Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

[vladdamad]

Has anyone played it? This is, in my opinion one of the best games of 2010 so far. It's hard to describe in depth without spoiling the massive plot twist at the end (although I'm not sure about how original it is, it was my first time in the series) but all the mechanics have a symbolic meaning, which is pretty deep for a mainstream game. I say mechanics, but there is virtually no gameplay in Shattered Memories, except for the occasional puzzle, which helps to increase atmosphere dramatically. The story is fairly linear, but because of the ridiculously accurate psychological analysis you really want to play through the game differently again to see how it will turn out this time. As a psychology student, the Freudian aspect of this game completely blew me away (again I can't say much because it will ruin the story). The nightmare sequences are disorientating and make you feel like you're trapped in some sort of limbo. Very cool. I played this game twice since I bought it and the touching finale gets me every time. I don't know, maybe it's because the last game that I've played was Dante's Inferno, which I bought for the art direction (and it really wasn't worth it, it's such a rip-off of God of War that it's embarrassing). So yeah - very interesting in terms of progress in mainstream games!

[Michaël Samyn]

Thank you for the recommendation. We are planning to get this. It looks like a better Silent Hill game after the recent disasters in the series. Silent Hill 2 is one of the best games of all times. I'm interested in the lack of gameplay that you're describing! I just hope they retained the subtle narrative complexity of the Japan-made games in the series.

[Thomas]

Not played it but considering getting the (although probably inferior) PS2 version.

The problems I have seen (reviews and videos) is that the game have very strong trial and error moments (the chases) and also use puzzles that are all about getting a key (with no relevance to story).

[vladdamad]

Michael - The narrative is extremely disjointed and is very fun to piece together. I have heard that the last Silent Hill games, especially Homecoming, have been pretty dire, but this one, even though not developed by the Japanese, remains an extremely intelligent psychological thriller. Of course the only problem is that it comes at a price of scary at all. There is no suspense or genuine fear felt during the entire experience, but mostly feelings of confusion - of course, this turns out to be a good thing, as memory is a key theme in the narrative.

Thomas - Once the main twist is revealed, the nightmare sequences and their trial and error and general confusing nature becomes clear. This is a definite design choice and not a fault of the developers. The puzzles are pretty simple apart from one or two fantastic ones (especially one that involves you casting shadows on the walls) but they are merely there to advance the story and the experience.

[Derrick]

I've been meaning to play this as well, though The Path has all but ruined horror games for me since ToT has shown that absolute horror can be invoked without creepy monsters popping up =)

[Michaël Samyn]

I don't think anything can ruin Silent Hill!
(at least not the older ones)