angrymonkey said:

I'm pretty sure Climax didn't actually call this a remake. They went out of their way to tell fans that this would be a very different kind of game.  

And I'll tell you right now there's no way you will like this game. Not if you're looking for freaky/sexy monstrosities that you can bludgeon.  But it has some great moments - just not with demon children and busty, creepy nurses.

Like I said earlier, in tone this thing is more like a twilight zone episode or jacob's ladder or the beginning of the shining. Note - mystery, great atmosphere, sense of isolation and no combat. Horror staples. Just not horror game staples for some reason.

I am sure I will like it fine but yeah, it looks more like an adventure game than the usual action/adventure games I am used to and love. At least now I know not to expect any of the SH1 enemies. Is there anything that ties this to the original other than the main character, daughter and cybil.

This is what Eric L Patterson wrote about his review of the game.  Eric used to write for Play Magazine, and you can read his review elsewhere.  He is a monster Silent HIll fan (as in fan fiction etc)...  Anyway, I thought his review was very interesting, one of the most sincere pieces of writing I've ever seen in a review.  Here is his response on a Silent HIll fan site to criticisms of his review:

So when the rumors started going around on the internet about a “remake” of the original SH, I was both excited and hesitant. Sure, it was something that I had always wanted, but at the same time when you’re remaking something beloved by so many people it can be so, so easy to screw up. I then had the opportunity to check out the first 15 minutes or so of the game right before it was officially announced. In going down to Konami to see the game, I found out the truth behind what the project was; instead of a “remake”, it was a “re-imagining” of the story of Harry and his search for Cheryl.

That was absolutely, positively not the game that I was wanting, but the truth it, I was still excited for it anyhow – and that’s very important. What I had to come to terms with even before I ever saw one second of the game was that this was not going to be the original Silent Hill that I knew it loved. Not the same Harry, not the same Cheryl, not the same storyline, nothing. The reason that I say that this is important is because I knew right off the bat not to compare this directly to the PlayStation version of Silent Hill 1, or to any Silent Hill for that matter, and let me be clear in stating that in reviewing the game, I never did that in direct ways.

What I had been hoping and praying for was something to come along that would re-ignite the series. The “same old same old” was not at all what I wanted, and that’s why I was so excited by Shattered Memories after getting that first look at the game. Just re-make the same game over and over is absolutely not what I wanted from a new Silent Hill game, as some seem to have gathered from my review. At the same time, just destroying everything that had made the series what it was just for the sake of “freshness” is something I find to be a ridiculous idea. That kind of thinking was what I was seeing seep into the thoughts of Team Silent from interviews and where things were looking to go as the franchise went on. My argument has always been, and always will be, to push the series forward into new and enthralling territory built upon the foundation that had been laid by Silent Hill and, in some ways, Silent Hill 2, not in spite of it. For that reason, unlike some who claim that Westerners have killed the series, I was always of the opinion that the one to initial stab the knife into the body was Team Silent themselves.

So when I said in my review that Shattered Memories was forgetting that it was a Silent Hill game, it was never because it wasn’t exactly what the previous titles had been. That isn’t my argument. My argument is that the fundamentals of what this series is about, what it stands for and what it specifically speaks to, are missing here. Why does Silent Hill, the town, exist? Not as in origins, but as a catalyst for what then happens in the games? It exists as a means to explore the sides of the main characters that they are afraid to face, and, in turn, to explore those things that we as humans are afraid to face. Silent Hill understood how to be scary because it wasn’t like Resident Evil, with big monsters suddenly jumping out at us, but because it knew what situations to put us in that we didn’t want to be it. Not just in a physical sense, as in dark rusty hallways or pits leading to the unknown, but also in the mental and emotional sense.

Silent Hill 2 was as great a game as it was because of the very simple, yet utterly complex question it asked: what would a man do to be re-united with the love that he lost? Silent Hill offered James an answer to that question, but an answer that might lead him to a place where reclaiming what he longed for might be a worse fate than continuing to live without it. That is the entire essence of the game, that human drama that comes from the deal with the devil where you get what you want and then suffer the consequences.

That is part of what I referred to when I talked of the “heart and soul” of Silent Hill, but it wasn’t just that. It was also the sense of us finding ourselves lost in a place that we want, and need, to escape from, a place that is alive and aware and which is struggling to not let us go. I spoke in my review about Lost, because I think it had a connection to Silent Hill in a surprising amount of ways. The island on Lost is not a setting, or a backdrop, or a location, but a character that is almost as important as any other member of its cast. The Silent Hill series has, bit by bit, forgotten that the town of Silent Hill is a character as deserving of attention as Harry, or James, or Heather, or Henry, or Alex, or Travis, or whomever. In Shattered Memories, that town simply doesn’t exist. At all. Not just in more surface-level ways, as in look, or feel, or street layout, or design, or whatever else, but more importantly in concept and attitude and emotion. Does Shattered Memories contain a town called Silent Hill? Sure. But it is as much Silent Hill as the town you yourself are currently living in. It could have been called by any other named and served the exact same purpose.

The problem in fully explaining why I felt what I did, and thus gave the game the review that I did, is that it’s very hard for me to completely go into my full opinions without completely spoiling the game to hell and back. I didn’t touch once on the actual storyline to Shattered Memories in my review because there was no way to do so without giving away the major twists and turns. If that wasn’t a concern, then it would be easier for me to go into the complete score of my thoughts on the game. And, maybe I can’t even fully explain what that core feeling, that “heart and soul” of a Silent Hill title truly is, but I cannot help but think that all of us here, being Silent Hill fans, understand what that means. It’s that thing that made you understand that Silent Hill 4 started out as a completely separate project before being told that fact. It’s those things that made us fall in love with the series, to an insanely fanatical degree and extent. Those elements – those core elements that have made Silent Hill what it is, and was – they aren’t present in Shattered Memories, at least to me, and it has nothing to do with the game not being exactly like those that came before it or because of this or that complaint when taken on their own.

If there is one fact about Silent Hill fans, it is that they seem to almost never agree on anything. *laughs* I would love nothing more than for you to play Shattered Memories and love it, because that’s what I wish I could have done. I wanted so bad to love this game from the start, and went into it with no expectations other than the hope of a fresh new take on the Silent Hill mythos. When you play it, maybe you’ll suddenly come to the decision that I did actually know what the hell I was talking about. *heh* Or, maybe you’ll enjoy the game, think it’s an awesome Silent Hill chapter, and see it as proof that I’m a bigger buffoon than you originally expected. Whatever the outcome, I’m really curious to see how opinions sway once the game gets into more hands.

So I completed my second playthrough, the ending this time was the same, yet different and even more revelatory. You get a little more info on some of the characters which brings things into focus. This time it was even more poignant, I felt myself welling up.

I sort of speed ran through the second playthrough which I shouldn't have as I just saw an interview which said that if you call the phone numbers second time through you get all new dialogue. One of the calls suprised me and creeped me the hell out. This game is really well made, because of the nature of the exploration and story the second time through isn't as good as the first, you already have some pre-knowledge of what's coming up.

I loved the Planetarium puzzle and laughed when I saw the result and how they did it. Very funny and clever.

angrymonkey said:

gamingeek said:

I did not see that coming. I had my own theories, that it might be like the end of Oldboy.

Mindf*** extreme. That was awesome. And the written psyche evaluation was suprisingly accurate at the end.

Best ending in a game I've played for a long time. This is the example game for that gaf thread when people were trying to come up with mature game concepts without combat. A lot of people were at a big loss of how you could ever do any kind of game like that.

gamingeek said:

Oh, oh and the saw proof of the game watching you. Second time through I perved over the reflection of this woman getting changed. It was a random thing, I caught it out of the corner of my eye then zoomed in. Then she came into the room a few seconds later and called me out on it.

Also in that same room I noticed that there were four bottles each containing coloured pills. Question is, will giving her a different colour affect the game? I have tried 2 colours with no change noticible by me.

What section was the changing part in? Was that the nurse?

Heh - I just realized that that was a 'silent hill nurse'.

Believe I read the pills will determine the cutscene you get when you come back into the apartment. The scene could be slightly different but I think will play out roughly the same. Haven't got to this in my second run yet. You know you can take ufo pics too?

The chases and freak beasts make sense too, given the ending. I can't say why without spoilers though. Yeah it was the nurse part. No difference it cutscenes for me between green and yellow pills.

Dvader said:

There is no chance this game is as good as the original but I still want to play. I need someone who has played the original to talk about this game.

Hmm seems there is a UFO ending, thats good. The nurse is still in the game, does she start to bleed spontaneously out of her face. If not the game fails. The hospital does it all of a sudden get a 4th floor when originally there wasn't a fourth floor. In the elementary school are you being chased by blindfolded demon children with knives.

You should just forget about the Silent Hill prefix and view it as Shattered Memories, an original adventure game. If you're really into your Silent Hill mythos no doubt you'll constantly be comparing and complaining like other people.

angrymonkey said:

I'm pretty sure Climax didn't actually call this a remake. They went out of their way to tell fans that this would be a very different kind of game.  

And I'll tell you right now there's no way you will like this game. Not if you're looking for freaky/sexy monstrosities that you can bludgeon.  But it has some great moments - just not with demon children and busty, creepy nurses.

Like I said earlier, in tone this thing is more like a twilight zone episode or jacob's ladder or the beginning of the shining. Note - mystery, great atmosphere, sense of isolation and no combat. Horror staples. Just not horror game staples for some reason.

They said it was a re-imagining. It's not like REmake which had better graphics and same structure. It's like watching the original 70s Battlestar Galactica and then watching the new one. At first you're like WTF? Starbuck's a woman? Cylons are people? And then, you get into it for what it is.

Or start complaining about how its not like you remember.

Dvader said:

angrymonkey said:

I am sure I will like it fine but yeah, it looks more like an adventure game than the usual action/adventure games I am used to and love.

There's quite a bit of action in it with the chase scenes which are adrenaline pumping. It actually in retrospect reminds me a little of splinter cell where you skulk about, then the alarm goes off and the shit hits the fan so you run as fast as you can and wait till the alarm goes off before walking normally again. It's like a game of tag, where if you get caught, you die at the end. It's a shame some people get so confused with the layout, the maps are easy to me.

I think the conventional thinking of: the shortest route between points A and B is s straight line, is what throws people off. If you look at the map, you should be looking at the doors and how rooms lead on to one another. Like driving, you have to take a right here and left here to get to where you want to, you can't drive in a straight line and get there no problems.

angrymonkey said:

I don't want to make out too much out of it like it's some amazing story, or a great twisty turny narrative - but it's good. I think it works and I like that it's understated.

Going back to read you impressions in more detail monkey.

I agree with you here, it's not an amazing story. It's an amazing ending which brings things into focus. And I think like you said the fact that its understated and almost, more real makes it feel more like a real world, a small town with small little stories of people's everyday life.

You hear uncomfortable conversations which you would tend to ignore in the real world, yet here are forced to listen to. You're purposely made to feel helpless.

You have to look around and investigate, call phone numbers, look at photos, listen to phone messages. If you just run towards the marked arrows and call it day you've missed much of the game.

Vader the Giant Bomb review:

"Shattered Memories is one of those newfangled "reboots" that distills the Silent Hill series down to its core--psychological horror--and takes it in a new direction. The similarities to the series' original installment are few. You're again Harry Mason, looking for your young daughter Cheryl after a car crash strands you in the idyllic small town of Silent Hill, nearly deserted in the midst of a blizzard. There's still a weird fixation on radio static and analog video effects, used to enhance the tension. Uh, did I mention your daughter is named Cheryl?

The point is, the comparisons end there. No more hellish, industrial-looking otherworld, no more occult business... and no combat. Shattered Memories is, for all intents and purposes, an adventure game in which you play through a series of loosely connected vignettes depicting Harry's mostly fruitless search of the town.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories takes some bold, unpredictable risks with this venerated franchise, and the result is a heck of a lot more interesting than yet another survival horror game with motion-assisted aiming might have been. And thanks to the careful handling of the narrative, it's an indelible experience that proves you don't need endless shooting and buckets of blood to produce a mature, resonant horror experience, on the Wii or on any other platform."

Nightmare on Elm street, 3 I think. The nurse scene "Do you like my body"

So hot.

So I started my third playthrough which is unprecedented to me, I've never played a game, completed it once, then twice then immediately started a third.

My goal this time was to check out everything in detail, because from the first playthrough I saw that there are tons of little details about the story and main characters in what I call incidental environmental details. Little bit everywhere.

The first time I answered all psyche questions honestly, the second in the opposite and this time, a mix of truth and lies. Like how Steel talks to his wife.

I also called a number I had never seen before, I think I unlocked the possibility of the UFO ending, but now silly UFOs keep popping up to photograph, which kind of spoils the atmosphere.

I dont remember calling the club. I like the differences when you call the whores name scrawled on the wall. Nice. 

I'm coming up on the scene with the nurse for the third time. I have given her green and yellow before. 2 more choices left, which should I pick?

hamzik said:

Just bought the game. Unfortunately I don't have the time to try it out today, soon on my way to a party. But tommorow I'll chime in with some impressions. GG, you sold me on this.

 Yikes. 

I hope you like it. Try to use my tips on the chase scenes. 

1. Use your map and press A to zoom it full screen.

2. Head for the doorways and buildings, don't try and run in a straight line from A to B. 

3. Turn off you torch as much as possible.

4. Knock over objects to slow the beasts down.

5. High static from the wii remote speaker comes out when you point the controller in the direction of an enemy, sort of like a sonar, so avoid those areas if possible. 

6. The music goes from tense for chases and quiet when they aren't on your ass. This is when you check your map.