Wii Review
By
Iun Hockley - 10th January 2010 18:49
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"The game really works well in making you believe that this nightmare is real."
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Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – subtitled “Being The Adventures of Harry Mason, Who Is Having A Very Bad Day.”
That in essence is all you need to know about SH:SM. In one of the most truly disturbing games released in recent times, you take on the role of amnesiac Harry Mason, who after waking up from a car crash realises that his daughter is missing and the world around him smothered in snow, emptiness and intrigue.
Now, we here at N-Europe Towers are no pussy-cats: Joćo personally fought off Jack Krauser with only a pistol and some kinky one liners; Derek is known to shower in raw chillies for that “tingly” sensation in his scalp and Tom plays Mario Kart for real with Monster Trucks and endangered Galapagos Turtles. But this game… scared us pantless.
It’s not so much the lack of weapons, nor is it the creepy screams of the faceless aggressors, and we cannot blame the hauntingly minimalist soundtrack. The real culprit here is absolutely everything. And we mean that sincerely.
Equipped with only a torch and a smart phone, Harry is forced to explore the eerily quiet town in search of his missing daughter and lost memories. The torch is a wonderfully atmosphere-enhancing device: virtually everything in the darkened world casts hideous frightening shadows that warp and twist realistically around the claustrophobic locales. Not only this, but the torch is extremely accurate in the direction you point it, responding almost perfectly to the movement of the Wiimote at all times. Without this vital piece of equipment, many areas in the game are pitch black – not even a rendered outline to guide you.
Scares in the game often come as much from what you do not see as the things that you do see. There are random piercing screams, ghostly shadows hinting at the seedy underbelly of the town and creepy little mementoes giving hints that not everything is as it seems. What also works extremely well is the fact that bar subtitles, there is almost no text in the game. Clues to your destinations, hints for puzzles and random real-world items are all graphically visible in-game – it recalls somewhat old point-n-click adventures.
Graphically, the developer has worked really hard to make the whole experience thematically and atmospherically consistent. The cut scenes are realistically presented using the in-game engine – the few characters that you come across are totally believable in their movements and expressions, even if their motivations might sometimes seem suspect. We’ve already mentioned the shadows that add fear to the inside of the locales, but the outsides are rather beautiful too.
What you don't see, will scare you.
The game really works well in making you believe that this nightmare is real. Musical cues and stings are kept to a suitable minimum, becoming frantic when danger is hot on your tail, or eerily quiet in the desolate buildings and open spaces. In your own twisted dreams, is there ever an orchestral score? No, it’s just films and fantasies that play on your mind, and so does this game play with you.
One aspect that the developers and Konami were keen to emphasise – and indeed there’s a warning before playing the game, is that the game psychologically profiles you as you progress. In real terms this results in those creepy monsters taking on unusual forms as things progress, your path becomes a little divided, characters look different and the ending is shaped by your answers to various puzzles and the routes you take in the areas where things are non-linear.
If there is a downside to this great game, it’s that it is almost entirely linear and that it will only take you about five hours to get through. The incentive to go through it all again is there as the multiple endings and the new shapes the world will take on if you make different decisions warrant another play through. But the second and third times around it should take about half the time, as even gamers with a short memory will be able to redo the puzzles without too much thought.
Without giving too much away, the story is intriguing, and it constantly challenges you to think about where things are going. Is this real? Is Harry crazy? If I can’t trust my senses, then how do I distinguish nightmare from reality? This game has really put the Survival and Horror back into the Survival Horror genre, it’s just a shame the whole experience does not last longer. Roll on a sequel.
© N-Europe.com
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