Rated CBAM!: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Review)

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Nintendo Wii)

Rated “M” For “Mature”

Welcome to Silent Hill, where there is always something new for you whether it’s your first visit here or not. Silent Hill will accommodate for you specifically as they see fit and there is so little you can do about it. Maybe…maybe you want to turn around and leave Silent Hill. Kind of too late for that though.

=====Story=====

Harry Mason and his daughter Cheryl were out for a drive in town when the snow started falling and made driving difficult. Unfortunately, Harry crashes the car. When he comes to, Cheryl is nowhere to be found. Like most parents that lose their children, Harry starts to look for her. With a flashlight in hand and his love for his daughter, he runs through the town of Silent Hill in the hopes to find Cheryl.

=====Gameplay=====

This re-imagining of the first Silent Hill comes with a new way to play. While other Silent Hill’s have you exploring and battling demons, Shattered Memories focuses heavily on exploration. The standard flashlight normally used doesn’t just light your way, but it helps you look at things in detail. And look at things in detail will you be doing as clues and keys are scattered everywhere you go. Checking every little thing is not necessary, but it can add a couple hours of gameplay if you wish to. It is encouraged if you want to know of all the weird things that have been going around in Silent Hill.

Finding the vast amount of phone numbers littered about town will also add some game time as you will learn more of the civilians of Silent Hill. You’ll also be getting a few phone calls/texts from the locals you meet. As you can guess, your cell phone will also be used extensively. Phone calls and texts will happen. Taking pictures allows you to see what your eyes normally can’t see and leave you with voice mails uncovering what you just saw in detail. A GPS is included, but doesn’t help all that much.

And you still have to battle the faceless demons that come after you. This time, no guns. All you can do is run. An occasional flare will stop the demons in their tracks, but that won’t last long. You can also knock things over or hide if the demons are really getting to you. Once they latch on to you, you can knock them away and continue running for your life.

=====Difficulty=====

With the focus on combat being non-existent, you would think facing the faceless demons will be a tough endeavor. Yes, you are running for your life and there are no such things as health packs for recovery from demon damage. The difficulty in fighting is kind of based on you. Since you can’t fight back, you will feel very flustered with these encounters (especially in later places when rooms all loop and look alike). That’s something Silent Hill wants you to experience, being helpless. Running for your life shouldn’t be easy. So it’s all in your head. You’re either going to be overwhelmed by these sequences (and sometimes the lack of motion control response) or you can try and remain composed and you’ll be able to escape the nightmares of Silent Hill.

Puzzles are around, but none are too difficult to figure out. Exploring and missing things that you just happened to not see will add to some difficulty, but that would be your own fault.

And be prepared for a few deaths, some unintentional and some that are supposed to happen.

=====Content=====

Depending on how you play, there can be a lot or very little for you to deal with in Shattered Memories. If you like exploring and finding every little thing, there’s plenty for you to discover. If you want to just run through and see the ending, your adventure could end in 5-7 hours.

A great thing about Silent Hill is the replay value. Multiple endings is one thing, but playing each time a different way is something else. During your playthroughs, you will be visiting a psychiatrist. While these visits do help unravel what is going on with Harry in Silent Hill, they do also alter what you will go through and encounter. The beginning of the game will alert you of being psychoanalyzed and that it will affect your game. That’s all thanks to the psychiatrist. He will ask you questions and you are free to answer them as freely as you want. You can be truthful of yourself (as the gamer) or you can answer them how you think best fits the game. You may feel that some questions are very personal as they can range from asking you about your highschool life or whether or not you have cheated on your partner in life. Your answers do make a difference whether it be a color scheme difference, the rooms you’ll have access or no access to, or the people you meet and how they will behave. There are multiple outcomes of playthrough with this mechanic, which would be very appealing to those that would want to visit Silent Hill multiple times.

(same cop, different psychology answers)

=====Final Thoughts=====

Silent Hill does offer a lot. The multiple endings (more questions than answers) and altered playthroughs are a very nice attraction. The details put into exploration are nice touches and can have you wanting to find every little thing there is. The psychology questions are enough to make you wonder how different answers will alter Silent Hill.

This re-imagining might not appeal to everyone. There is plenty to be skeptical about with the change in play style and lack of combat (I personally was getting frustrated with some nightmare sequences). But if you take a step back and realize where you are and who are the people behind this (Konami), you can better understand why things are the way they are and what they’re trying for with this new approach to the game. You can really feel that during those “supposed to die” sequences.

Shattered Memories is an experience and an experience that any Silent Hill fan can get goose bumps over. Those that never visited Silent Hill before may turn away or be intrigued to take more visits to this horrific and mind-jerking hell on Earth.