[The fourth part of a series devoted to horror games on the Wii and the films that inspire them]
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Developers: Climax Studios, Konami
Price: $20
Rating: M
Release: December 8th, 2009
Sales: 403,000
Recap
A long time ago, or maybe only a few days ago, Harry Mason and his daughter Cheryl were close as a father and child could be. But after a bizarre car accident leaves Harry in a small town called Silent Hill, he must brave the elements to find his daughter.
Review
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories isn't just the best horror game for the Nintendo Wii, it's one of the best games in any genre for the little white box. Efficient, lovely, creative, clever, and plenty of other adjectives, Shattered Memories engages on every level. The moment I picked up the controller, I was involved. You point your flashlight with the Wiimote. You listen to eerie phone calls by bring the Wiimote up to your ear. You grab and clasp in-game items by pinching the A and B buttons together and letting go. The purpose here is not to create fast-paced action. The gamer's supposed to experience the world of Silent Hill, in the first person. To examine and study and feel enveloped by the oppressive atmosphere. Even something as small as phone numbers on advertisements affects gameplay - you can call those numbers and get voicemail messages. Or maybe something more.
The phone doubles as a camera, map, game menu, and phone.
Those small details adjust depending on how you build your "psychological profile" throughout the game. At key moments, the game will abruptly return to a therapist's office, where psychological tests determine the gamer's hangups, be they pathetic or passive or kinky. These hangups manifest in the game, through character outfits and environmental ornamentation. None of these affect the ultimate destination, but they color the story and make it personal. As if the story weren't emotional enough. The focus on the needs of fathers and daughters develops in unexpected ways, not least of which in how you interact with the many supporting female characters in the game. I won't risk saying more, except that I have to note my absolute joy during the final thirty minutes of the game, which pushed the boundaries of the story far past where I thought it would go.*
Using the Wii-mote to shove off enemies is logical and satisfying.
The mechanics of the game, while re-vitalized by the new studio and interface, keep some ideas from the Silent Hill series intact, and the most traditional element is the idea of a shadow world full of malformed creatures. However, Shattered Memories throws a wrench in the gears (and the gears onto the floor) by removing weapons. Forget about fighting - the only salvation lies in escape. There's some relief in that the "normal" world doesn't offer monsters, but the possibility of the invasive nightmare world haunts every open door. When blue ice crackles across the city, the gamer must race against time and God, scaring the beasts off with flares, running toward some destination - any destination. By removing weapons, the game feels less manageable, more hopeless. I'm okay with that.
RATING: A
Cut-scenes adjust to your psychological profile, be it sexual, familial, or even passive.
Resemblance
50% The Shining - Kubrick's wintry nightmare pushed itself into the valley between the fantastic and uncanny, with a father losing himself to a diseased environment. Shattered Memories, like the other games in the series, owes a debt to the way Kubrick stood on the edge of the supernatural.
35% Jacob's Ladder - Again, an inspiration since the series began, Shattered Memories retains the body-horror imagery that Adrian Lyne brought to his tale of delirious madness, as well as the inability to ever decipher what is truly real.
15% The Descent - With the aggrieved parent seeking out the child in an uninhabitable, nightmarish environment that just might host some pale, hungry inhabitants.
Earlier Entries
Resident Evil 4
Dead Space: Extraction
*If you don't care to be SPOILED...
...the final half hour consists of the main character literally racing through a dream-world. Through an endless maze of hallways, across enormous skyscrapers inspired by Giger, and even via a literal swim through the waters of the subconscious mind, with scenes from the characters' past buried in the cold depths. Haunting. Beautiful. Perfect.
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