Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Encyclopedia
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a survival horror video game for the Wii
and the seventh installment in the Silent Hill
series, being a "reimagining" of the first installment
. Published by Konami Digital Entertainment and developed by Climax Studios
, the game was released in December 2009, with ports for the PlayStation 2
and the PlayStation Portable
released in January 2010. The European and Australian PAL releases for the three platforms were originally due to release on February 26, 2010; however, the Australian version's release was delayed until June, due to European supply problems caused by the economic effects of the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
.
Set in the eponymous fictional American town, Shattered Memories follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing daughter in the town, occasionally entering an alternate dimension
.
, receive text and audio messages, take photographs and dial numbers. In the Wii version, the Wii Remote
is used for puzzle-solving and to control the player's flashlight and mobile phone. Checking scattered diary pages and documents has been eliminated in favor of visually scanning the environment and utilizing the mobile phone to zoom in on objects and text and to reveal hidden messages by taking pant. The game does not feature combat, with emphasis placed on evading encounters with monsters.
Harry Mason wakes up from a car crash to find his daughter Cheryl has gone missing. He explores the seemingly empty town, as a snow storm has forced most residents to take refuge in their homes. After talking to police officer Cybil Bennett, Harry makes his way home, believing Cheryl might have gone there. While wandering the streets, the town begins to freeze over, and he meets monsters that chase him. He reaches his house, only to find another family living there. Cybil arrives, deciding to take him to the police station and figure things out, but she stops and decides to look around when her car windows become covered with snow. Harry escapes into nearby woods, making a beeline for a nearby building, and decides to head back to town. But he once again encounters the Nightmare in the woods.
Eventually he finds his way to the local high school, where he meets Michelle Valdez, and learns of a Cheryl Mason who was a student there years ago. Michelle shows him a photograph of that Cheryl, which depicts a girl much older than his daughter, though she notes that the pictured Cheryl resembles him. Michelle offers to drive Harry to Cheryl's address, but when Harry briefly steps away, he comes back to find Michelle replaced by Dahlia, a girl who acts as if she has been with Harry the whole time. Scared and disoriented, he accepts the ride, but as they cross over the town's bridge, another shift to the Nightmare causes the car to fall into Lake Toluca. Harry manages to get out, but loses consciousness as Dahlia drowns. He comes to in Silent Hill's Alchemilla Hospital, being wheeled in a chair by Cybil. But he finds himself stuck back in the Nightmare.
He escapes and meets nurse Lisa Garland, who seems to have wrecked her car into the hospital, and escorts her to her home. Lisa tells Harry she has a headache, and he gives her pills. Harry leaves the apartment, and after wandering the streets, is sent a message from Michelle telling him to meet her at the mall. However, Harry's attention is diverted when, upon reaching the mall, he receives a phone call from Lisa. Harry finds himself in another Nightmare, but eventually makes it back to the apartment, only for Lisa to be either dying or already dead, depending on in-game actions taken by the player. Cybil arrives to find him standing over the body, but before she can arrest him, Harry re-enters the Nightmare.
Harry escapes to Cheryl's home. Inside, he finds an older Dahlia, who claims to be his wife. She tells Harry that Cheryl is at the lighthouse; however, Harry enters yet another Nightmare and runs out of the room, only to realize he is in a maze. He finds himself back in Dahlia's room, only this time it is empty.
Harry gets a ride from Michelle, but she and her boyfriend fight and leave the car. Left alone, Harry finds his way through the Lakeside Amusement Park to the docks, where he finds Dahlia, young again. She sets course for the lighthouse and seduces Harry. When Harry wakes, Dahlia and the world are frozen. Harry heads across the frozen lake for the lighthouse, but falls in the water and passes out. He is dragged ashore near the lighthouse by Cybil, who confronts him and claims that Harry Mason died eighteen years ago in a car crash. As Harry proceeds, he finds the "Lighthouse" is actually Dr. K's clinic.
At this point, it is revealed that the patient in the therapy segments is not Harry, but in fact a twenty-five-year-old Cheryl. Harry enters the Lighthouse office, and Cheryl now realizes that the fragments of conflicting memories are in fact false recollections based on her childhood memories. The last scene of the game varies according to the psychological profile of the player. Cheryl may reconcile herself to the death of her father (either by accepting it or by rejecting him entirely), or decide to continue to believe that her father is alive. She is shown meeting with her mother Dahlia in the parking lot. The game ends with old home videos from Cheryl's camcorder.
Four variations of this video are available based on the player's actions as Harry, reflecting the traits of Harry with his family while he was alive. All videos begins with the footage from the beginning of the game, when the video is abruptly overwritten with another recording. If Harry was focusing on finding Cheryl and was caring during the course of the game, the video shows Harry packing his luggage in a car while Cheryl records. Harry tells Cheryl not to blame herself for the divorce and that he and Dahlia will always love Cheryl and the video ends. This ending is known as "Love Lost". If Harry was focusing more on alcohol, the video shows a drunk Harry outside his house yelling at Cheryl and demanding another beer. The video ends with Harry complaining that he is drinking because of his family. This ending is called "Drunk Dad". If Harry was focusing more on women and sexual intercourse, the video shows Harry flirting on his bed with Lisa and Michelle. They ask whether Harry would dedicate his next book to them and Harry responds by saying that he does that only to his wife and daughter to only be fair. This ending is named "Sleaze and Sirens". If Harry was a slacker during the game, the video shows Dahlia slapping him. This ending is called "Wicked and Weak". A joke ending can be obtained if Harry takes a photograph of thirteen UFOs
scattered through the game. In this ending, Cheryl tells Dr. K that she believes Harry was kidnapped by extraterrestrials, and that Silent Hill was built on a spaceship. At this point of the game, James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2
breaks into the clinic, in order to discover that his appointment was on the next day. Soon after, Cheryl turns into a dog while Dr. K turns into an extraterrestrial.
. The idea of a remake was also considered early in the development of the prequel game Silent Hill: Origins.
Rumours of a remake persisted into 2009, and were seemingly confirmed the following month when the British Board of Film Classification
re-rated the game. The game was officially announced in the May 2009 issue of Nintendo Power
. Climax Studios
, the studio behind Silent Hill: Origins, developed Shattered Memories with a development team made up of more than 55 team members and a supporting network of more than 90 artists.
Series vocalist Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
was a guest at Otakon 2009
where she announced at her Friday Q & A panel that she was made a co-director for Shattered Memories voice acting and that there will be "one of a kind bonus stuff" that she could not reveal at the time.
, and was his final contribution to the Silent Hill
series before he retired from Konami
after 16 years. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
provided the vocals for four songs in the game: "Always on My Mind
", "When You're Gone", "Acceptance" and "Hell Frozen Rain", and Joe Romersa
returned for the fifth time to provide lyrics for three of the songs, excluding "Always on My Mind", which is a cover. GameStop
also offered a pre-order official soundtrack which contained 21 tracks from the game.
. IGN
gave the game three "Best of E3" awards in the Wii category for best overall game, best adventure game and best graphics technology. Shattered Memories also won best Wii game from GameSpy
in their "E3 2009 Editors' Choice Awards".
Metacritic has scored the game 79, based on 56 reviews. Game Rankings average the game at 79, based on 44 reviews.
Nintendo Power
gave the game an 8.0 out of 10, praising the game's immersion and puzzle elements but criticizing the "reduced emphasis on horror" and expressing disappointment with the chase sequences, concluding that while "it may not be the unqualified success we were hoping for, Shattered Memories proves an audacious and ultimately compelling experiment." IGN gave the game an 8.6 out of 10, lauding the game's atmospheric use of a flashlight, terrifying chase sequences and departure from the Silent Hill formula while criticizing it for its short length and lack of monster variety. GameTrailers
awarded the game an 8.5 out of 10, praising the flashlight and motion controls, but were disappointed by the lack of combat and potentially frustrating chase sequences. About.com
gave the game a 4/5, calling the chase sequences frustrating and stating that the framing therapy scenes undercut the "trapped in a nightmare" feel of previous Silent Hill games. Giant Bomb
gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, citing the intuitive use of the Wii remote and how it was incorporated into the usage of the phone in game. The game also received their Best Wii Game of 2009 award, as well as their Best Ending of 2009 award. Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game an 86% score saying that "It's a shame that it's so short, otherwise this is easily one of the best games on the Wii."
Some reviewers were more critical. X-Play
gave the game a 2/5, and Adam Sessler
said of the game's lack of combat and trial and error gameplay, "It's not really survival horror... so much as tedious bullshit."
GameZone
's Louis Bedigian gave it a 6.5/10, saying "As an interactive story, Shattered Memories is deep and memorable. The music is unfathomable; if there's ever been a composer who understands the true meaning of survival/horror music, it's Akira Yamaoka. But unless you're a newcomer searching for something that's barely challenging and is only marginally horrific, Shattered Memories is best experienced as a one-time rental."
The European and Australian PAL releases for the three platforms were originally scheduled to be March 4, 2010; however, the Australian PAL Wii version release was delayed until June due to European supply problems caused by the economic effects of the 2010 volcanic eruption
in Iceland. Furthermore, major retailers struggled to confirm available copies of the game for several months after the delayed release, potentially damaging initial sales of the game in Australia.
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and the seventh installment in the Silent Hill
Silent Hill
is a survival horror video game series consisting of seven installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, have been developed by an internal factor, Team Silent...
series, being a "reimagining" of the first installment
Silent Hill (video game)
Silent Hill is a survival horror video game for the PlayStation and the first installment in the Silent Hill series. Published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo group, the game was released in North America in January 1999, and in Japan and Europe later...
. Published by Konami Digital Entertainment and developed by Climax Studios
Climax Group
Climax Group is a British independent video game development company. It was founded by Karl Jeffery in 1988 and is based in Portsmouth, Hampshire....
, the game was released in December 2009, with ports for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
released in January 2010. The European and Australian PAL releases for the three platforms were originally due to release on February 26, 2010; however, the Australian version's release was delayed until June, due to European supply problems caused by the economic effects of the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull were volcanic events at Eyjafjöll in Iceland which, although relatively small for volcanic eruptions, caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional localised disruption...
.
Set in the eponymous fictional American town, Shattered Memories follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing daughter in the town, occasionally entering an alternate dimension
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
.
Gameplay
The player is observed and evaluated by the game as he or she plays, and his or her actions will have an effect on multiple aspects of play, including the appearance of its attendant monsters and characters' attitudes, gender and clothing changing according to the player's choices. The protagonist, Harry, is equipped with a mobile phone which he can use to check the map via GPSGlobal Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
, receive text and audio messages, take photographs and dial numbers. In the Wii version, the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
is used for puzzle-solving and to control the player's flashlight and mobile phone. Checking scattered diary pages and documents has been eliminated in favor of visually scanning the environment and utilizing the mobile phone to zoom in on objects and text and to reveal hidden messages by taking pant. The game does not feature combat, with emphasis placed on evading encounters with monsters.
Plot
The game begins in the office of therapist Dr. K, where the player can interact from a first-person perspective. After the player fills out a questionnaire, the game cuts to the town of Silent Hill. Throughout the game, the game cuts back to this session, where the doctor listens to the events unfold. Harry's journey is also occasionally interrupted when the town transforms into the Nightmare, in which he is forced to run from monsters.Harry Mason wakes up from a car crash to find his daughter Cheryl has gone missing. He explores the seemingly empty town, as a snow storm has forced most residents to take refuge in their homes. After talking to police officer Cybil Bennett, Harry makes his way home, believing Cheryl might have gone there. While wandering the streets, the town begins to freeze over, and he meets monsters that chase him. He reaches his house, only to find another family living there. Cybil arrives, deciding to take him to the police station and figure things out, but she stops and decides to look around when her car windows become covered with snow. Harry escapes into nearby woods, making a beeline for a nearby building, and decides to head back to town. But he once again encounters the Nightmare in the woods.
Eventually he finds his way to the local high school, where he meets Michelle Valdez, and learns of a Cheryl Mason who was a student there years ago. Michelle shows him a photograph of that Cheryl, which depicts a girl much older than his daughter, though she notes that the pictured Cheryl resembles him. Michelle offers to drive Harry to Cheryl's address, but when Harry briefly steps away, he comes back to find Michelle replaced by Dahlia, a girl who acts as if she has been with Harry the whole time. Scared and disoriented, he accepts the ride, but as they cross over the town's bridge, another shift to the Nightmare causes the car to fall into Lake Toluca. Harry manages to get out, but loses consciousness as Dahlia drowns. He comes to in Silent Hill's Alchemilla Hospital, being wheeled in a chair by Cybil. But he finds himself stuck back in the Nightmare.
He escapes and meets nurse Lisa Garland, who seems to have wrecked her car into the hospital, and escorts her to her home. Lisa tells Harry she has a headache, and he gives her pills. Harry leaves the apartment, and after wandering the streets, is sent a message from Michelle telling him to meet her at the mall. However, Harry's attention is diverted when, upon reaching the mall, he receives a phone call from Lisa. Harry finds himself in another Nightmare, but eventually makes it back to the apartment, only for Lisa to be either dying or already dead, depending on in-game actions taken by the player. Cybil arrives to find him standing over the body, but before she can arrest him, Harry re-enters the Nightmare.
Harry escapes to Cheryl's home. Inside, he finds an older Dahlia, who claims to be his wife. She tells Harry that Cheryl is at the lighthouse; however, Harry enters yet another Nightmare and runs out of the room, only to realize he is in a maze. He finds himself back in Dahlia's room, only this time it is empty.
Harry gets a ride from Michelle, but she and her boyfriend fight and leave the car. Left alone, Harry finds his way through the Lakeside Amusement Park to the docks, where he finds Dahlia, young again. She sets course for the lighthouse and seduces Harry. When Harry wakes, Dahlia and the world are frozen. Harry heads across the frozen lake for the lighthouse, but falls in the water and passes out. He is dragged ashore near the lighthouse by Cybil, who confronts him and claims that Harry Mason died eighteen years ago in a car crash. As Harry proceeds, he finds the "Lighthouse" is actually Dr. K's clinic.
At this point, it is revealed that the patient in the therapy segments is not Harry, but in fact a twenty-five-year-old Cheryl. Harry enters the Lighthouse office, and Cheryl now realizes that the fragments of conflicting memories are in fact false recollections based on her childhood memories. The last scene of the game varies according to the psychological profile of the player. Cheryl may reconcile herself to the death of her father (either by accepting it or by rejecting him entirely), or decide to continue to believe that her father is alive. She is shown meeting with her mother Dahlia in the parking lot. The game ends with old home videos from Cheryl's camcorder.
Four variations of this video are available based on the player's actions as Harry, reflecting the traits of Harry with his family while he was alive. All videos begins with the footage from the beginning of the game, when the video is abruptly overwritten with another recording. If Harry was focusing on finding Cheryl and was caring during the course of the game, the video shows Harry packing his luggage in a car while Cheryl records. Harry tells Cheryl not to blame herself for the divorce and that he and Dahlia will always love Cheryl and the video ends. This ending is known as "Love Lost". If Harry was focusing more on alcohol, the video shows a drunk Harry outside his house yelling at Cheryl and demanding another beer. The video ends with Harry complaining that he is drinking because of his family. This ending is called "Drunk Dad". If Harry was focusing more on women and sexual intercourse, the video shows Harry flirting on his bed with Lisa and Michelle. They ask whether Harry would dedicate his next book to them and Harry responds by saying that he does that only to his wife and daughter to only be fair. This ending is named "Sleaze and Sirens". If Harry was a slacker during the game, the video shows Dahlia slapping him. This ending is called "Wicked and Weak". A joke ending can be obtained if Harry takes a photograph of thirteen UFOs
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
scattered through the game. In this ending, Cheryl tells Dr. K that she believes Harry was kidnapped by extraterrestrials, and that Silent Hill was built on a spaceship. At this point of the game, James Sunderland from Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror video game published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo...
breaks into the clinic, in order to discover that his appointment was on the next day. Soon after, Cheryl turns into a dog while Dr. K turns into an extraterrestrial.
Development
Plans for a Silent Hill remake, and rumours related to the project, were circulating as early as 2006 with the idea of a remake based on the Silent Hill filmSilent Hill (film)
Silent Hill is a 2006 horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary. The story is an adaptation of the Silent Hill series of survival horror video games created by Konami. The film, particularly its emotional, religious and aesthetic content as well as its creature design,...
. The idea of a remake was also considered early in the development of the prequel game Silent Hill: Origins.
Rumours of a remake persisted into 2009, and were seemingly confirmed the following month when the British Board of Film Classification
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
re-rated the game. The game was officially announced in the May 2009 issue of Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
. Climax Studios
Climax Group
Climax Group is a British independent video game development company. It was founded by Karl Jeffery in 1988 and is based in Portsmouth, Hampshire....
, the studio behind Silent Hill: Origins, developed Shattered Memories with a development team made up of more than 55 team members and a supporting network of more than 90 artists.
Series vocalist Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is an American voice actress, ADR director, writer, and singer best known for her extensive English-language dubbing of various anime, and her singing in multiple games from the Silent Hill series, as well as the movie adaptation and Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME. She has...
was a guest at Otakon 2009
Otakon
Otakon is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku...
where she announced at her Friday Q & A panel that she was made a co-director for Shattered Memories voice acting and that there will be "one of a kind bonus stuff" that she could not reveal at the time.
Audio
The music in Shattered Memories was once more composed by Akira YamaokaAkira Yamaoka
is a video game composer, sound designer, sound director, and video game producer who worked for Konami since 1993 until his resignation in 2009. He is best known for creating the music in the Silent Hill series; he also worked as a sound director and producer on the series as well as serving as a...
, and was his final contribution to the Silent Hill
Silent Hill
is a survival horror video game series consisting of seven installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, have been developed by an internal factor, Team Silent...
series before he retired from Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
after 16 years. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is an American voice actress, ADR director, writer, and singer best known for her extensive English-language dubbing of various anime, and her singing in multiple games from the Silent Hill series, as well as the movie adaptation and Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME. She has...
provided the vocals for four songs in the game: "Always on My Mind
Always on My Mind
"Always on My Mind" is an American country music song by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, originally recorded by Brenda Lee in 1972.Allmusic lists over 300 recorded releases of the song in versions by dozens of performers...
", "When You're Gone", "Acceptance" and "Hell Frozen Rain", and Joe Romersa
Joe Romersa
Joseph M. Romersa is an American song writer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, sound engineer and vocalist....
returned for the fifth time to provide lyrics for three of the songs, excluding "Always on My Mind", which is a cover. GameStop
GameStop
GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...
also offered a pre-order official soundtrack which contained 21 tracks from the game.
| Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Soundtrack | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. |
"Always on My Mind" "When You're Gone" "Searching the Past" "Childish Thoughts" "Hostility" "Snow Driven" "Hibernation" "Devil's Laughter" |
5:09 3:10 2:27 1:29 2:10 1:54 2:27 2:06 1:51 |
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. |
"Lost Truth" "Another Warm Body" "Forsaken Lullaby" "Lives Wasted Away" "Blackest Friday" "Endless Depths" "Different Persons" |
2:47 2:34 1:49 1:42 1:40 1:53 1:40 1:26 2:26 |
19. 20. 21. |
"Ice" "Acceptance" "Hell Frozen Rain" |
2:53 3:38 5:34 |
||||||||||||||
Reception
A demo was available to play at the E3 2009Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009, commonly known as the E3 2009, was the 15th Electronic Entertainment Expo held. The event took place on June 2, 3, and 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. E3 is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment...
. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game three "Best of E3" awards in the Wii category for best overall game, best adventure game and best graphics technology. Shattered Memories also won best Wii game from GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
in their "E3 2009 Editors' Choice Awards".
Metacritic has scored the game 79, based on 56 reviews. Game Rankings average the game at 79, based on 44 reviews.
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
gave the game an 8.0 out of 10, praising the game's immersion and puzzle elements but criticizing the "reduced emphasis on horror" and expressing disappointment with the chase sequences, concluding that while "it may not be the unqualified success we were hoping for, Shattered Memories proves an audacious and ultimately compelling experiment." IGN gave the game an 8.6 out of 10, lauding the game's atmospheric use of a flashlight, terrifying chase sequences and departure from the Silent Hill formula while criticizing it for its short length and lack of monster variety. GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
awarded the game an 8.5 out of 10, praising the flashlight and motion controls, but were disappointed by the lack of combat and potentially frustrating chase sequences. About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
gave the game a 4/5, calling the chase sequences frustrating and stating that the framing therapy scenes undercut the "trapped in a nightmare" feel of previous Silent Hill games. Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb is an American video game website and wiki that includes gaming news, reviews, commentary, and video, created by former GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis in collaboration with Whiskey Media...
gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, citing the intuitive use of the Wii remote and how it was incorporated into the usage of the phone in game. The game also received their Best Wii Game of 2009 award, as well as their Best Ending of 2009 award. Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game an 86% score saying that "It's a shame that it's so short, otherwise this is easily one of the best games on the Wii."
Some reviewers were more critical. X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
gave the game a 2/5, and Adam Sessler
Adam Sessler
Adam Donovan Sessler is co-host of X-Play on G4 with Morgan Webb and, as of December 17, 2008, editor-in-chief of G4's game content for the network. He is the only remaining television personality from the G4's origin network ZDTV.-Background:Sessler was born in Berkeley, California...
said of the game's lack of combat and trial and error gameplay, "It's not really survival horror... so much as tedious bullshit."
GameZone
GameZone
GameZone is an American multiplatform video game website. GameZone's daily coverage includes reviews, previews, news, hints & cheats, and editorials. Additionally, GameZone offers downloads, a child-targeted website and in association with GameStop, hosts GZGameShop, an online retailer...
's Louis Bedigian gave it a 6.5/10, saying "As an interactive story, Shattered Memories is deep and memorable. The music is unfathomable; if there's ever been a composer who understands the true meaning of survival/horror music, it's Akira Yamaoka. But unless you're a newcomer searching for something that's barely challenging and is only marginally horrific, Shattered Memories is best experienced as a one-time rental."
The European and Australian PAL releases for the three platforms were originally scheduled to be March 4, 2010; however, the Australian PAL Wii version release was delayed until June due to European supply problems caused by the economic effects of the 2010 volcanic eruption
2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull were volcanic events at Eyjafjöll in Iceland which, although relatively small for volcanic eruptions, caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional localised disruption...
in Iceland. Furthermore, major retailers struggled to confirm available copies of the game for several months after the delayed release, potentially damaging initial sales of the game in Australia.