Shattered Memories producer interview

[A-J]

read the full interview here

Destructoid: Some series fans complained that Silent Hill: Homecoming focused too heavily on action and that playing in the role of Alex Shepard made gamers feel "too capable" when it came to combat. Did this factor into your decision to remove combat from Shattered Memories? If not, what brought the team to the decision to remove it?

Tomm: We've been hard at work on Shattered Memories for a long time, so it was not a direct reaction to any feedback from Homecoming. But, we have noticed that a lot of recent survival horror games have started focusing far more on action than "survival." (This is not a knock at anyone, Silent Hill is just as guilty.) Really, they're action games with ickier monsters. Running low on ammo happens in any game with guns -- it's not unique to the horror genre. So we wanted to step back, clean the slate, and go back to the roots of what makes a "survival horror" game. How would we scare the player? What would we allow them to do, etc etc. To that end, we did not "remove" combat. We built a game where the action is not about killing monsters.

[James]

I think some people will be more interested in this, if you ask me...

Destructoid: The famous Pyramid Head was once thought to be exclusive to Silent Hill 2, but he's since made an apperance in Homecoming, so some would consider the character free to appear in any SH title. Will he appear in Shattered Memories? If not, is there a reason the team chose not to include him?

Tomm: I subscribe to the idea that Pyramid Head was unique to James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2. He's not just some guy who walks around with a big knife. I think if anyone was going to use Pyramid Head again, they would need a really good reason, and they would have to let him serve some kind of purpose. He was a heavy thematic character in SH2, and less so in SHH or the movie. Without the emotional ties to James, he loses his impact and is just a cheap scare, and that's doing a disservice to such an iconic character.

[A-J]

well atleast they're tuned in with what the fans say.

[LVL100 Merchant]

Fuck this game. I was largely on board until Harry ended up having some state-of-the-art cellphone/camera/GPS contraption. The producer of this game has no place criticizing what Double Helix may have done with Homecoming with the bullshit going on in Shattered Memories, especially when Climax's last Silent Hill game featured nothing but a lame Pyramid head rip-off.

[Mr_Zombie]

What's wrong with the iPhone like cellphone idea? I think that, if done well, it's a good idea. At least the character won't be for the n'th time picking radio for unknown reason ("huh? a radio?").

And yes, Climax may have used a PH rip-off, but at least they have tried and: a) created a new monster that resembles Pyramid Head and not just ripped him straight off the movie and b) the Butcher at least had connection to the story and main character unlike PH in Homecoming who appears twice during the game and no one really knows why and how.

[A-J]

the cellphone isn't a bad idea, the camera obscura worked didn't it ? this is supposed to function in a somewhat similar fashion.

[LVL100 Merchant]

What's wrong with the iPhone like cellphone idea? I think that, if done well, it's a good idea. At least the character won't be for the n'th time picking radio for unknown reason ("huh? a radio?").

And yes, Climax may have used a PH rip-off, but at least they have tried and: a) created a new monster that resembles Pyramid Head and not just ripped him straight off the movie and b) the Butcher at least had connection to the story and main character unlike PH in Homecoming who appears twice during the game and no one really knows why and how.

The Butcher was useless as well. He also only appeared twice unless you got the bad ending. And no, they didn't try and create a new monster because otherwise they wouldn't have ended up with a Pyramid Head rip off.

The cellphone/GPS/camera thing betrays the fundamentals of the Silent Hill protagonists not having technology they can rely upon. The prospect of Harry marking off his destination on his GPS or taking pictures of ghosts with a digital camera seems incredibly silly.

Also, the Camera Obscura worked because it is THE crux of the entire Fatal Frame series; it's what the series is about. It's the primitive and antique design of the Camera Obscura that makes it more mysterious and less of something the player can relate to, and makes it more unsettling that you rely upon and trust so an object you know so little about and have never used before. Anyone playing these games nowadays can relate to a digital camera and a cellphone. I wouldn't be entirely against a camera being used more prominently in a Silent Hill game, but here's a digital camera and GPS combo with what looks like touchscreen capabilities. That's fucking ridiculous.

It's also part of what I dislike about RE4 and 5. I don't give them as much crap about it because Resident Evil has always had technology as a backdrop and I never found the series that scary anyway, but it's silly that Leon has a grappling hook on his belt or that Chris has a touchscreen video communicator GPS thing.

But ultimately, Shattered Memories just seems like a waste. A remake of the original Silent Hill has always been a dream of mine and the game betrays the original so greatly the creators even admit it's not canon; what's the point then? If you're not going to honor the original in such a that it can coexist with your project, why not just make a new game? That's my biggest gripe. I'd be more forgiving if Climax hadn't decided to completely rework something they have no intention of staying true to. I get that it's a remake, or a "re-imagining" as they're calling it, shouldn't be exactly the same as its source. However, it just goes over my head that instead of instilling of these ideas and features into a brand new game, they're using an older one as backdrop and they're not doing it any sort of justice.

[Rombie]

The Butcher was exactly as the guy states... basically Climax's way of creating an enemy in the vein of Pyramid Head but one that was unique to the games protagonist, akin to the idea that Pyramid Head =/= James. It came off cheap at the time I originally played Origin's, but given then Homecoming's blatant put the actual movie one in the game thing for no reason, I'm far happier with Origin's at least putting a different enemy in as an attempt.

Additionally at least Origin's felt like a Silent Hill title as we know it... Homecoming meanders while it trys to work out what to plunder from the earlier games and the movie... and what to try and make new, and very little of that new stuff is any quality.

I can only agree that I think it's a waste and the sense that they would be better transporting everything to a new game overall however.

[BLSR1]

I like how the Butcher never outright chased you, and you only fight him at the very end.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

The time when you see him through the peephole freaked me out

[missvalentine]

We have noticed that a lot of recent survival horror games have started focusing far more on action than "survival." (This is not a knock at anyone, Silent Hill is just as guilty.) Really, they're action games with ickier monsters. Running low on ammo happens in any game with guns -- it's not unique to the horror genre.

YES!!! I agree totally, and i think it's awesome what there doing with this by taking out the combat like this.