Dead Pixels Exclusive: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Interview Part 1

Thursday, September 17, 2009
By: BurnTheBlueSky

We got a chance to interview Tomm Hulett, a producer over at Konami about the upcoming Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Check out the 1st part of the interview past the break! Stay hanging around for the 2nd part sometime in the very near future!

How will Silent Hill play on the wii as compared to the PSP and PS2?

TH – The Wii version has a special control scheme where the Wii Remote is constantly being used to increase immersion. At all times it reflects Harry’s ingame flashlight, so by moving the Remote in any direction, the player shines the flashlight. They also control the ingame cell phone with the Control pad and A Button, so it feels like you’re holding an actual phone. The PSP and PS2 versions will control more like traditional Silent Hill games.

The pysch profile in the game is supposed to alter the game to how you play…is this just in the beginning of the game or is it throughout the game? Could you give some examples.

TH – The Psych Profile is constantly evolving the game based on who you are. The game is constantly gathering data from your actions and learning more about you. This effect lasts the entire game. This isn’t something you’ve seen in other games where you can take the good or evil path; the psych profile is based on actual psychological principles, so it can judge how outgoing you are, whether you’re an introvert, etc etc.

For fans of the series, will there be any nods or easter eggs in the
game for loyal players?

TH – Of course, though a lot of them are very subtle. Fans will have to be very observant.

Are the rumors true? No combat?

TH – If by “combat” you mean “physically attacking monsters until they die” then yes, there is no combat in Shattered Memories. However, there are plenty of action sequences where you have to frantically cope with hideous creatures dogging your every step through a Nightmare landscape.

Will there be a completely new score for the games music? Or just the
original?

TH – Akira Yamaoka (who has created the music for every Silent Hill) has created an all new score for Shattered Memories. People who pre-order the game at participating retailers will receive a full Soundtrack CD, in fact.

Was there any particular reason this game wasn’t being made for the 360 or Playstation 3?

TH – Making Silent Hill on the Wii made perfect sense. The two key features of the franchise: a flashlight and radio static, are right there in the Wii Remote. With such immersive controls, it’s natural to create a horror game that takes advantage of that deep immersion (just look at the amount coming to Wii this fall!). PSP and PS2 are both systems that we know Silent Hill fans own, so we wanted to deliver for them as well. But the goal of this game was to make it as scary as possible, and HD graphics don’t make things more scary necessarily. The original Silent Hill still ranks as a lot of people’s scariest game of all time… and its graphics are fairly archaic nowadays.

source: Dead Pixels Exclusive: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Interview Part 1! | 09/17/2009

Dead Pixels Exclusive: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Interview Part 2

Thursday, September 17, 2009
By: BurnTheBlueSky

TH – Well in the old games you’d see a lot of imagery based on the main character’s psychology. So in SH2, James ran into a lot of sexually-charged monsters, and there were some creepy, very sexual rooms. And then at the end of the game you kind of find out why, and it all makes sense. In Shattered Memories we’ve turned this into a flexible game mechanic. So the town is actually changing to reflect your own psychology. The things you see should reinforce this – that the town is watching you, and that the things you’re dealing with are somehow your fault.

Will the Wii version be using Wii Motion Plus?

TH – Nope. The only thing you need is a Wii Remote and a Nunchuk.

Silent Hill Homecoming was a big change compared to the rest of the series with more emphasis on combat but it seems with shattered memories it seems more like flight than fight. Is this going to be more puzzle and mystery based than a beat-em up, will this go back to being more ‘survival horror’?

TH – Our aim was to create the ultimate “Survival Horror” game by going back to the drawing board and figuring out what that should mean. The genre has gotten bogged down with a lot of established “rules” over the years, and those rules don’t necessarily serve scaring the player. Also, with such a focus on combat, modern games really empower the player and if you’re feeling empowered you can’t be scared. So by stripping all that away we’re hoping to create the ultimate survival horror experience.

Will the PSP version be available for download on the PSN, and PSP Go?

TH – The PSP version will be available on UMD format, as well as download for PSP Go.

What is your favorite aspect of the re-imaging than people really aren’t talking about?

TH – The Silent Hill games are all about this town that screws with a person’s perception of reality – of what they think they know. They’re full of moments like in Silent Hill 2, where James meets someone who looks exactly like his ex-wife. And you’re supposed to understand what these characters are feeling, but you can’t REALLY because, for example, you never knew James’s wife. You’re just told she existed and she was similar but different to this new person James is meeting. …But, a lot of people have played Silent Hill 1. So by reimagining it, Silent Hill can screw with their perception of that reality – of what they thought they knew about Silent Hill.

Are you looking into doing any other re-imaginings with the Silent Hill
series?

TH – Right now we’re focusing on getting this one just right.

source: Dead Pixels Exclusive: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Interview Part 2! | 09/22/2009