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Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Review
9 out of 15
Everything but the immersion.
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Author: Brandon "Happy Family" Cackowski-Schnell

Of course if you didn't find the running sequences in the Wii version scary then this is a moot point, however you're far less apt to find them scary in this version. If the point of the game is to scare you, those sequences are the game's best shot. You quickly learn that if the game isn't iced over, nothing is going to hurt Harry although he'll certainly come across a bevy of disturbing images and voicemail messages. The non-iced sequences are filled with their fair share of dread but dread and white knuckle terror are entirely different things.

I'm of the opinion that survival horror games are a tough sell on any handheld console simply due to the smaller screen size and the need to wear headphones and possibly sit so that the light through the train window doesn't wash out the game's darker graphics. That's a lot for any narrative to overcome and make the player fear for their life. In a game like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories the immersion is crucial to giving the player the full experience and unfortunately, that experience doesn't come along with the game's other high points to the PSP. If you're into psychological thrillers and adventure games it's still worth playing however the game's running sequences may make you want to leave Harry and Cheryl to their snowy fates rather than solve the game's final mystery. If you can weather the running sequences though, you'll be treated to one of the better gaming stories in recent memories, even if you never break a nervous sweat while experiencing it.



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