Silent Hill: Shattered Memories may just be my favorite Silent Hill game in the series. It's not really a REMAKE of the first Silent Hill but more of a Re Imagining that still carries similar themes and elements from the first game while still being radically different. 

   Like the first Silent Hill you play as Harry Mason as he wakes up from a car crash in the town of Silent Hill. With his daughter missing Harry goes looking for her no matter what gets in his way, including having to run for his life when the town turns into a hellish nightmare full of monsters looking to kill him. But all isn't as it seems in Silent Hill.

     Yes it's RADICALLY different but not too much to make you think it's "not a Silent Hill game". It's creepy throughout with dark and disturbing subject matter such as suicidal teens and abusive parents, and incredibly tense due to the fact that you have no weapons, and you can't kill any monsters, all you can do is run and hide, which I think is pretty realistic considering the world around you, and the idea that you wouldn't know what to do if this happened to you.

A great thing about it is the immersion, the Wii controls make you feel like you're in the game. You use the nunchuck to move and the Wiimote to point in the direction you want to go to, the immersion comes in the form of the Wiimote acting as a flashlight to guide your way as well as tons of actions in the game that mimic real life, such as opening a screen door or trying to escape a car. The immersion even goes to the point of having the Wiimote and it's speaker act as a cell phone in the game that can do all the things your cell phone in real life can do (minus going on the internet). The most immersive thing however is the fact that the game PSYCHOLOGICALLY PROFILES YOU. It even states that "The game plays you as much as you play it" and it does, it changes elements in the game and the ending based on not only your major choices but based on how you play the entire game, based on the little details. It's amazing and is an incentive for multiple play-throughs.

The gameplay takes on two different angles throughout the entire game. Unlike previous and future SH games, the puzzles and action are completely separate. When you start a new chapter you are usually just exploring and interacting with the world around you in order to find clues and eventually finding the exit. After this the world goes into an ice covered nightmare where you are forced to run and sometimes collect things while looking for the exit all whilst avoiding monsters that you CANNOT KILL. This may take the player some time to get used to especially since you can't kill anything, you can only run, hide, and throw off the monster that cling to you, but once you get the hang of it it's very enjoyable and nerve wrecking. Ever have a nightmare where you're being chased? This is like that. 

But the best part of the entire game I have to say is the acting and the story that has a lot of twists that are always keeping you guessing and re-evaluating what you thought you had figured out. The game also has multiple endings as I mentioned. The ending I got is my favorite ending I've ever seen to a video game. It honestly left me choked up and shaken.

If you like horror games or mystery games or are a Silent Hill fan then I HIGHLY recommend this game. I give it a "BUY IT". 5 stars. Better Than Sex, all that jazz.

- Chicago Bearded Video Game Player