but I repeat... Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a cold from the beginning, and warm at the end drama that makes you think about many aspects of our life, when you are literally in a psychotherapist's sessions. And also a huge thank you to the developers, who again made me feel guilty before Lisa.

I was very afraid that Climax would once again tarnish the series, but boy was I wrong! This is a highly competent re-imagining of the original Silent Hill game. The music is incredible (as always) and has a great mix of ambient and melodic tracks (don't really know how to word that, but I hope I'm getting my point across), though sometimes I felt that the music detracted from the eeriness of the game (the Mall, for example). The graphics are gorgeous with very detailed areas and easily readable text on posters, billboards, signs, etc. The psyche profiling was a cool addition that will greatly enhance replay value, although the first playthrough you don't really realize how much the profiling affects the game because you don't have another playthrough to compare it to (once again I'm not sure if I'm wording this as clearly as I can...sorry if that was confusing). The flashlight mechanics are absolutely amazing; it feels completely natural and it enhances an already detailed world with shadows and falling snow. I also felt that the cellphone was an interesting gameplay mechanic that gave a new layer to the world surrounding Harry with the ability to take pictures and find echoes, as well as call the numbers found throughout the game. Many players will hate the fact that there is no fighting in this game, but I believe that no fighting ramps up the fear and tension. Multiple times throughout the game I found myself freaking out when deciding which way to run in the Nightmare as monsters pursued close behind. Players might also dislike the swapping of rusty decay for ice and snow, but I felt that it was appropriate for the game and story, and it added to the isolation felt throughout the game. The characters are very fleshed out and believable with outstanding voice acting and animation. The story itself is a deep and enthralling piece of work jam packed with the symbolism and weirdness that Silent Hill is known for; it truly is psychological horror. Overall this is an extremely interesting and very well made game (albeit a short one) that will scare and enthrall most players. Definitely worth the money!

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..