I feel as though the horror genre and its conventions underwent a distinct metamorphosis of the past three years. What are you impressions of the genre from past to present, and where does Shattered Memories fit in the spectrum?

When horror games were feeling things out, there was a wide range of “feelings,” just like in horror films. You had your dumb zombie flicks, your slower burn horror, your slasher flicks, etc. Well, as I said, I think the focus now is on action. The games stopped being scary (because of their conventions) and so they changed from scary games into gorefests modeled after zombie movies (marines with big guns shoot slow, ugly monsters). There are some exceptions, of course, but there aren’t many horror games that let the atmosphere work on you and cause that unease that was a big part of the first Silent Hill games.

Shattered Memories definitely goes back to the “psychological” end of the spectrum. It’s not about shooting an ugly monster in the face with your shotgun. It’s about being uncertain. I equate it to Hitchcock a lot – I think that’s about where it’s at.

There is no right or wrong answer, but this may or may not be a trick question. Other than Shattered Memories, what is your favorite Silent Hill game?

Well there’s only ONE answer of course. Silent Hill 2 would be my favorite if we discount Shattered Memories. It’s probably not the scariest entry in the series (Pyramid Head notwithstanding), but its story is the most personal, I think. It’s also the game that “explains” Silent Hill, and what is happening there. A lot of people don’t realize that and focus on the events of 1... but SH2 is the game that really gets to the heart of the town, and what it all means.

We'd like to thank Tomm for taking the time to talk to us. Look for Silent Hill Shattered Memories on November 3rd on Wii, PS2, and PSP.

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you