A Silent Hill on the Wii is sure to stir up a lot of controversy, from Wii owners who are dying to play the classic horror franchise on their consoles to Playstation purists who are furious to see this "reimagining" come to life. More details from the issue of Nintendo Power have emerged, and there are some pretty major changes according to what we're reading. Here's what you can look forward to from Silent Hill: Shattered Memories:
-Harry is moved using the control stick, the Wii remote is used to aim the flashlight
-When you look at something Harry will vocally respond
-No load times
-The Wii remote acts as your cell phone, and the static noise comes out of the Wii remote speaker
-Combat has been removed from the game, you can only flee
-When the monsters chase you the Z button will allow you to break through doors, climb fences, through windows etc.
The control scheme sounds more or less what I would expect, and the no load times thing is great to hear. I don't know how I feel about combat being entirely removed from the title, as part of the helplessness that made the original game so good was feeling as if your weapons were less than sufficient, but having to use them anyway. I'm not sure if I want to spend the majority of the game running. And how am I going to fight a boss -- run around them in circles until they get dizzy and fall down?
Let's hope there's some misunderstanding in the wording here. I don't mind a creative take on Silent Hill, but since this game is directly related to the first Silent Hill, I have to admit I'm feeling a little sensitive about having it dicked around with. Could no combat be a good thing, in your opinion?
[Via GoNintendo]
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Contest:
11:40 AM on 04.02.2009
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I'd buy it regardless.
After all, wasnt the appeal of the Silent Hill franchise always supposed to be about how they were pretty much the only "survival horror" game to ever evoke actual dread? I mean, I even enjoyed the movie version tbh because you got the feeling very quickly that no amount of weaponry could possibly help the poor lady.
-less than sufficient
...wat? The original Silent Hill had some of the most broken weapons in the series. The Pipe and Fire Axe were so powerful and so good that almost nothing was a real threat to you if you had to break down and fight. The only big threats came form not being able to see, rather than not being able to defend yourself.
SH3 was the one with the worthless weapons.
That said, my theme for today is "give me options", so to have the option to fight be removed from the game leaves me feeling frowny. Like Colette said, why not give us the option to fight, and find out for ourselves that it's not going to work?
Part of overcoming the fear is knowing that you are able to fight back.
I'll skip this game, thanks.
The genre is certainly decaying.
@Jonathan Holmes, but Fatal Frame is Fatal Frame and Haunting Ground is Haunting Ground... part of what people liked about Silent Hill included the combat. Just sayin'
If Yamaoka is still behind this, I'm all for it. His input and music is what makes the game.
I found Silent Hill 4's unkillable ghost enemies annoying to no end, mostly because they didn't give you a satisfactory way of dealing with them (those 4 sword items you find in the game that pin them to the ground were lousy and only worked on certain ghosts). I think if they took a more stealth style gameplay approach that gives you plenty of options for sneaking past/hiding from enemies this could be great.
As for bosses... I can't really say. It probably wouldn't be too hard to have boss fights be puzzles themselves, several games have managed boss fights without weapons (the Penumbra series has some great examples of this.) I also hope this is a sign that they're trying to bring back some of the adventure game-style feel that the original had (especially with puzzles.)
Though I groaned when I heard about this at first, the fact that they seem like they're making changes to the gameplay and the story that go beyond the usual fan wankery and ho hum gameplay additions that the recent US-made SH titles embody is promising.
Look, yes, games look prettier now, but they lose their appeal when they don't wisen up with age. And that's been the case for most games over the last few generations. We make them *look* realistic, but we don't spend any time actually letting you have the freedom to do stuff in the game's world, so all you have in the end is a game with pretty scenery that you can't interact with.
That is what I hate more than anything. I'd rather my game immerse me by giving me a realistic world I can INTERACT with, not blow their wad on making it look "real" and bore me to tears because I can't do anything with the environment, stuck on a set path, with no freedom to go from Point A to Point B how I please.
I know I got long-winded, but it's about time the damn genre branched out. It's long overdue.
I'm glad this "re-imagining" is going to be vastly different from other Silent Hill games. If they're going to make a new Silent Hill, they might as well take some risks with it. If the risks don't pan out, that's OK. I still have all the other Silent Hill games to revisit if I want that old Silent Hill feeling.
If this no combat thing doesn't work, it wont be because it's not "Silent Hill" enough, it will be because it just not fun.
I run from my problems enough in real life... they can't make me run from my problems in videogames now too!!!
Makes it more horror-y, less 'oh, a huge demon, good thing I have my board-with-nails-in-it...'
The crowd just chose its new "RE5" to nitpick. Seriously, there's way to much bitching about everything. Why do you people think that game designers have to be constrained by the ideas YOU perceive as good? You would expect the gaming community would be the ones more adept to experimentation and designer creativity.
I think the problem most of you are having is you are picturing a game where the monsters work like SH1-4 but you're no longer able to fight against them. This will not be the case, no combat means the enemies in the game will work very differently from enemies in other games. It's not like in mario where you either stomp the goomba or not. In this game, I imagine each monster you come across will be intricate to the story or environment. Honestly, the promise of no combat has me excited. =)
ugghhh... If there is one thing i can not stand, it's reimaginings. It's just an arrogant attempt to cash in on the nostalgia of older gamers while having the balls to claim that its a new title.
5 reasons why this game will suck.
1: Its a reimagining, translating into the developers not giving a shit about the cannon and just slapping together a bad hodgepodge of setpieces from the first game. Which mean that those balless wonders will find a way to shove pyramid head into it.
2: stupid gameplay ideas that are obvious attempts to cash in on the non gamer market. only fleeing, what the fuck is that? there is a reason why clock tower is not popular.
3: It's on wii. nothing against the console, but it raises my shovelware flag whenever i hear the name.
4: waggle and quick time events, you know some smarmy ass producer is going to want it in there.
5: All these changes to source material in order to sell a new experience makes me reel from the arrogance of the matter.
Furthermore, the retard motherfrakkers who are putting this walking travesty together are going to have to be carefull not to screw this shit up or I swear to god that I will have a psychotic breakdown and chase them down and cut their god damn hands off with a rusty fork. Lets see them flee from that scenario.
There are game series you do not FUCK with me on, and thats Black and White, Silent Hill and Oddworld.
This unbelievable piece of shit just comes across as an insult to gamers, fans and horror aficianados in general.
Yeah, you'd think we WOULD be open to things being changed up. I just rolled my eyes when everyone bitched about RE4 and 5 for changing things, when I was perfectly happy for Capcom trying to change things up instead of slapping the same old game together.
That's what really kills me: People bemoan a company when they keep doing the same thing, and then bitch when they try to do something different. Creativity requires growth and maturity, and if you don't at least try to grow, then your creativity becomes stagnant.
I just hate how games insult my intelligence so much, even though they try to make them look real. I always hated that on Silent Hill as it went along. All the doors locked, and I'm essentially on a set path that I can't deviate from. The appeal of the first game was that gradually you got some leeway to at least explore the damn town. But I welcome a change that allows the player to have the freedom to navigate the town and its environs as the player sees fit. This game could be absolutely amazing if they just employ some common sense into it.
In fact, most games would be better off if the developers spent some time doing that instead of just making the game look good.
they have some good ideas, i just wish it didn't have silent hill in the title
if only there was combat ><
I am neither hardcore nor casual.I'm a gamer and I own a Wii.
Sure I am buying this game.
might still be interesting
My big issue with it is that it seems to be 'modernizing' it, making cybil into a cold ice queen super model character thats decked out like she gonna raid a fucking meth lab. The original game took place in 1978 for christ's sake, the most awesome goddamn decade in the history of man, why do you have to change that. (the original creator has a fondness for period pieces, look at shadow of memories early 1900s, silent hill 1978, siren 1973, and silent hill 2 1980s)
Why is it that americans think they need to remake every god damn thing and think they can do it better. It really pisses me off. look at rec and quarantine, godzilla, let the right one in, the host, sanford and son, the office, state of play, dr who. ehh fuck they'll never learn, and most of all THE WICKER MAN.
and for a shot of the americanized cybil shepard, go looking around goNINTENDO for a bit, you'll find it.
My prediction, this retarded idea is going to go down as The Wicker Man of Gaming.
Wh...at?
o_o
Well, I don't know. I'll still give it a shot. The only Silent Hill game I spent a lot of time with was the second one, and the combat system in that game was broken in my opinion.
I suppose if SH were real, I wouldn't want to stick around and fight the creatures, anyway, huh? I still this this is kinda weird, but I'm still excited.
*knuckle-touch Holmes*
awesome
Alessa is going to be so pissed.
This is not a movie. Movies get away with it because at the end of the day, you can not affect the hero/heroine so you must feel for them and their inability to defend themselves properly is what builds sympathy for the character. I feel that if the option was removed in the game it would just be frustrating to ask you to play a fully capable 20-30 year old guy who wouldn't be able to defend himself. The fight or flight drive might tell you that when surrounded by supernatural horrors, the best bet may be to run, but do you remember the tension of silent hill 2? You only had to face one enemy in the entire game before the first boss fight. One fleshbeast to get the radio, then you can dodge your way to pyramid head in the apartment building, and do you remember when you realized that you were not only forced to face pyramid head, but also the weapons you had were completely useless? That created a tension unrivaled in games before or since.
Silent Hill derives its scares from psychological tension and the feeling of desperation that while you can fight back, you are ultimately helpless and trapped in a place were it seems even the environment wants you to fail.
Also, don't remake a game if you want to fuck with it so much. I know they're like "oh, its a new game" well then make it a new game. I don't want to play silent hill one without it being silent hill one. Change the story, and silent hill fans will still play it and be not only disappointed in the new game, but it will save them from being pissed off that they fucked up a classic.
Also radio/static from your hand = omg.