New ‘Silent Hill’ game delivers thrills and chills - Military Video Games, computer games, games, gaming - Navy Times

New ‘Silent Hill’ game delivers thrills and chills

It might be one of the last video games to trickle out of the gate in 2009, but Konami’s “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories” is one of the best Nintendo Wii titles of the year — if you’re into scary stories, that is.

This Mature-rated thriller, which is also available for Sony PlayStation 2 and Sony PlayStation Portable, might be considered a new spin on the original, decade-old “Silent Hill” game.

You play as Harry Mason, who wakes up after a car accident outside of the spooky town of Silent Hill only to find his 7-year-old daughter, Cheryl, is missing. To find her, you’ll wander the snow-covered streets and through diners, warehouses, hotels and malls — while also unraveling a chilling secret about the town and how fate brought you back “home.”

Compared with other “survival horror” games, including the “Resident Evil” series, “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories” is unique in that you never wield any weapons to fight back against the hordes of bizarre creatures you’ll come across, such as the gyrating fleshless bodies that look like they’re swathed in plastic wrap. Instead, you’ll perform defensive maneuvers if they grab you by following the onscreen instructions — such as waving the Nintendo Wii remote and connected nunchuk controller in a specific direction — or you could always run if you can see an escape route.

Not having any weapons to protect yourself from these demons adds tension to the game, as does the fact that your flashlight, controlled by your wireless Wii remote, beams only a small circle of illumination in an otherwise dark and dangerous world. You’ll know you’re getting closer to an area with bad guys when the static noise gets louder and louder, emitting out of the Wii remote’s speaker.

As you play from a cinematic third-person perspective, much of your time in “Shattered Memories” will be exploring the many icy environments for clues, solving puzzles (such as finding a key that can be used to unlock a door) and using your cell phone as a critical tool. With the latter, pressing the “-” button on the Wii remote opens your phone’s menu screen to access the overhead map (you can set markers down in areas you need to visit), pick up voicemail messages and e-mail, and take photos with the camera, which will help you see things in Silent Hill not visible to the naked eye.

Many puzzles also require you to use the Wii’s motion-sensing controls in a realistic way, such as grabbing tin cans and turning them over to shake out the contents, or opening drawers by grasping the knob and sliding them open to see what’s inside.

“Shattered Memories” works on a number of levels, including the story, pacing, combat, controls and high production values (complementing the impressive graphics is an atmospheric soundtrack by acclaimed “Silent Hill” series composer Akira Yamaoka).

Interestingly, the game also plays out differently depending on the psychological profile you fill out at the start of the story when Harry is in a therapist’s office. Therefore, who or what you encounter in each location — such as a clothing store, bar or amusement park — might vary depending on how you answered the questions. Or, if you decide to call a phone number listed on a billboard advertisement, the recorded message heard might be different for different players.

However, the game is on the short side (averaging about six or seven hours), which means you could tackle it in a weekend, and it has only one mode to indulge in, which limits its replayability. But it’s the quality rather than quantity of this interactive experience that makes “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories” a great pick for fans of the series or horror films.