Posts Tagged ‘Silent Hill: Shattered Memories’

Since Silent Hill 2 Konami’s psychological survival horror series has been following something of a downward trend. Now new developer to the series, Climax Studios, buck this trend by making one of the most interesting, but flawed, installments since Silent Hill 2.

It is unusual to see me play through a game that doesn’t grab me immediately. It is even more rare I finish a game that at points actively discourages me from playing, and yet this is exactly what Silent Hill: Shattered Memoires does.

Short and flawed Shattered Memories is none the less is deserving of a play through, maybe even two if you want to see how the game change to reflect your in-game psychological profile.

Shattered Memories creates an incredible world. Moving away from the black rusted ‘dark world’ of past Silent Hills the new ‘dark world’ is one of blue ice that plays perfectly with the games narrative. Add to this the games promise that it was to actively psychoanalyzing me as I played and the hooks were there, but it kept fighting its own accomplishments.

Completely separating the puzzle element of the game from the action sections sees long sections of atmospheric exploration punctuated with horrific (as in bad not scary) chase sections. When I heard that combat had been removed from the game I initially rejoiced as it was always a failing point of the series, but the reality of the change made me less exuberant.

Being hunted with no recourse through Shattered Memories icy dark world was scary, but the tension was constantly undermined by the ineffectually Wii remote flailing I was reduced to every time I was caught by the shambling female figures that pursued me. It was a problem I could have forgiven if stealth was a viable tactic; unfortunately ‘sneaking’ hinted at by the game amounted to turning off the flashlight and doing exactly the same in the dark as I did in the light.

Shattered Memories flaws are redeemed in the last few hours of its six-hour story. Mounting psychological elements are slowly woven in to the story to create an awesome crescendo to events. Shattered Memories is so much better in retrospect that if you are ever fortunate enough to play it you owe it to yourself to finish it. Go on, it’s not that long!

We are coming in to May, which here in Japan means Golden Week. A magical time of strained family relationships and unspoken expectations that can only result in disappointment. Fortunately if you are I, and thus only involved in these festivities by the loosest of connections, it is possible to sit back and observe during your three extra days off, dodging the barbed comments and drinking beer. Plus as an extra bonus I get to finally try and finish Dragon Age on my laptop.

Unfortunately the downside to my upcoming situation is that I will have no Internet during the five-day visit to my other halves family abode. Thus unless I manage to get my planed post finished in my remaining time in Osaka, April is going to look like a pretty Spartan month for DoFuss. Not to worry really, my time has been fairly well spent, indulging in games (for edification and review) and writing for other sites. I have little to complain about but would like to have managed to get at least one of my two articles in progress up on the site before I left.

There is still a small chance I will manage to complete one of the unfinished projects that sit on my desktop before tomorrow morning when I have to leave. Just in case I don’t however here are some links to my other writings for the month of April on the wonderful Game People and Play Devil. Please visit them and remember to check back here next week for when I get back to civilization to post these articles, and maybe even do a podcast.

Line Rider 2 (Wii), Dark Void (PS3), Greed Corp (360), Lumines (PSP), Heavy Rain (PS3).

Heavy Rain (PS3), Silent Hill – Shattered Memories (Wii), An Open Letter To Fanboys (Feature).

On the occasions my posts fall below one a week here on DoFuss, I start to feel guilty. I have so many ideas for articles littering my desktop that wish I had more time to realise them. One will be going up later today, and already have three more on the go, but whether I finish the next piece on time invariably does not fall to my passion but my schedule. Reviewing games, articles for other sites and life all to frequently obstruct me.

When the feeling of guilt becomes too great I put together these ‘DoFuss Link’ posts, which provides a handy list of my recent work on other sites where you see a little more of my writing if you so choose. These posts serve three purposes, inform you of my work, keep DoFuss a bit more up-to-date and most importantly make me feel better about it taking me ten days between posts.

Below are a list of reviews and articles that have been posted since my last update. Each site has more in the wings ready to go (Heavy Rain reviews in particular on both Game People and Play Devil should be interesting), so if you are eager to stay up to date with my writing keep an eye out there. If you are less inclined to keep on top of my work then I will of course have another one of these updates in April so you can just check back here, or just ignore these posts completely.

As always if you do pay theses a visit I would much appreciate you leave any thoughts or feedback on respective site.

Scared Gamer -

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, Valkyria Chronicles, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Alien Breed: Evolution, Bayonetta (revisited), Mass Effect: Galaxy and Pitfall: The Big Adventure.

Haiku Gamer -

Valkyria Chronicles.

Sports Gamer -

Little League World Series Baseball 2008. (Yes, I did review the 2009 one last month).

Mass Effect 2, Polar Panic, Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond, Alien Breed: Evolution and South Park: Let’s Go Tower Defense!

Post Natal Depression.

Yes, its late, and we missed February completely, but with most of the regular cast having birthdays last month we can be forgiven right? Well maybe not, but we are back again now with added titillating missile silos. I say ‘we’ are back, but really it is me with a brand new cohort in the form of Scoot, a font of gaming knowledge and a welcome partner in podcasting crime.

So here is the twenty-fourth DoFuss Show, and if you can bear with a couple of small technical issues on Scoot’s end you will be treated to an hour an forty minutes of gaming news and discussion. Focusing our attention on online competitive play and games retail for the most part, we also dip in to some Nintendo conference talk and other news.

I suppose we are reaching a point where I may have to concede that a ‘regular’ schedule might never be possible, but I promise to keep trying and may hopefully even manage to get a three-man show going one day. Until I hope you keep listening to, and enjoying, our sporadic content.

 The DoFuss Show – Dedicated to Claire and Miki [101:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download