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.
On a 911 Poster in the Fir Tree garage there are several numbers Harry can call. One number is for Silent Hill’s Brookhaven Hospital. Both James in Silent Hill 2 and Heather from Silent Hill 3 had to battle their way through this mental hospital.
On a 911 Poster in the Fir Tree garage there are several numbers Harry can call. One number is for the Lakeside Hotel and the message you hear when you call goes on about making the hotel “your special place.” Those who have played Silent Hill 2 know how that hotel was James and Mary’s “special place” during their visit to Silent Hill!
On a 911 Poster in the Fir Tree garage there are several numbers Harry can call. One number is for the Riverside Motel. This motel was visited by Travis Grady in Silent Hill Origins and turned out to be a very tragic setting from his childhood.
If you explore the men’s bathroom in the Fir Tree Garage there’s a bathroom stall with several different graffiti on it. Below the “Cammie Split Roasted” blurb is a small line stating “Today is your Birthday.” It’s a little hard to make out but I believe it’s a nod to the strange phone call Heather receives in Silent Hill 3. A creepy voice on the other ends tells Heather how today is her her birthday and sings Happy Birthday. Heather of course denies today being her birthday but the voice is quite certain.
In the playground you will see various graffiti by the “Dead Dog Posse.” The gang’s name seems to be a nod to two dead dog scenes in the original game. Either the bloody and mutilated dog corpse by the back alley he followed Cheryl into in the beginning of the game or the decapitated dog head found later in a basketball court near the near the Woodman Key.
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
[audio:https://shshatteredmemories.com/clips/ringvstheme.mp3]
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!
After exiting the woods Harry finds a memento of a pinned butterfly in the trunk of a red car. Later on in a conversation with Lisa Garland Harry mentions that Cheryl is the collector of pretty bugs and love butterflies. I like to think this a nod back to Alessa Gillespie’s own butterfly collection seen hanging in her bedroom in the original game.
During Harry’s trek to the other side of Midwich Highschool he passes through a restaurant called Wonderland that has an Alice in Wonderland theme to it’s mascots and decor. One might wonder why Climax didn’t go with “Konami Burger” that is seen in the original game but this Wonderland themed burger joint still has a strong connection to the original game. In Allchemilla Hospital Harry opens the Nurse’s Center door with four colored plates with different Alice in Wonderland characters: Red Queen, Turtle, Cheshire and the Mad Hatter. I like to think that this Wonderland restaurant is a nod to the Alice theme in the hospital door puzzle.
In the unnamed classroom 4-D in Midwich Highschool there’s a number written on a spare desk for a Mr. Gordon. The name should be familiar to those who’ve played the original game. After defeating the Split head in the school boiler room Harry picks up a key labeled “K. Gordon” which opens up the back door to K. Gordon’s house and allows him access to Balkan Church. Even though K. Gordon is only mentioned by name as being a teacher at Midwich elementary it’s cool that when a teacher name was needed in SHSM Climax went with one fan’s are already familiar with.
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
[audio:https://shshatteredmemories.com/clips/shotdown.mp3]
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 lookfs similar to a promotional artwork of Silent Hill 3 protagonist Heather.
While hacking Principal Herman Fisher’s computer you may be asked what is “What is Shakespeare’s greatest play?” The answer Twelfth Night can be found if you looked at a row of brown Shakespeare books on his bookshelf. Fisher’s favorite is pulled out slightly from the others. I like to think that these books are a nod to the book puzzle Heather solves in Silent Hill 3 to get a door code. She finds several brown Shakespeare anthologies on the floor of “My Bestseller” bookstore. To open the locked back door in the store she must put the books back on the shelf in a certain order and reveal the door code written across the book spines.
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.
Inside the safe located in the Fun & Games Toy shop in Toluca Mall Harry finds a stuffed memento called “My Flying Lizard.” If you examine the doll’s tag you can see it’s from the “Lost World” and its name is Terri.
This memento is a clear callback to Alessa and a monster from the original game. The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of Alessa’s favorite books as a child. Alessa’s fear of the flying dinosaurs illustrated within the book also served as a basis for one the Air Screamers Harry encounters in her nightmare other world.
Cine-Fone Dancer Trailer
[audio:https://shshatteredmemories.com/clips/thedancer.mp3]
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
[audio:https://shshatteredmemories.com/clips/numbers/dearestmother.mp3]
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.
Cine-Fone Good Poison Trailer
[audio:https://shshatteredmemories.com/clips/numbers/goodpoison.mp3]
If you call Cine Fone and the movie Good Poison showing in Cine Real Hole in the Sky 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 Together Forever Trailer
[audio:https://shshatteredmemories.com/clips/togetherforever.mp3]
If you call Cine Fone and the movie Together Forever showing in Cine Real The Healer 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 a locked box in the Green Lion Antique shop Harry finds a gold ring of double headed snake eating their tails. This ring and the memento name “We, Ouroboros” are both nods to a special item from the original Silent Hill, the Disk of Ouroboros.
The Disk of Ouroboros is found in Alessa Gillespie’s sickroom in Nowhere. It’s a small red plate with an etching of a snake eating its own tail. The disk is one of the five items needed to open up the final door in Alessa’s bedroom and contine on to the final boss.
In the last of the Nightmare worlds I like to refer to as Shattered Memories’ ‘Nowhere’ level Harry ends up warping to another level by touching a mirror. To me this seemed like a nod to Climax’s initial Silent Hill game Silent Hill Origins. In order to explore the other world Travis Grady touched mirrors to travel in and out the the otherside.
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 logical 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!
In the Lakeside Area of Silent Hill Harry passing a store called the Indian Runner and finds a camera memento inside a cigar box held by a Indian statue out front. This was again a nod to the original Silent Hill game!
In the original Harry when into the Indian Runner as part of a side quest to learn a little more about Michael Kaufmann and his drug trafficking within the town. I thought it was cool they were able to slip this nod in even if it wasn’t part of a big side quest this time around.
In the back hallway of Annie’s Bar is a black and white poster advertising an upcoming performance of “Siren.” The woman in the photo bares a striking resemblance to Maria’s official character artwork from Silent Hill 2. It may be a bit of a stretch but I do see the resemblance and in the context of Silent Hill 2 Maria was a Siren to James.
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 during 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!
Movie
- Hopscotch in playground (Hell to Heaven) like the one Rose runs over in the movie in midwich
