Ten years after the original Silent Hill set a new standard for survival horror, the game has been reinterpreted by developer Climax studios. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a welcomed reboot to the original design which, after many sequels, has lost its way. As characters have become more powerful in recent additions, old feelings of helplessness and terror have gotten lost in the shuffle. Shattered Memories does away with all of that, eliminating combat completely and, in its place, puts players in the shoes of a very vulnerable Harry Mason.
Yes, the original protagonist is back. The story begins much like the original- Harry Mason is involved in a car crash, his daughter Cheryl goes missing and, as he searches for her, Harry stumbles into the town of Silent Hill. The similarities pretty much stop there. While Shattered Memories shares the Silent Hill moniker and many of the key characters, the game is an entirely new experience. Franchise purists might cry foul at the idea of trading the series’ trademark otherworld of rust and decay for this new, frozen version of Silent Hill but players willing to embrace the reboot will be rewarded with a unique experience. The blizzard is not the only addition.
Like many of us these days, Harry never leaves home without his cell phone, a handy iPhone-like device that lets you snap photos of ghostly encounters, make and receive spooky calls, and navigate via the built-in GPS. Almost all the information is organized here. It’s a clever way to bring the series into the present and clear away the HUD allowing for a much better looking, more immersive game.
The majority of the game is spent investigating the vacant, snowy town and its surrounding countryside. While looking for his daughter, Harry will visit empty schools, shopping malls devoid of life, dilapidated amusement parks, and all manner of creepy locales.
During his travels, Harry will come into contact with a small cast of Silent Hill’s inhabitants. The whole experience is akin to a bad dream. Horrible things are happening yet nobody but Harry seems to be aware of them. Harry’s quest to find his lost daughter is a strange odyssey into a nightmarish world, culminating in an ending I won’t say much about for fear of spoiling it. Just let it be known that, despite any problems the game may have, the ending is absolutely worth experiencing. Between Harry’s time exploring the town, the game bookends these scenes with therapy sessions.
One of Shattered Memories’ most unique attributes is the addition of psychological profiling. Players attend sessions with a therapist who is there to help cope with the incident that occurred in Silent Hill. The good doctor will issue a series of tests, some getting rather personal. For example, one test includes a simple word association. Choose the words that best describe how you were during high school. Words such as jock, slut, drunk, bully, virgin, and slacker. The answers given to these questions will affect the rest of the game.
This all relates back to a warning that flashes on the screen the minute you turn on Shattered Memories. The developers warn the game “Plays you just as much as you play it.” Meaning that all of the player’s choices, fr
om the answers given during therapy, to the things Harry looks at during his search, will change the experience. Some of these are superficial like a character’s outfit being different, while others will be more dramatic. As an example, depending on how players answer the first therapy questionnaire, the police officer Harry encounters early in the game will either be a tough cop, someone more warm-hearted, or a crude woman with a not-so-regulation uniform. I found the best way to play the game was to answer these questions honestly, the developers claim the experience adapts to the player, allowing for some changes to have more of a personal impact. The psychological profiling doesn’t end in the doctor’s office. Almost everything the player does is being noted, calculated, and added into the game. If Harry looks at a poster of a scantily-clad dancer for a long time and suddenly characters might appear a little differently. It all depends on how each person plays it which, to me, is the most exciting part of the game. However, as any fan of Silent Hill knows, not everything is what it appears to be.
Periodically, the nightmare world takes over, enveloping the town in a thick layer of ice. These sequences give rise to Harry being chased by horrible creatures. As I said before, Shattered Memories does away with any combat from the previous games. Harry is completely defenseless against these monsters and must resort to running for his life. While these moments are a welcomed change of pace, the game suffers a bit from having the danger of being killed separated from the rest of the experience. It’s only during these chase sequences, that Harry can be hurt. When he’s not in the nightmare world, there is no danger. So while players explore the school, the mall, and other places, there’s no real need for concern so long as the ice is at bay. As a result, the game is not very scary once players settle into the comfortable pattern of therapy session, exploration, chase sequence, and repeat. While the game may not be as terrifying as some may like, Shattered Memories innovates where other Wii developers falter.
Harry is armed with only his phone and a flashlight. The IR pointer controls for the flashlight are some of the best seen in any game thus far. It might seem silly to talk about a flashlight but it controls so well, with great accuracy that, eventually it feels like an
extension of the player’s own hand. That’s exactly the kind of promise the Wii had when it was first announced. Shadows move realistically and the overall effect is striking. However, the controls are not perfect as Climax fell into one of Wii development’s many pitfalls: waggle.
During chase sequences, Harry’s only form of defense is to throw the creatures off of him should they get too close. This is done by a series of gestures, most include the player flailing around. While it’s not unplayable, I sometimes felt my motions went undetected. The chase sequences are, unlike the rest of the game, frenetic and the motion controls hindered my progress instead of aiding it.
In addition to some of the controls, Shattered Memories stumbles when it comes to the weak puzzle design. While puzzles have long been a staple of the survival horror franchise, this game misses the mark. It is light on puzzles, many of which are nothing more than a locked door with the key a few feet away. The more clever puzzle designs use the game’s strengths effectively, there’s a particularly good one involving the manipulation of shadows in order to project a phone number. Unfortunately, there aren’t many of these and I often wondered if the developers understood the concept of why doors are locked in video games. If a door requires a key in order to move forward, the key should come as the result of something transpiring. It’s a way to convey progression. However, if a door is locked and the key is practically hanging next to it, what’s the point? Just let me go through the door. Putting the key a few feet away inside a jacket just slows me down and doesn’t really offer anything in terms of making the game more fun.
Silent Hill is not a particularly long game. Most will be able to get through the first play-through in about six hours. Subsequent runs will require much less time as the puzzles don’t change much and, while player’s choices might alter some aspects, the experience is generally similar. I wasn’t bothered by the game’s length for one main reason. The game has got an agenda- it has a story to tell and a fantastic one at that. Perhaps this is why the puzzles are so easy, you almost get the feeling the developers want to push you toward the ending. Once you’re there it’s fantastic. During the credit sequence, the game even suggests a second play-through, encouraging players to make different choices to render different results. I was so floored by the ending and the possibilities of the psychological profiling I immediately began a second game, making entirely different choices. I easily got through it in one sitting in about three hours.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories does some truly innovative and exciting things for the Wii. While it’s a shame things like the psychological profiling and great pointer control come at the expense of puzzle design and sense of terror, the game makes up for it with an incredible story. Shattered Memories makes bold choices and takes even more daring liberties with the Silent Hill license. For the most part, these gambles paid off. Climax has delivered a story that begs to be experienced and pondered. My hope is that the developers get another crack at the franchise, further develop the psychological profiling mechanic, and somehow find a way to integrate the dangers of the chase sequences with the exploration of one of gaming’s creepiest towns.
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[...] lots of fun to be had. Others might want to pass in lieu of other, more polished horror experiences on [...]
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