Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
European box art depicting the main protagonist's daughter, Cheryl Mason, encrusted in ice
Developer(s)	Climax Studios
Publisher(s)	Konami Digital Entertainment
Director(s)	Mark Simmons
Producer(s)	Tomm Hulett
Designer(s)	Sam Barlow, Robert McLachlan, Mark Diggles, Sam Gage
Writer(s)	Sam Barlow
Composer(s)	Akira Yamaoka
Series	Silent Hill
Platform(s)	Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	December 8, 2009 Wii NA December 8, 2009 EU February 26, 2010 JP March 25, 2010 AUS April 22, 2010 PlayStation 2 / PSP NA January 19, 2010 EU February 26, 2010 JP March 25, 2010 AUS April 22, 2010
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 15 CERO: C ESRB: M OFLC: M PEGI: 16+
Media/distribution	Optical disc

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a survival horror video game for the Wii and the seventh installment in the Silent Hill series, being a "reimagining" of the first installment. Published by Konami Digital Entertainment and developed by Climax Studios, the game was released in December 2009, with ports for the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable released in January 2010. The European and Australian PAL releases for the three platforms were originally due to release on February 26, 2010; however, the Australian version's release was delayed until June, due to European supply problems caused by the economic effects of the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.

Set in the eponymous fictional American town, Shattered Memories follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing daughter in the town, occasionally entering an alternate dimension.

Gameplay

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories introduces the "Nightmare", an icy alternate dimension.

The player is observed and evaluated by the game as he or she plays, and his or her actions will have an effect on multiple aspects of play, including the appearance of its attendant monsters and characters' attitudes, gender and clothing changing according to the player's choices. The protagonist, Harry, is equipped with a mobile phone which he can use to check the map via GPS, receive text and audio messages, take photographs and dial numbers. In the Wii version, the Wii Remote is used for puzzle-solving and to control the player's flashlight and mobile phone. Checking scattered diary pages and documents has been eliminated in favor of visually scanning the environment and utilizing the mobile phone to zoom in on objects and text and to reveal hidden messages by taking pant. The game does not feature combat, with emphasis placed on evading encounters with monsters.

Plot

The game begins in the office of therapist Dr. K, where the player can interact from a first-person perspective. After the player fills out a questionnaire, the game cuts to the town of Silent Hill. Throughout the game, the game cuts back to this session, where the doctor listens to the events unfold. Harry's journey is also occasionally interrupted when the town transforms into the Nightmare, in which he is forced to run from monsters.

Harry Mason wakes up from a car crash to find his daughter Cheryl has gone missing. He explores the seemingly empty town, as a snow storm has forced most residents to take refuge in their homes. After talking to police officer Cybil Bennett, Harry makes his way home, believing Cheryl might have gone there. While wandering the streets, the town begins to freeze over, and he meets monsters that chase him. He reaches his house, only to find another family living there. Cybil arrives, deciding to take him to the police station and figure things out, but she stops and decides to look around when her car windows become covered with snow. Harry escapes into nearby woods, making a beeline for a nearby building, and decides to head back to town. But he once again encounters the Nightmare in the woods.

Eventually he finds his way to the local high school, where he meets Michelle Valdez, and learns of a Cheryl Mason who was a student there years ago. Michelle shows him a photograph of that Cheryl, which depicts a girl much older than his daughter, though she notes that the pictured Cheryl resembles him. Michelle offers to drive Harry to Cheryl's address, but when Harry briefly steps away, he comes back to find Michelle replaced by Dahlia, a girl who acts as if she has been with Harry the whole time. Scared and disoriented, he accepts the ride, but as they cross over the town's bridge, another shift to the Nightmare causes the car to fall into Lake Toluca. Harry manages to get out, but loses consciousness as Dahlia drowns. He comes to in Silent Hill's Alchemilla Hospital, being wheeled in a chair by Cybil. But he finds himself stuck back in the Nightmare.

He escapes and meets nurse Lisa Garland, who seems to have wrecked her car into the hospital, and escorts her to her home. Lisa tells Harry she has a headache, and he gives her pills. Harry leaves the apartment, and after wandering the streets, is sent a message from Michelle telling him to meet her at the mall. However, Harry's attention is diverted when, upon reaching the mall, he receives a phone call from Lisa. Harry finds himself in another Nightmare, but eventually makes it back to the apartment, only for Lisa to be either dying or already dead, depending on in-game actions taken by the player. Cybil arrives to find him standing over the body, but before she can arrest him, Harry re-enters the Nightmare.

Harry escapes to Cheryl's home. Inside, he finds an older Dahlia, who claims to be his wife. She tells Harry that Cheryl is at the lighthouse; however, Harry enters yet another Nightmare and runs out of the room, only to realize he is in a maze. He finds himself back in Dahlia's room, only this time it is empty.

Harry gets a ride from Michelle, but she and her boyfriend fight and leave the car. Left alone, Harry finds his way through the Lakeside Amusement Park to the docks, where he finds Dahlia, young again. She sets course for the lighthouse and seduces Harry. When Harry wakes, Dahlia and the world are frozen. Harry heads across the frozen lake for the lighthouse, but falls in the water and passes out. He is dragged ashore near the lighthouse by Cybil, who confronts him and claims that Harry Mason died eighteen years ago in a car crash. As Harry proceeds, he finds the "Lighthouse" is actually Dr. K's clinic.

At this point, it is revealed that the patient in the therapy segments is not Harry, but in fact a twenty-five-year-old Cheryl. Harry enters the Lighthouse office, and Cheryl now realizes that the fragments of conflicting memories are in fact false recollections based on her childhood memories. The last scene of the game varies according to the psychological profile of the player. Cheryl may reconcile herself to the death of her father (either by accepting it or by rejecting him entirely), or decide to continue to believe that her father is alive. She is shown meeting with her mother Dahlia in the parking lot. The game ends with old home videos from Cheryl's camcorder.

Four variations of this video are available based on the player's actions as Harry, reflecting the traits of Harry with his family while he was alive. All videos begins with the footage from the beginning of the game, when the video is abruptly overwritten with another recording. If Harry was focusing on finding Cheryl and was caring during the course of the game, the video shows Harry packing his luggage in a car while Cheryl records. Harry tells Cheryl not to blame herself for the divorce and that he and Dahlia will always love Cheryl and the video ends. This ending is known as "Love Lost". If Harry was focusing more on alcohol, the video shows a drunk Harry outside his house yelling at Cheryl and demanding another beer. The video ends with Harry complaining that he is drinking because of his family. This ending is called "Drunk Dad". If Harry was focusing more on women and sexual intercourse, the video shows Harry flirting on his bed with Lisa and Michelle. They ask whether Harry would dedicate his next book to them and Harry responds by saying that he does that only to his wife and daughter to only be fair. This ending is named "Sleaze and Sirens". If Harry was a slacker during the game, the video shows Dahlia slapping him. This ending is called "Wicked and Weak". A joke ending can be obtained if Harry takes a photograph of thirteen UFOs scattered through the game. In this ending, Cheryl tells Dr. K that she believes Harry was kidnapped by extraterrestrials, and that Silent Hill was built on a spaceship. At this point of the game, James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2 breaks into the clinic, in order to discover that his appointment was on the next day. Soon after, Cheryl turns into a dog while Dr. K turns into an extraterrestrial.

Development

Plans for a Silent Hill remake, and rumours related to the project, were circulating as early as 2006 with the idea of a remake based on the Silent Hill film. The idea of a remake was also considered early in the development of the prequel game Silent Hill: Origins.

Rumours of a remake persisted into 2009, and were seemingly confirmed the following month when the British Board of Film Classification re-rated the game. The game was officially announced in the May 2009 issue of Nintendo Power. Climax Studios, the studio behind Silent Hill: Origins, developed Shattered Memories with a development team made up of more than 55 team members and a supporting network of more than 90 artists.

Series vocalist Mary Elizabeth McGlynn was a guest at Otakon 2009 where she announced at her Friday Q & A panel that she was made a co-director for Shattered Memories' voice acting and that there will be "one of a kind bonus stuff" that she could not reveal at the time.

Audio

The music in Shattered Memories was once more composed by Akira Yamaoka, and was his final contribution to the Silent Hill series before he retired from Konami after 16 years. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn provided the vocals for four songs in the game: "Always on My Mind", "When You're Gone", "Acceptance" and "Hell Frozen Rain", and Joe Romersa returned for the fifth time to provide lyrics for three of the songs, excluding "Always on My Mind", which is a cover. GameStop also offered a pre-order official soundtrack which contained 21 tracks from the game.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Soundtrack
	No.		Title		Length
	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.		"Always on My Mind" "When You're Gone" "Searching the Past" "Childish Thoughts" "Creeping Distress" "Hostility" "Snow Driven" "Hibernation" "Devil's Laughter"		5:09 3:10 2:27 1:29 2:10 1:54 2:27 2:06 1:51				10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.		"Lost Truth" "Angel's Scream" "Another Warm Body" "Forsaken Lullaby" "Raw Shock" "Lives Wasted Away" "Blackest Friday" "Endless Depths" "Different Persons"		2:47 2:34 1:49 1:42 1:40 1:53 1:40 1:26 2:26				19. 20. 21.		"Ice" "Acceptance" "Hell Frozen Rain"		2:53 3:38 5:34

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	78.75%
Metacritic	79/100
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	C+
Edge	6 out of 10
Game Informer	6.25 out of 10
GamePro	2.5 out of 5
Game Revolution	B
GameSpot	8 out of 10
GameSpy	3.5 out of 5
GameTrailers	8.5 out of 10
IGN	8.6 out of 10
Nintendo Power	8 out of 10
Official Nintendo Magazine	8.6 out of 10

A demo was available to play at the E3 2009. IGN gave the game three "Best of E3" awards in the Wii category for best overall game, best adventure game and best graphics technology. Shattered Memories also won best Wii game from GameSpy in their "E3 2009 Editors' Choice Awards".

Metacritic has scored the game 79, based on 56 reviews. Game Rankings average the game at 79, based on 44 reviews.

Nintendo Power gave the game an 8.0 out of 10, praising the game's immersion and puzzle elements but criticizing the "reduced emphasis on horror" and expressing disappointment with the chase sequences, concluding that while "it may not be the unqualified success we were hoping for, Shattered Memories proves an audacious and ultimately compelling experiment." IGN gave the game an 8.6 out of 10, lauding the game's atmospheric use of a flashlight, terrifying chase sequences and departure from the Silent Hill formula while criticizing it for its short length and lack of monster variety. GameTrailers awarded the game an 8.5 out of 10, praising the flashlight and motion controls, but were disappointed by the lack of combat and potentially frustrating chase sequences. About.com gave the game a 4/5, calling the chase sequences frustrating and stating that the framing therapy scenes undercut the "trapped in a nightmare" feel of previous Silent Hill games. Giant Bomb gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, citing the intuitive use of the Wii remote and how it was incorporated into the usage of the phone in game. The game also received their Best Wii Game of 2009 award, as well as their Best Ending of 2009 award. Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game an 86% score saying that "It's a shame that it's so short, otherwise this is easily one of the best games on the Wii."

Some reviewers were more critical. X-Play gave the game a 2/5, and Adam Sessler said of the game's lack of combat and trial and error gameplay, "It's not really survival horror... so much as tedious bullshit."

GameZone's Louis Bedigian gave it a 6.5/10, saying "As an interactive story, Shattered Memories is deep and memorable. The music is unfathomable; if there's ever been a composer who understands the true meaning of survival/horror music, it's Akira Yamaoka. But unless you're a newcomer searching for something that's barely challenging and is only marginally horrific, Shattered Memories is best experienced as a one-time rental."

The European and Australian PAL releases for the three platforms were originally scheduled to be March 4, 2010; however, the Australian PAL Wii version release was delayed until June due to European supply problems caused by the economic effects of the 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland. Furthermore, major retailers struggled to confirm available copies of the game for several months after the delayed release, potentially damaging initial sales of the game in Australia.

External links

• Official website