By: Tomás García @ Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Silent Hill is probably one of the most recognized names in the survival horror genre, not for nothing won first place in our ranking of scariest games. But when speaking a different company to reimagine the masterpiece on the Wii, we all began to doubt. However, Shattered Memories takes the original game start as a starting point and from there they will do their own thing, resulting in a rather interesting title.

The Silent Hill series has always been known for marking each of his players with a hard act to follow psychological terror and that same philosophy is reflected in the latest title in the series, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, exclusively for Wii. This is the second Silent Hill developed outside of Konami, so it’s another test for developers in charge, who in this case have decided to make a title more rooted to the roots of the series. Shattered Memories is in part an original story and in another, a re-Imagineering of the first title out in 1999.

As in the original game, Harry Mason (the main character) loses his daughter, Cheryl, after an accident that leaves him stranded in Silent Hill no way to communicate with the outside world. But the main difference is that the story is told in the present, but at some future point where Harry meets a psychologist telling the facts. Here is where we come into play psychological tests. Throughout history, the psychologist will ask Harry to complete some tests, that will dictate how certain events that happen in the game. Many questions can be very personal, making it even more compelling evidence.
The basis of combat in Shattered Memories is that there is. So, there’s no way to defend against your aggressors and the only way to survive is to run very fast, opening door after door, to lose your pursuers, or find a flare that requires them to leave. The problem with these sequences, although they are very well achieved, is that they are too far apart from the rest of the game. Whenever you have solved a puzzle and see the story progresses, you’ll be locked in a maze which you must escape. Being so predictable, it loses impact.

Since there is no fighting, Shattered Memories feels more like an adventure game where you must meet certain objects exceeding exploring the environment and collecting items that they then use to move forward. But while this may give much room for imagination, usually advance means you have to do things like talking to characters, find the right way in the fog and find keys in hard to reach places. While this works well the first few times, eventually can become repetitive.

Most of the game will be using the flashlight to illuminate the various rooms that you explore, but you also have a mobile phone with which you can see the map, make calls and even take pictures of ghosts. But where the game really gets a prize in the ways you interact with different objects. Depending on the actions you should do will depend on which buttons you press on the Wiimote and most have been transported in very smart.

If you have to give credit for something is by trying to be a psychologically terrifying experience, instead of things that use cheap scares. In addition, make heavy use of the Wiimote, with the flashlight and the majority of interactions that occur. But the biggest problem of all, that one that goes against everything that represents the Silent Hill series. During the times that you must solve puzzles, you know that everything will be fine and nobody can make that assurance of the year and ruin the rest of the tense moments. Yet subtle changes in the story depending on the psychological tests give you more replay value and worth seeing different versions of the same story.

Score: 86%

Conclusion: Shattered Memories has little to do with the original game, but still a great addition to the series.