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[NintendosBooger]

This is the first Silent Hill I’ve played. I’ve put in some hours into the game, and here’s my impression so far:

Storyline/Theme: A+

As a HUGE fan of H.P. Lovecraft, this is precisely the game I’ve dreamed about. Anyone familiar with the author knows that all of his stories emphasized unnatural monstrosity and human madness, two themes that often overlapped while other times were separated by a blurry line. The protagonists in his horror tales were always helpless and fleeing for their lives against whatever it was that haunted them, real or not, and outside characters, as well as the rest of the civilized world, always looked at these victims with a strong measure of skepticism and doubt regarding the authenticity of their plight.

All of this and more is presented in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories: the insanity, the monsters, the doubts, the skeptics, and the sheer helplessness of the victim. Others might not like it, but I definitely do. It's like I'm playing a HP Lovecraft game, no BS.

Game play and Controls: B-

The controls are well-implemented, but gamers unaccustomed or unattracted to waggling might find themselves annoyed by the shaking, pointing, and turning that is required in the game. Some strong arm movements are required to shake monsters off you, and at times you’d have to re-center the pointer after a lot of waggling or else your character’s movement will be all over the place.

Scariness: B-

The game really hasn’t scared me up to this point but it definitely has unnerved me. Some have commented on the predictability of the game as a result of the absence of the monsters from the normal world. While this is true, I don’t think it would have been feasible to have the monsters hunting you in both the normal world and the ice world since your character is virtually unarmed through the whole game and you wouldn’t have the opportunity to properly explore the town if you have them chasing you at every corner.

Let me emphasize that the implementation of the two worlds isn’t like Zelda: Twilight Princess when you see some dimensional portal and jump through it. No, nothing like that. In this game, your character is suddenly enveloped in the nightmare world following a certain point in the story. You could be doing X or just walking across the street, when suddenly everything starts to transform around you, and you're fucked.

I am having a good time with the game. I’m definitely glad I purchased it, and hope to see more games like this on the Wii.

 

[SlasherJPC]

To answer your question then, yes, I think the new approach was a good idea, I just don't think it was implemented as well or as effectively as it could have been and it seriously put a sour note on the exploration of the icy world. I was so excited to explore the icy worlds and find weird creepy stuff encased in the ice or just being in extremely dark, lonely, and cold icy environments with strange noises and just bizarre, trademark Silent Hill grotesqueries to freak me out, and it's a damn shame that all you can do is run through these very boring and poorly designed sequences.

I think the reason you can't attack them is because they

Spoiler

represent your daughter longing for you, so you would never hurt your daughter. Also I guess the chase sequences are in themselves maybe supposed to symbolize Harry running away from the truth, or maybe even Cherly to an extent.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Something that came to me while looking at some media. The art design for the icy Otherworld parts is actually very well done, and ties into both the feeling they're trying to evoke as well as the gameplay. Obviously since I haven't played it I could be totally wrong about this depending on things that happen later in the game.

The Otherworld is dark and filled with shades of blue and gray, cool colors. Yeah, ice is blue and white and cold, so it makes sense, but cool colors have use in color theory. They represent things like relaxation or inactivity, but the game uses them and dark shades to harshly to go to the extreme: death, sleep, static, frozen, immovable. This is in contrast to "normal" Silent Hill, where the white snow and gray concrete (neutral colors) wrap around and surround the washed out brown and red hued brick buildings (warm colors, suggesting life and activity). While the normal Silent Hill is"alive" and "familiar" in a passive way, being subdued by the neutral cold, the harsh Otherworld is hostile and anti-life.

So it makes sense that Harry himself retains his brown jacket and hair: his coloration is very warm, in sharp contrast with the dark cool Otherworld, making him stand out as alive in a foreign and dead place. I suspect that's part of why you just run and can't really explore the Otherworld; it's a lifeless, static place, made smooth and uniform by sheets of ice covering its features. There's nothing to explore, and the very place is hostile to your presence. The only things that stand out or are deserving of your attention are the bright blue doors and other pathways.

The Raw Shocks are neutrally colored, very pale. They're the Otherworld representation of the powdery snowfall burying the normal Silent Hill, here trying to blanket and smother any form of warmth in the Otherworld: the "warm" Harry. That's why the red warmth of the flares repel them.




Okay, enough sperging out. Again, the game might totally prove me wrong with some crazy twist we don't know about, but whatever, I was bored. :lol

 

[brandonh83]

You're predicating enjoyment of the game for core Silent Hill fans based on how scary it is... but that really depends if you consider SH "scary" to begin with. I never really found the series "scary"... tense and foreboding, unnerving for sure... but not particularly "frightening."

I think, if you don't find Silent Hill scary, then, well nothing is. I don't think scary = jumping at startle points, I use the word scary to describe what you did: tense, foreboding atmosphere, unnerving, creepy, whatever. In fact, I think "scary" is kind of a silly word to use, because it encapsulates so many different meanings and is different to each individual. When I say Silent Hill is scary, I mean that it bothers me, makes me want to stop playing because I'm so freaked out, but I push forward because its so good. Shattered Memories doesn't do this to me. Not at one point did I feel the urge to stop playing because I was too creeped out.

EmCee: I just found the art direction stale because when you're in the ice world everything just looks the same. There's barely any environmental variety to be found in the game. It just all looks too similar as you progress.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

EmCee: I just found the art direction stale because when you're in the ice world everything just looks the same. There's barely any environmental variety to be found in the game. It just all looks too similar as you progress.

Well, that's kinda what I was getting at with "uniform." The ice "smooths out the world" by covering up the little details that make things different, and so makes everything look the same, all plain and sterile.


Whether that's actually good and enjoyable for somebody playing a game, well, that's a different question.

 

[SlasherJPC]

EmCee: I just found the art direction stale because when you're in the ice world everything just looks the same. There's barely any environmental variety to be found in the game. It just all looks too similar as you progress.

Well Brandon there is some subtle things like

Spoiler

The railway cars going up into the air in the one nightmare, but I agree it all looks somewhat the same. I don't know if they did this on purpose because they knew the player wouldn't have much time to even look at this stuff or what. Also don't know if you figured this out but the final nightmare sequence where you go through the same rooms repeatidly. I just got lucky and eventually made it out, though there is a way to definetly know which doors to go through. Ice. There is huge chunks of ice on the wall surrounding the corrects doors. I found this out on my second playthrough. I seemed to be going in circles more so then the first time and was like "WTF" then started looking for a patttern. Just thought I'd mention it since your replaying it and maybe you just got through it stumbling through the first time like I did.

 

[brandonh83]

Well Brandon there is some subtle things like

Spoiler

The railway cars going up into the air in the one nightmare, but I agree it all looks somewhat the same. I don't know if they did this on purpose because they knew the player wouldn't have much time to even look at this stuff or what. Also don't know if you figured this out but the final nightmare sequence where you go through the same rooms repeatidly. I just got lucky and eventually made it out, though there is a way to definetly know which doors to go through. Ice. There is huge chunks of ice on the wall surrounding the corrects doors. I found this out on my second playthrough. I seemed to be going in circles more so then the first time and was like "WTF" then started looking for a patttern. Just thought I'd mention it since your replaying it and maybe you just got through it stumbling through the first time like I did.

I hope you're right, that would make it better to handle.

And let's just leave it at this: I think they could have gotten a lot more creative with the ice. I understand that... you know, ice is ice and it should look similar, but I don't think that the environments had to be so straightforward and stale because of it, like they could have did Silent Hill-ish things with the ice, like being able to explore the icy environments and seeing weird things encased in the ice. I just think they could have did more with it, is all.

 

[SlasherJPC]

I hope you're right, that would make it better to handle.

And let's just leave it at this: I think they could have gotten a lot more creative with the ice. I understand that... you know, ice is ice and it should look similar, but I don't think that the environments had to be so straightforward and stale because of it, like they could have did Silent Hill-ish things with the ice, like being able to explore the icy environments and seeing weird things encased in the ice. I just think they could have did more with it, is all.

I agree 100% Though I'm glad we discussed everything we did in the thread. The story and ideas behind this make it out to be much more a SH game then even I thought. Though it still wasn't really scary, just subtle creepiness. Which was great.

Hell I popped in Homecoming last night to see what feelings I might get from it that I didn't from SM. The only main thing I say that it brought to my attention was the classic picking things up and using them sound. Such classic noises for the series. Gone in SM.

Overall though, I'm very pleased with SM. Really it just needed some more creep factor and maybe a bit better design for the nightmare world. All that aside, solid game indeed.

 

[El Pescado]

Bah! Work made me miss all the cool plot discussions. I like all the ideas you guys provided, but I'm not sure about

Spoiler

Lisa's involvement.

I was thinking about the whole purgatory/Harry interacting with the real Cybill idea. Those ideas seem key in my interpretation, but I'm not sure if it's actually supposed to connect to the rest of the series.

The developers said in the past that it was a reimagining of the first game. I took that to mean all the cult/drug/demon stuff that, in my opinion, ruined the first game was dropped and that we were getting the first story retold with the "Silent Hill is an evil town" story we saw in later games.

 

[J-Rock]

This is the first Silent Hill I’ve played. I’ve put in some hours into the game, and here’s my impression so far:

Storyline/Theme: A+

As a HUGE fan of H.P. Lovecraft, this is precisely the game I’ve dreamed about. Anyone familiar with the author knows that all of his stories emphasized unnatural monstrosity and human madness, two themes that often overlapped while other times were separated by a blurry line. The protagonists in his horror tales were always helpless and fleeing for their lives against whatever it was that haunted them, real or not, and outside characters, as well as the rest of the civilized world, always looked at these victims with a strong measure of skepticism and doubt regarding the authenticity of their plight.

All of this and more is presented in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories: the insanity, the monsters, the doubts, the skeptics, and the sheer helplessness of the victim. Others might not like it, but I definitely do. It's like I'm playing a HP Lovecraft game, no BS.

Game play and Controls: B-

The controls are well-implemented, but gamers unaccustomed or unattracted to waggling might find themselves annoyed by the shaking, pointing, and turning that is required in the game. Some strong arm movements are required to shake monsters off you, and at times you’d have to re-center the pointer after a lot of waggling or else your character’s movement will be all over the place.

Scariness: B-

The game really hasn’t scared me up to this point but it definitely has unnerved me. Some have commented on the predictability of the game as a result of the absence of the monsters from the normal world. While this is true, I don’t think it would have been feasible to have the monsters hunting you in both the normal world and the ice world since your character is virtually unarmed through the whole game and you wouldn’t have the opportunity to properly explore the town if you have them chasing you at every corner.

Let me emphasize that the implementation of the two worlds isn’t like Zelda: Twilight Princess when you see some dimensional portal and jump through it. No, nothing like that. In this game, your character is suddenly enveloped in the nightmare world following a certain point in the story. You could be doing X or just walking across the street, when suddenly everything starts to transform around you, and you're fucked.

I am having a good time with the game. I’m definitely glad I purchased it, and hope to see more games like this on the Wii.

This makes me happy to hear. I'm a huge HP fan too. Thanks for the impressions.

 

[MattKeil]

So then you agree? I believe it to be a very, very sound theory, hell, after sleeping on it I think it's definite, I mean the game almost spells it out for you.

Could not disagree more. I'm pretty sure it's a standalone alternate take on the characters and world that doesn't connect to the original narratively. You've got some clever mental story gymnastics going on, but I think you're bringing a lot of this to the table yourself.

I think it's simply

Spoiler

Cheryl's therapy and Harry's "ghost" journeying through the town are simply concurrent events made possible by the weirdness of the town itself. I don't think SM's Cheryl is Alessa, I think she's just Harry's actual daughter. The complete lack of any presence of or reference to the cult, as well as the recasting of Dahlia as a totally different character would seem to indicate this is the case.

 

[brandonh83]

Could not disagree more. I'm pretty sure it's a standalone alternate take on the characters and world that doesn't connect to the original narratively. You've got some clever mental story gymnastics going on, but I think you're bringing a lot of this to the table yourself.

That's okay with me, and you explained your take on it well enough and I respect that. Just, when I was trying to figure out that one thing as I detailed, I think it's obvious, but if it's only obvious to me, guess it only works in my head. I don't really think the

Spoiler

cult

aspect really makes any difference in what I'm suggesting, but if you don't agree that's cool. But the way I have it in my own mind makes the story make a bit more sense.

 

[SlasherJPC]

That's okay with me, and you explained your take on it well enough and I respect that. Just, when I was trying to figure out that one thing as I detailed, I think it's obvious, but if it's only obvious to me, guess it only works in my head. I don't really think the

Spoiler

cult

aspect really makes any difference in what I'm suggesting, but if you don't agree that's cool. But the way I have it in my own mind makes the story make a bit more sense.

This is the beauty of the series though. People usually get their own take or similar takes to others. I sorta feel the same as Brandon. The other clear cut idea is sound as well, but the bottom line is we won't ever know exactly what the devs meant, unless they come out and say it straight up. Otherwise, this provides good conversation and possible topic to pop up years from now as people debate about it!

 

[Sascha23]

J-Rock, which version did you play?

I have a bc PS3, but I'm torn as to whether I want to get the PS2 or PSP versions.

Thanks...

 

[Ridley327]

The PS2/PSP versions don't come out until next year.

 

[Anticitizen One]

I jus watched the video review on IGN. Is there really only 1 enemy type in the whole game?

 

[Hiltz]

I jus watched the video review on IGN. Is there really only 1 enemy type in the whole game?

Based on what people who have played the game have told me, that seems to be the case. There seems to just be one enemy type but they do evolve. However, they apparently act in the same way despite of their change in physical appearance.

 

[J-Rock]

J-Rock, which version did you play?

I have a bc PS3, but I'm torn as to whether I want to get the PS2 or PSP versions.

Thanks...

I haven't play it yet. I was only commenting on the impressions of others. I'm going to be picking up the Wii version tomorrow.

 

[Jocchan]

The PS2/PSP versions don't come out until next year.

And I doubt J-Rock played any version, since he's still asking for impressions.
EDIT: LOL, forgot to refresh this tab.

 

[brandonh83]

For what it's worth I'm enjoying the game a lot more on my second playthrough, I know what to expect now and thus there is less room for disappointment. I've also been exploring the icy realm environments more, sometimes you get lucky and there's no enemies around for a bit, and I have found some cool things beyond the ice. Still not on the level I was hoping for, but there's a bit more to it than I once thought.

 

[Jocchan]

For what it's worth I'm enjoying the game a lot more on my second playthrough, I know what to expect now and thus there is less room for disappointment. I've also been exploring the icy realm environments more, sometimes you get lucky and there's no enemies around for a bit, and I have found some cool things beyond the ice. Still not on the level I was hoping for, but there's a bit more to it than I once thought.

So, are you going to change your mind about this game again?

 

[brandonh83]

So, are you going to change your mind about this game again?

Time will tell. I haven't really changed my mind about the game, overall, but I'm warming up to some things I initially didn't like. My complaints, for the most part, still stand strong.

 

[Futurevoid]

I'll have the game tomorrow morning and plan to play throughout the day and evening. I'm sure I'll be around here posting thoughts as I progress. I've stayed away from anything spoiler related thus far but consider me one very excited and ridiculously tired of waiting hardcore Silent Hill fantatic.:lol

 

[Teknoman]

If you're still on the fence, Best Buy is going to put up some gamers club reward zone coupons later for 10 bucks of Shattered Memories. Also there is a coupon at cheapassgamers for 10% off all regular priced games.

 

[mollipen]

Brandon - I would be careful about basing your interpretations of the game's story in relation to Silent Hill canon. The understanding I was given was that, in this being a "re-imagining", there is no solid connection at all to the original series or its events. The answers I got to my questions concerning these things were very carefully worded, but from how things were said I walked away thinking that this should be seen as a completely separate project that is kind of like what Dawn of the Dead '04 was to Dawn of the Dead.

 

[brandonh83]

Brandon - I would be careful about basing your interpretations of the game's story in relation to Silent Hill canon. The understanding I was given was that, in this being a "re-imagining", there is no solid connection at all to the original series or its events. The answers I got to my questions concerning these things were very carefully worded, but from how things were said I walked away thinking that this should be seen as a completely separate project that is kind of like what Dawn of the Dead '04 was to Dawn of the Dead.

I don't think they want us to try to fit it in with SH canon, but I believe that this game was just sketchy enough to where I can put the puzzle pieces where I want them to be in order to get more enjoyment out of it, and I'm gonna do just that.

I'm sure Climax would respect that, no matter what they intended.

I don't find it coincidence that

Spoiler

Lisa died in the same exact visual manner as she does in the original,

I mean I'm trying my best to make sense out of it and my own theory works wonders in my mind. I know it's not meant to fit in with SH canon completely but I think small details can be played around with. The plot, plain and simple, would not work for me at all otherwise and I would like to think that I'm starting to warm up to the game. I just finished my 2nd playthrough and no theory I came up with was argued against by anything presented in the story.

 

[SlasherJPC]

I don't think they want us to try to fit it in with SH canon, but I believe that this game was just sketchy enough to where I can put the puzzle pieces where I want them to be in order to get more enjoyment out of it, and I'm gonna do just that.

I'm sure Climax would respect that, no matter what they intended.

I don't find it coincidence that

Spoiler

Lisa died in the same exact visual manner as she does in the original,

I mean I'm trying my best to make sense out of it and my own theory works wonders in my mind. I know it's not meant to fit in with SH canon completely but I think small details can be played around with. The plot, plain and simple, would not work for me at all otherwise and I would like to think that I'm starting to warm up to the game. I just finished my 2nd playthrough and no theory I came up with was argued against by anything presented in the story.

Spoiler

The thing is, if they wanted Lisa to just represent how Harry died, or his death. Thats fine. But why the nightmare? Why the blood. Its too coincidence to just be there. Could it be a nod to the first game? Sure. Though I still feel, even if its not saying 100% that this ties into the cannon of the original, I'm sure the people at Climax put this scene in there for nods or even slight stabs at tieing this into the other game. Though again, the series and storylines has always sorta been up for interpretation and debate.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

The way people are talking now, I'm almost wondering whether or not my half-serious prediction from a few months ago was correct:

Spoiler

that the person in therapy isn't Harry at all, but SH3 Cheryl/Heather talking about her father and/or warped latent memories of the events of SH1.

Don't answer that, by the way. :lol

 

[MattKeil]

I don't find it coincidence that

Spoiler

Lisa died in the same exact visual manner as she does in the original,

I mean I'm trying my best to make sense out of it and my own theory works wonders in my mind.

It's just a reference to the original. It's not meant to be some clue to the way SM fits into canon, it's just a nod to the original character that fans will pick up on and newcomers won't think twice about.

I do appreciate your theorizing, but it reminds me of a guy I once knew who was absolutely convinced that all the Final Fantasy games took place on the same planet and had continuity with one another. :lol

 

[Ridley327]

Well, FFX-2 does strongly suggest that the FFX universe was an early civilization in the same universe where FFVII takes place...

::hasn't read any of the spoilers, so no knowledge of whether this is relevant or not::

 

[Zen]

Well, FFX-2 does strongly suggest that the FFX universe was an early civilization in the same universe where FFVII takes place...

::hasn't read any of the spoilers, so no knowledge of whether this is relevant or not::

Really?

 

[SlasherJPC]

Really?

I was thinking the same thing... not to derail the thread though lol

 

[Ridley327]

Really?

One of the crew members aboard the Celsius is named Shinra, who babbles on about harnessing a new energy source that humanity can provide. Nojima even confirmed the connection. Needless to say, it was a real WTF moment.

 

[mollipen]

Spoiler

The thing is, if they wanted Lisa to just represent how Harry died, or his death. Thats fine. But why the nightmare? Why the blood. Its too coincidence to just be there. Could it be a nod to the first game? Sure. Though I still feel, even if its not saying 100% that this ties into the cannon of the original, I'm sure the people at Climax put this scene in there for nods or even slight stabs at tieing this into the other game. Though again, the series and storylines has always sorta been up for interpretation and debate.

Honestly, all I can really think is that

Spoiler

Lisa's death is just a sort of "nod" to what happened to her in SH1

, and that's it. No deeper meaning or connection, period.

And considering the equal scene in SH1 was so emotional and powerful, and easily my favorite moment of the game, I was severely under-whelmed by its mirror in SM.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Honestly, all I can really think is that

Spoiler

Lisa's death is just a sort of "nod" to what happened to her in SH1

, and that's it. No deeper meaning or connection, period.

And considering the equal scene in SH1 was so emotional and powerful, and easily my favorite moment of the game, I was severely under-whelmed by its mirror in SM.

Spoiler

Well for me if its really just its own thing, I would say thats a good guess how Harry died, or is a nod to be just like Harry, a simple car accident can indeed lead to death. Possible hemoraging in the brain?

Though even without the tie into the old ones, I'd still say the meaning behind a lot of stuff was pretty damn good. Though again, I see the criticisms you stated and understand completely why you feel the way you do.

 

[brandonh83]

I do appreciate your theorizing, but it reminds me of a guy I once knew who was absolutely convinced that all the Final Fantasy games took place on the same planet and had continuity with one another. :lol

That's ridiculous though, Silent Hill is way more open-ended and my theorizing is a lot more feasible than something like that :lol

 

[ChoklitReign]

Based on what people who have played the game have told me, that seems to be the case. There seems to just be one enemy type but they do evolve. However, they apparently act in the same way despite of their change in physical appearance.

That's even worse than the fact that it isn't scary. They might has well have made the world monster-free a la Myst.

 

[Hiltz]

If you're still on the fence, Best Buy is going to put up some gamers club reward zone coupons later for 10 bucks of Shattered Memories. Also there is a coupon at cheapassgamers for 10% off all regular priced games.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to try and go to Best Buy either tomorrow or Wednesday. I can hopefully get $35 off thanks to a gift card and this $10 coupon too. I'll try tomorrow but I'll call first because in my experience, Best Buy has been the least reliable retail store to carry new game releases in the first two weeks.

 

[plagiarize]

I don't have my copy yet, but I'm currently listening to my soundtrack and digging it so far. The IGN review fills me with hope and quells my worries.

whether or not i think this is a true silent hill game afterwards, it sounds like a good game eitherway, so worth my time and money.

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

We have a review -

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/silent-hill-shattered-memories-review

 

[cvxfreak]

slasher, I think I have it. This is crazy theorizing but it's the best I can come up with at this point.

Major twists guys, do not highlight under any circumstance until you beat the game.

 

[Kevtones]

For the lazy, Eurogamer gave it a 9/10 and the review is VERY positive.

 

[AniHawk]

Honestly that's something that I haven't touched on because I don't feel that I'm at any point to say so for sure. Near the beginning you get the option to

Spoiler

color a picture of a husband and wife standing next to a house, and the colors that you choose are actually reflected in the game

but later Dr. K throws more cryptic exercises at you that I'm sure leads to their own outcomes... basically you're playing the game, and then you're back in the office and whatever exercise he makes you do, the "theme" of the exercise shows up in the next bit of gameplay. I think it's impossible to say for sure just after one playthrough, but I believe there are both cosmetic as well as deeper changes that occur. To say any more would mean spoilers and I've read about things on other message boards that are pretty cool. I know that there are

Spoiler

4

endings as well as a

Spoiler

****UFO

ending, and that the endings you get are based on the choices you make, but I know some parts of the game change depending on what you answer. To what extent, I'm not ready to say at this point.

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

 

[ace harding: private eye]

I can't believe people are able to play this stinker. I can't beat the freaking second chase sequence. You can't see shit, and every maze is full of literal dead-ends. Upon death, the game immediately begins you out at the start of the sequence, proving the developers knew that the chases were based on a flawed system of trial-and-error. I admit they're tense, but WAY too frustrating with the awkward motion-control and nunchuk wire flying in your face when you're trying to remove those fuckers. And what the hell is up with the flashlight button being useless? They could have easily just built upon Origins' flashlight-avoidance system, but opted for mindless running, instead.
The regular world is devoid of any enemies or danger, so you're basically just walking around boring, realistic areas and collecting pieces of junk. I even ended up walking in circles in the forest, because it's so damn hard to see.
I like the story, and I'd like to see what happens next, but I just don't think I have the patience to deal with those obnoxious chase sequences. So far, I'd have to say I had more fun playing Silent Hill IV than this game, and that's a pretty telling statement!

For the lazy, Eurogamer gave it a 9/10 and the review is VERY positive.

 

[MiniDitka]

Nevermind.

 

[gamingeek]

The almost-immediate realisation that Shattered Memories is, by some margin, the most creative and engaging game to emerge in Konami's horror series since Silent Hill 3 back in 2003. By the end of it, you're left mulling over the highlights of one of the most compelling and sure-footed offerings the genre has ever seen.


Gone is the obsessive-compulsive map-checking and handle-turning trudge as you establish a route through festering, dimly-lit corridors in abandoned asylums and schools. Gone is the hapless and ungainly combat, and out goes the need to check every empty room in the search of anything not nailed down too. Gone, in short, is all the tedious stuff.

A Silent Hill game wouldn't be complete without the usual dosage of nightmarish apparitions and otherworldly scares, of course, and Shattered Memories delivers on that front too.


Although it doesn't feel like it when you're caught in a blizzard of panic, throwing them off is also intuitive.

Another thing to celebrate throughout Shattered Memories is the pacing. What it lacks in terms of length it more than makes up for in how well it holds your interest...... crucially, without any of the tedious backtracking and laborious map-checking that characterised all previous entrants in the series.

Shattered Memories also pushes the technical capabilities of the Wii to the max. At first glance during the psychological profiling phase you might have trouble believing it's a Wii release, and it's a standard that's maintained.

The flashlight effect is also mightily impressive, as well as being exceptionally intuitive to control via the Wiimote.

Excellent voice work and characterisation back this up, with Climax doing a fine job of creating a credible cast that does justice to the series.

It has been a rocky road getting Silent Hill back on track after the unexplained decision to remove development duties from the original Team Silent, but with Shattered Memories, Climax has found its feet in some style. Packed with inventive ideas and one engaging sequence after another, it's a spirited, poignant and unsettling game that not only delivers a long-overduereturn to form, but reinvigorates horror adventures in the process.

9/10

 

[plagiarize]

i'm really liking the reviews so far. really liking them. in Climax UK we trust?

 

[TheCardPlayer]

Well damn. I never expected the game to get reviews like this. This is pretty much the highest scoring game in the series. Amazing.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Huh. I expected "Okay game, not really Silent Hill."

I didn't expect "really good game in its own right".

 

[SlasherJPC]

My video review. Obviously some slight spoilers but no story spoilers. There is one part that shows a cutscene that will indeed make you think about the story...but it gives no answers. My final score was 8.5