Review:
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

First and foremost, this is not a Silent Hill game. Don’t be fooled by the game’s title or any of the other Silent Hill flavourings, this is something entirely new – a trip to the psychologist’s office disguised as a game.

Don’t let that opening statement put you off, though. Shattered Memories is a phenomenal experience, a harrowing journey that aims to get under the skin of only one person: you. The only true flaw is that it’s been unfairly weighed down with the Silent Hill branding and all the expectation that comes with it.

The plot is essentially a re-imagining of the original game. You play as Harry Mason, regaining consciousness after a car accident to discover that his daughter Cheryl is missing. This sets you off on a journey through the mysteriously empty town of Silent Hill, wading over snow drifts and interacting with the few other lost souls you meet. Breaking up the game into smaller chapters are the psychologist chats, where Dr. Kaufman attempts to help you understand what happened, and it’s these sections that elevate the game to a new plateau.

The majority of the gameplay will see you exploring Silent Hill’s many memorable locations in eerie silence, the light from your torch (the Wii Remote) casting monstrous shadows in the blackness that threatens to consume you. It’s here that you’ll spend most of your time – walking around the town, a few solving puzzles and getting closer to the mystery of what happened to Cheryl.

Each chapter also has its own nightmare sequence, an utterly terrifying moment where the level is encased in ice, plunged into blackness and filled with creepy faceless pink monsters. Compounding this fear is that fact that, brilliantly, there is no combat system, no way to fight back. All you can do is run blindly forward and glance back over your shoulder for a nerve-shredding glimpse at your rapidly gaining pursuers.