Oct 242014
We’re back with another look at an oft-maligned Silent Hill game, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Shattered Memories is a re-imagining of the first Silent Hill game, and that’s where most of the negativity comes from.
Shattered Memories is not a remake of Silent Hill. It is not a reboot of Silent Hill. It was always described as a “re-imagining,” which basically means the developers looked at the basic premise of the original game and started asking “what if” questions.
What if the cult wasn’t involved?
What if Dr. Kaufmann was a psychologist? (To those of you who have played the original and think he’d be just about the worst psychologist ever… you’re right.)
What if Dahlia was a sexualized young woman in a relationship with Harry?
What if… okay, those are all the “what ifs” I can ask without getting into major spoilers for Shattered Memories, but by the time you finish the game, you’ll understand.
As a Wii game (eventually ported to the PS2 and PSP), it makes use of the motion controls for the flashlight similarly to Fragile Dreams, but with additional motion controls for mechanics like turning door handles and shaking off monsters.
One person’s “bland” is another person’s “RUN!”
Like my favorite Silent Hill game, Silent Hill 4, Shattered Memories doesn’t receive a lot of credit from fans. Its re-imagining status is part of it, but other players complain about the lack of difficult puzzles, the lack of combat, the chases, the somewhat-bland design of the sole enemy type, how it doesn’t actually fit into Silent Hill canon (we’ll get back to this), and more.
Additionally, while the psychological profiling handled during the first-person psychologist sessions does affect the gameplay, it isn’t as complete and accurate as it might lead you to believe.
The answers you tell Dr. Kaufmann affect the nature of the monsters, the way other characters behave and interact with you, etc. It does cause some interesting variations. As I mentioned in my discussion of Silent Hill 4, I got into the Silent Hill series by watching a friend’s Let’s Play of Shattered Memories. There were certain things I expected because of that Let’s Play, and the differences in my own playthrough surprised me.
Shattered Memories is also criticized for not being scary and not feeling like a Silent Hill game, but… something about the atmosphere works really well for me.
Although you meet several different characters, the snowy streets of Silent Hill are lonely. Maybe it’s because it was my first introduction to the series, but to me, Shattered Memories conveys a haunting sense of isolation better than any of the others. You’re in a world where nothing makes sense, where strangers live at your address, people die in front of you and then reappear, and the world routinely freezes over into a supernatural, icy hell.
It’s not scary in the traditional horror sense, but Shattered Memories makes you feel alone, and its little “hauntings” you can pick up tell stories that play on more realistic fears. The main story also has some genuinely chilling moments and startling revelations. And if you’re familiar with the original, it’s worth playing just for the parallels and deviations.
Maybe it’s not the best Silent Hill game, but it’s definitely worth giving a try. I like it better than some of the others, that’s for sure.
What about you?
One final thing before I wrap this up–is Silent Hill: Shattered Memories canon?
From what I said earlier about it being a re-imagining or “what if” scenario, you’d assume not. But once you reach the end and uncover the true story, new possibilities begin to present themselves…
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking something very specific about the original Silent Hill, and yeah, that would split it off into some sort of alternate timeline if Shattered Memories was canon. But that’s not what I’m talking about. There’s actually a fan theory out there that placed Shattered Memories in canon with the main Silent Hill series. If you’ve finished the game and are interested, head on over to TV Tropes and scroll down to “Shattered Memories is in continuity with 1 and 3.” It’s worth a read.
Let me know your thoughts on this overlooked Silent Hill gem if you’ve played it, and if you haven’t… celebrate Halloween and all things spooky by playing Silent Hill: Shattered Memories!
Buy Silent Hill: Shattered Memories from Amazon
Buy Silent Hill: Shattered Memories from Play-Asia
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