Silent Hill: Shattered Memories [Wii/PSP]

Playtime so far 55mins, was gonna wait til darkness fell tonight but I couldn't wait.
Presentation is very nice, at start plays like a VHS home movie straight into the intro. Game starts you off in psychologists room for therapy in first person view, since the game changes according to the q&s you give, multiple playthrough will be welcome. On second visit you § get asked about family, he gives you a picture to colour in of a family when you do this when your back in silent hill your house is the colour you made it in picture. § I was impressed with that.
My wife was watching it with me and when introduced the enemies panic ensued, you have to run. This seems simple at first but you then realise whilst being chased and fleeing through doors, sometimes you run around in circles and that makes you panic more, really works very well IMO.
Just about to hit work and can't wait to play more.
Also am playing on US Wii fully updated with updated HBC also, it works fine BUT in the manual it does say there is an update on disc. I updated HBC few weeks ago before I updated Wii and it has been fine.
Doing this on ps3 pad at mo so will post more later and answer any question but so far personally this one is doing a lot right in the silent hill direction.

if you die, do you get 'last door you entered' continues or 'last save'?

Given the low light and maze like conditions of the monster sections it could be a chore if you keep having to reload it from 5 minutes back.

Is the running away from enemies part of the game fun, a chore or just gash? I'm reading mixed reviews on that apsect of the game. One review said that it was pants or to that effect.

Literally about to sit down with it again, midnight is almost apon me.
I was liking the running away side of it, so far feels like you cant even hide from them especially after the first encounter§ I ran into a locker, they all walked past me and nothing happened, then very suddenly and bloody fast one of them ripped me out of the locker causing me to yelp in horror, flashing on screen instructions telling me to use the wii+nunchuck to shake them off motion style. §So you literally have to escape, always found it a little bit tense in other silent hills when you run out of ammo or have no weapon to hand and you see a nurses in backgorund or tiny evil babies, If it were me I would be shitting myself and running away sharpish, this does makes you feel a bit more vulnerable and human.
Pushing down on the d-pad is horrible too when your being chased, that lets you peek over your shoulder and whilst running it's not nice seeing 3 monsters behind you chasing you.
Can imagine maybe if the chase hub levels get larger it may get annoying running around in circles, as you can't stop for quick map reference they literally catch up to you, so we shall see if it grates later. I haven’t died yet, so will give that a go and report back on save/continues.
It is worth noting though you can save anywhere via your mobile, so no more old 'halo of the sun' save points dotted around, just whip out your phone and save anytime/anywhere.
Also the camera function on your phone is a good idea it acts as a bridge between timelines/silent hills and can see what is not there, actually pretty creepy. The first time you use it § you take a picture of a swing on a playground, when you take the picture Cheryl appears on it in real time, literally you lift it up the camera nobody on swing, put the swing into the cameras focus and she is sitting on it, very creepy but very cool. § Cant wait to use that more, hopefully for more spooks later on.

Cheers. Yeah I saw that peer-over-the-shoulder mechanic. Looks ace. Does it get disorientating when you're running in one direction with the camera switching to behind (by pressing the dpad)?

Be aware Family Fry that there's apparently a game glitch which will corrupt/delete your save file which a few people have encountered over on NeoGAF. It involves taking a picture with your phones camera at a certain point in the game when you shouldn't. (as in you shouldn't to avoid the bug). Of course I can't verify this for certain but it's more of a be wary than anything else.

I copied the post from NeoGAF and spoilered it:

§ So, played for hours. Got to the school. Loving pretty much every minute. Planning on doing a straight run through...

and then it glitches out on me.

I'm in a corridor in the school. I have no icon on screen. I can't aim my flash light about but i can turn it on and off. I can't run. I can't bring up my phone to save or anything. I can't hit A to interact with anything and don't get the prompt to.

I can slowly walk around, but I can't do anything at all.

so I sigh. reset the game, hoping, PRAYING that it auto saves occasionally.

it doesn't.

i will start over again another day. so so annoying.

you might consider what i'm about to write a spoiler, but honestly, I'm writing it to warn anyone from causing the same glitch I did.

when coming down the stairs in the school, and seeing the shadowy ghostly looking thing, DO NOT, i repeat do not pull out your phone to try and get a picture of it.

i did. when i put away the phone, everything was as i just described.

it's annoying because i don't know if i should do everything the same again (ie try and make all the same decisions, look at all the same stuff) or not. i was enjoying it so much too.

grargh.

my ability to cause scripting errors is unsurpassed. i should have known better and been saving.

so, that pile of crap aside i have to say this: the atmosphere is amazing. the exploration is great. i love the chases (as predicted) mainly because of how confusing the environments are and how feeble your map is in that situation.

i love making my own notes and scribbling on my own blocked streets. i love the phone stuff. i love the wii mote stuff.

i love all the side stories you find, reminds me of the Walter Sullivan stuff in SH2, but there's a lot more of it. some of it is really disturbing. what i picked up of Pigtails is really ****ing freaky. §

And someone else wrote:

§ I got the same glitch, I was pretty far in the shcool too. Opened the phone to look at some photos and got a prompt saying the data was corrupted and I got stuck just as you described. I had saved many times before, but the game just deleted my save file. I'm so pissed right now. §

Lucky I didn’t encounter that and thank you for the warning though.
4 hour 40min later and it's time for bed.
What I have played so far up to now makes for a very bleak silent hill, in a good way I am certainly putting it up there with the best of them.
The game is genuinely spooky, the text/voicemail messages you receive really pad the back story and history of what has gone on before, seems like it's all falling into place nicely but I still can't predict where the story is gonna go.
Also you can make phone calls to all assortment of numbers dotted around and listen through your wii mote, love this feature.

As for the chase encounters they are not that bad at all, probably because in about the 4-5 that I have done they are about less than 5mins long, so your not aimlessly running around for ages trying to get to end, most of them now have a puzzle attached to the end where you get into a locked room and have to crack the puzzle, other than that it's literally a mad dash to exits to find the way out. Some really nice scenes in this game too, voice work is very good and it plays host to an incredible stand out moment which has to be experienced, fantastically atmospheric and claustrophobic all in the same brilliant scene.
I am VERY impressed with this game, Climax have done a fantastic job on it and this one truly deserves praise. Only thing am a bit gutted about is the soundtrack isn't Silent Hill enough some nice little tunes but feels like it takes a back seat too often, odd.
Oh and looking over your shoulder doesn’t become disorientating at all cause the transition is fast and it doesn’t mess up your controls so you are always running in the correct direction. Also when you die you simply get put back to the nightmare checkpoint, this has happened a few times and it's not frustrating as you kinda know where to go second time around and can avoid the bad guys.
Anyways I will be glad when some other people can get in on the action and start talking about this, a fantastic Silent Hill game well worth the import don't wait til Feb get it now!

Clocked it just now, in at about 7hour+ mark or just a little over.
End section is extremely well done and I feel the payoff was fantastic, very different from previous Silent Hills, still the way it is handled is fantastic. I was like feels like the first time in a long time since I have pulled a ooo at an ending.
Ending spoiler ahead, SERIOUSLY If you are going to AT ALL play this I would stay away from it, even reading it won't do it justice as it feels like a long journey and the ending is the payoff.
§ To see yourself walkthrough the psychologists door, as Dr Kaufman is talking to you on the chair BUT he then calls you Cheryl and tells you to let go of your father. Only then you realise the person in the pyschologist office that's been answering all the questions since the start is a grieving Cheryl and not a memory hazy Harry. She hasnt come to terms with her fathers death from when she was a young girl and has created a father figure who is searching for her, wants to be a father to her, it's very nicely done and it works very well. Fact is she is confronted with him and has to say goodbye, I felt I was also saying goodbye too as your journey as Harry is over, he slowly turns to ice and shatters. Also a very special mention to the frozen lake part just before the reveal/ending, you have to use the Wiimote+Nunchuck in swimming storkes to swim to the lighthouse for the ending, it reminded me of the hammering X(?) on MGS4, when you really are trying to get to through the microwaves and the end is in sight. Same applies here you can see the lighthouse shining and you want to get to it, your literally swimmig using your arms trying to make it to the end, yet another well executed scene will be very memorable. §
Very, very nicely done and big thumbs up to Climax for all of this.
Have started new game but not liking the fact as soon as I got my phone out and went to take picture it corrupted the save...... Do Wii games ever get patched?
Think it may have something to do with the pictures on the camera phone not being deleted, pictures were still on phone from 1st playthrough when I tried to load up the camera to take picture, it flashed up corrupted data.
Did notice a section I had never been in on first playthrough straight away, so it may possibly unlock new areas on second playthrough, which gives you a new point of view, also you can answer the question differently to evoke a different spin on it all I would assume, I will give it another go see what I can dig out

You still going through a second playthrough, Fry?

Oh aye. Game is buggered though can't save any more pictures to camera phone or delete them if I go to delete it corrupts, not good at all. Can still take pictures and that is all that’s needed to trigger events.

So far on second playthrough I have answered a few questions differently on the psychology bits and I'm already seeing a change in the main characters attitude, he seems more aggressive this time round. Also had different scene completely when visiting the house on second bit § originally when I visited Harry seemed worried that Cheryl had been taken in by this couple, Harry doesn’t believe they are living in what he thinks is his house, you make a scene and the Officer Bennett comes over. In the new scene the couple apologized that their daughter Katie had been prank calling people and it was a mistake, you still make a small scene and then they close the door on you, Harry then sits on steps until Bennett come. §

So I'm happy that I'm seeing a difference, maybe because it's still fresh on my mind from first playtrhough. I'm hearing there is a UFO ending too so will be going for that when I can, think I will enjoy giving it a few runs bit like I did with Dead Space simply enjoying the atmosphere of it all.
Credit for the voice work and the script is pretty solid, voice cast are all very good too.