E3 2009 Preview
Less of a remake and more of a
reimagining, Shattered Memories will follow the same basic premise of the
original Silent Hill (a man searching for his missing daughter after a car
accident), but offers completely new gameplay and environments. The Wii version
will allow gamers to utilize the motion controls of the system, pointing the Wii
remote at the screen in order to shine a flashlight and solve certain
environmental puzzles like opening doors and so on.
One element of the game is the fact
that the game will readjust the story elements according to how you play.
Essentially creating a profile of your psychology and changing the game to
reflect this dynamically, areas will be changed and characters will be added or
removed from the experience depending on how you play the game.
Another nice touch is that the game
won’t empower the player too much, which is a common theme in the genre as
titles like Resident Evil 5 give the players quite a bit of firepower. Shattered
Memories is poised to place more emphasis on the “survival” element of survival
horror, giving you less ammunition and requiring you to avoid combat as much as
possible in order to survive. Creature will track you intelligently, requiring
you to outthink and outsmart them as you play.
The gameplay demo had a distinct
videotape feel to it, from the pause screen to the occasional tracking problem
effects that would pop up every now and then. The developers stated that this
element would be tied to the game’s storyline. The Wii version of the game was
up and running at a solid framerate of 60 FPS, and looked extremely well.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is
looking to be a nice reinvention for the franchise, and one that not only
capitalizes on the Nintendo Wii’s strengths but also bring the survival horror
genre as a whole back to its terrifying roots. Look for it this fall.
