Reviewed by Andrew "PyGuy" Pyle

IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE
Before playing this game keep in mind that things have changed, as this is not a remake, but a full re-imagining of the first Silent Hill that first appeared on the nostalgic Playstation. Speaking of nostalgia, you will not feel much nostalgia throughout your second search for your daughter Cheryl. Now, speaking of Cheryl AND nostalgia, yes, the game IS about searching for your daughter after a car crash. It's a wild ride so come prepared! (By "come prepared", I mean shut off the light and put some headphones on, for the survival-horror genre's sake!)

A TWEAKED TALE
If you've never played a Silent Hill game, then you probably don't know what the heck I'm talking about. So I'll start from the beginning. Silent Hill is a dark, spooky journey that puts you in the shoes of Harry Mason, a casual guy (unlike the armed officers in Resident Evil) that gets into a car accident and finds out that his daughter Cheryl is missing. Take this and add the theme of psychology and you get Shattered Memories. Where does psychology come in? Well, in the beginning of the game and in several checkpoints in your mission, you go through virtual psychology sequences. Your psychologist is what makes this game different and what makes it interesting, like putting all the available toppings on your ice cream. The toppings are the hefty changes to the SH experience and the ice cream is what's left of 1999's horrors, to cleverly compare a scary game to ice cream. Anyway, before I build up a crave for ice cream, the psychologist meetings are how the game can psychologically profile you to "face your utmost fears". The psychologist ASKS that you answer truthfully, but you really don't have to. To keep the game from getting boring, you can answer his questions and do his activities differently to get surprising results when you get back to your search. In one instance, the psychologist asks you to pretend to schedule your perfect school day, giving you subjects like mathematics, gym, and even sexual education! For example choosing sex-ed and gym will most likely make people look at you like a sports-jock pervert. Once done, the game will shift back to Silent Hill-mode, reflecting upon your choices. It's like a personality quiz that constantly changes how the game plays, giving it some serious replay value (good thing ice cream doesn't need anything to have replay value...) This is well done and I'm on my third save as of now.
Overall score for STORY: 10


This man teaches you that not only good and evil are reflected upon in games.

THE DARK SIDE TO THIS REVIEW
Other than searching for Cheryl and talking to a psychologist, you're solving puzzles and not fighting, but running away from monsters. Yes, I said running away. No weapons of any sort throughout the game. This may sound disappointing, but this mechanic is pulled off quite masterfully. When hell freezes over (literally) in the vicinity, it's time to run because the monsters are coming. One disappointing thing to note (and get out of the way) is that there is no real variety in the monsters that pursue you. it's just a bunch of fast zombie things that look like they have been suffocated in duck skin (NOT what I want in my ice cream). It is scary in a way that it makes you tense up. You can't goof around. However, sometimes I feel more pissed-off than scared. Chase scenes can drag on more than they should at times when you don't have time to look at your cell phone map before these ruthless buggers tackle you.


Get them offa me!

Again, you heard me right! The game sports a cell phone that lets you stay in touch with the characters, take pictures, and even solve puzzles. When you hear static and your flashlight flickers, follow it. You might get an interesting or helpful voicemail or text message (sometimes you might get different messages during different playthroughs). When the cell phone is pulled out, you go into a walking first-person view as if you're holding a cell phone. Overall, this is a nifty addition to the Silent Hill gadget collection.
Overall score for GAMEPLAY: 9.0

BEAUTY BENEATH THE DARKNESS
Shattered Memories graphically is the best I've seen on a PSP or Wii. Harry Mason's familiar flashlight individually lights up the familiar snowflakes. On top of that, the framerate almost never dips other than the minor lag when going through a door. The shadowing is so well done that I don't feel like I'm playing PSP.
Overall score for GRAPHICS: 9.7

PYGUY'S PYVERDICT
Shattered Memories is a unique and more than welcome twist to the SH experience. It shines some light. Maybe Silent Hill isn't going downhill after all. We'll just have to wait for the next core SH game to prove so.

OVERALL: 9.5

Nice review, organized, and bonus screenshots.

450 Viz.