Developer: Climax Group
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Nintendo Wii
It’s never a good sign when something has to tell you how scary it’s supposed to be
Call it the Count Floyd rule. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories isn’t as desperate as SCTV’s horror movie host, but it’s less frightening than funny. It touts its psychological profiling of the player, but does it as hamfistedly as possible. You’ll take the occasional grade-school psychology exam, administered by a therapist who looks and talks like a soap-opera villain. This melodramatic emphasis on the dark and mysterious dominates the writing and voice acting, spoiling what could have been a good series reboot. The awkward combat and enemies of previous Silent Hills are gone, replaced with solving puzzles and running like hell from unbeatable phantoms. Your only tools are a flashlight and a cellphone, both of which make great use of the Wii’s unique motion controls. Too bad the story’s about as subtle as an episode of All My Children.