Visual & Audio Homages to the other Silent Hill games

Big fans the Silent Hill series Climax made sure to slip in many visual and audio nods to the previous titles as little Easter eggs for the longtime fans. Now I know the entire game is like huge nod to the original we see many familiar faces and revisit locations from the original but in this section I’m gathering the Silent Hill related references that are a little easier to overlook!

Below are screen and audio clips of ones I’ve seen in my multiple play-throughs! Please note that this page is still a work in progress as I am still gathering screens/audio for some of the references. If you know of some game reference I’ve missed that I haven’t already placed on my “coming soon” list at the end of the page, please let me know !

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Homages in the order of appearance…

Cheryl’s bear seen in the front seat of Harry’s wrecked car and later by the broken bike in the playground wears a striped red tie around its neck. I like to think it’s a reference to the snazzy red striped tie Dahlia wore in the original game.

In the playground you will see various graffiti by the “Dead Dog Posse.” The gang’s name seems to be a nod to first gruesome scene Harry passes in the original of a bloody and mutilated dog corpse near a back alley he saw Cheryl run into.

Depending on your psych profile by this point of the game its possible you will meet meet the sexy version of Silent Hill cop Cybil Bennett in Diner 52. Her blonde hair, leather pants and short sleeve blue police shirt is very reminiscent of Cybil’s outfit in the original game.

Silent Hill Ring tone vs Silent Hill theme opening notes

If you set Harry’s smart phone to ring tone #4 the opening notes of the original Silent Hill theme will play!

Like in the original game we visit a home on Levin Street, except this time it’s supposedly Harry’s home. I was sad not to see a dog house with “no dogs around” but the fact Harry’s home is on Levin Street instead of another other random street makes me think its a nice nod to the original game. I’ve seen theories in which people claim the house number “1206″ is a possible reference to the repeated “206″ from Silent Hill Homecoming, which I believe could work but why have the extra 1? Others have mentioned that “1206″ was probably the original Levin Street home’s address but I couldn’t find any concrete evidence of such a number in the game, guides or novel (though I did see a “3″ but since I can’t read Japanese I have no idea what it’s in reference to!). These additional fan theories convinced me to add it to homages list the even though it isn’t as obvious as some of the others.

Ah, it truly wouldn’t be a re-imagining of Silent Hill without a piano puzzle, now would it? In Silent Hill the a bloodied piano in the Midwich music room with the a poem involving some birds stumped many players. Thankfully (or maybe not?) the bird related piano puzzle in Shattered Memories is much easier to solve…my guess it’s because Harry was only messing with a child’s toy this time around!

In the unnamed generic classroom in the Midwich High School, Room 4-d, it’s possible to see a variety of images projected in the front of the classroom which changes based on your pysch profile up to that point. One of possible images is a drawing that looks just like the Sabbatic Goat drawn by occult author Eliphas Lévi. This image is usually associated with Baphomet, a pagan deity, and figure of Satanism. It was also the design the Incubus in the original game was based on.

In the Art Studio there are three renditions of Harry Mason originally seen in the background of his health status in the original game in varying styles of modern art.

Dahlia playing Shot Down In Flames

After you receive your first picture message from Dahlia on heading towards the locked exit to the Midwich Gymnasium she is added to your contact list. Sometimes if you call right away you might hear part of Shot Down By Flames from the Silent Hill Origins soundtrack and Climax’s first Silent Hill game.

On one of the lockers by the Gymnasium exit is a graffiti of someone holding a gun. It looks similar to a promotional artwork of Silent Hill 3 protagonist Heather.

After successfully hacking into the school records Cheryl Mason’s personal information is briefly shown before the computer freezes on Harry. Take a look at Ms. Mason’s full name, see anything familiar? If so you might recognize that her middle name, “Heather,” was also the pseudonym used by Harry and Cheryl while in hiding from the cult between Silent Hill and Silent Hill 3.

In Shattered Memories and Silent Hill 2 Harry and James both take a short breather in a public restroom to clear their hands and take a moment to stare at their reflections in wonder.

When you meet a distraught and injured Lisa in Shattered Memories she hugs Harry for a bit before realizing he’s not from the Hospital. This meeting is very reminiscent of their meeting in the original where Lisa crawls from beneath a desk and hugs Harry in out of relief on seeing another person.

Also if you meet a Lisa who doesn’t complain about how she “wasn’t supposed to be here” the cut scene will show show an over Harry’s shoulder shot of their embrace that’s very similar to the view used in the original game.

Like in the original Harry is unable to save the young and pretty nurse from death in Shattered Memories. What’s interesting about Lisa’s death scene in in this game is how she bleeds while dying. If you gave her the right pill and witness her last breath you will see blood begin to drip down from her left temple and with more blood flowing from her nose and mouth. The way and the order in which she’s bleeds mirrors the flow and the appearance of blood in her death scene in the original.

Cine-Fone Dancer Trailer

If you call Cine Fone and the movie The Dancer showing in Cine Real Snow Blind from the Silent Hill Origins soundtrack plays in the background of the trailer. It’s a nice nod to Climax’s first Silent Hill title.

Cine-Fone Dearest Mother Trailer

If you call Cine Fone and the movie Dearest Mother showing in Cine Real Don’t Abuse Me from the Silent Hill Origins soundtrack plays in the background of the trailer. It’s a nice nod to Climax’s first Silent Hill title.

In the last of the Nightmare worlds I like to refer to as Shattered Memories’ ‘Nowhere’ level Harry makes two leaps down into a dark abyss. Luckily for Harry he survives each long fall and continues his search for Cheryl. This leap of faith is very similar to the ones James’ takes in the prison level during Silent Hill 2 (and also similar to Henry’s daring jumps in Silent Hill 4). It didn’t matter that neither could see how long the drop really was, like Harry they had no where else to go so the most logicial conclusion to them was to jump dark the dark and scary looking hole…luckily for all of them Silent Hill is a pretty mysterious place and allowed them to all survive such a drop!

The borrowed SUV careens off the Dixon Bridge as the world freezes over. Harry barely makes it out of the water filled car with his life but watches helplessly as the unconscious and now thawed Dahlia continues to sink with the car deeper into the lake. But in Silent Hill death isn’t quite permanent as Harry thinks and he is surprised to not only hear from Dahlia via text messages after she dies but ends up meeting the real deal later on in a boat behind the amusement park.

Dahlia’s resurrection apparent no recollection of her demise I feel is a big nod to Maria and her multiple deaths and resurrections duringf Silent Hill 2. We saw Maria die in a variety of ways yet she continued to cross paths with James without a scratch and no recollection of dying in the first place!

When Harry begins crossing a frozen Toluca lake he receives a text and picture message from Officer Cybil Bennet of his “seven year old Cheryl.” Looks like “little” Cheryl has been in trouble with the law up in Portland. Within this mugshot we have two nods to Silent hill 3. Cheryl’s orange shirt, hoodie and blonde highlights bears a strong resemble to Heather’s character design in Silent Hill 3. The location of her arrest I believe is another homage and reference to the Harry’s murder in self defense of a Silent Hill cult member in the Portland area after the events of Silent Hill.

Harry runs across a frozen Toluca Lake towards a light in the distance in the direction of the Light House. The ice thaws and he continues swimming towards that same light. Crossing Toluca by following a distant light on the other side is is very similar to James’ row across the Toluca to reach the Lakeview Hotel. With the fog so thick he only had a bright light in the distance to guide him to the other side.

UFO Ending Nods

Shattered Memories UFO ending has several nods to the original Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 (especially in that last shot!) so I’ve broken them all down below

In the beginning Dr. K rants about Cheryl’s original belief her father was abducted by aliens. Claiming it made “more sense when [she] talked about cults and demons.” In the original Silent Hill the entire plot centered around a cult’s attempt in Silent Hill to release their God (who looked like a demon) into the world. So it’s a very cute nod to the original plotline.

In the following scene the Flauros is clearly seen on the doctor’s shelves (it’s not the Triforce from the Legend of Zelda series!). In the original, Dahlia left Harry the Flauros and the drawbridge key in the Balkan church. The purpose of the Flauros was unknown but it proved useful later in sealing off Alessa’s powers which allowed Dahlia to swoop in and capture her.

When you see a wideshot of Dr. K’s…or should I say Alien’s office check out the note on the corner of the coffee table. It looks just like the Levin Street Dog House note scribbled on a page from Cheryl’s sketch pad that Harry finds on Matheson Street in the original.

When you see a wide shot of Dr. K’s…or should I say Alien’s office check out the side board in the back. Dr. K’s alcohol stash has now been replaced by three items essential to Harry’s survival in the original game: his yellow flashlight, trusty red radio and a health drink.

What makes the UFO ending so great are the cameos by Silent Hill 2 protagonist James Sunderland and Mira the dog from the hilarious Silent Hill 2 dog ending (she’s also in SH0’s UFO ending!). If you look hard enough in the last wide shot of the office you can also see a silhouette of the Mary Boss creature James fights hanging in the background.

Many more Silent Hill homages coming soon!
Everything listed below will be added to the list, I just need the screen caps!

SH

• The teacher (Mr. Gordon) from the unnamed classroom 4-d = nod to K. Gordon teacher from original
• Dinosaur and Butterfly Mementos -> call backs to Alessa
• We, Ouroboros Memento -> Disk of Ourboros
• Wonderland Burger (Alice theme) same theme used in Hospital door puzzle
• Nowhere
• Indian Runner (thought I would mention in my SHSM vs SH but never did..it didn’t play a big enough role so I’m going to stick it here )

SH0

• Riverside Motel number
• Cine-fone Good Poison “Hole in the Sky” track from OST
• Mirrors

SH2

• Lakeside Hotel number
• Brookhaven Hospital number

SH3

• Shakespeare books in Principle’s office
• “Today is your birthday” message in Fir Tree men’s bathroom