Today is a somber one for me. The time has come, I believe, to officially lay to rest my favorite game series of all time: Silent Hill.
My first indicator came with the news that Akira Yamaoka was leaving Konami. From the release of the first Silent Hill in 1993 to the latest installment “Shattered Memories”, Yamaoka has been the man behind the music. More than anything else, even the foggy streets, his music always set the tone and atmosphere for me, taking seemingly simple melodies and turning them into something hauntingly beautiful such as “The Promise” from Silent Hill 2. The series simply will not be the same without him. The second reason for my mourning comes from the reviews for the abovementioned “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories”.
A scathing 6.5 from GameInformer magazine just about broke my heart. While I wasn’t particularly hopeful about the game, I had hoped it would be better received than Silent Hill: Homecoming but instead it seems to suffer from the same problems. Basically, it’s become mundane – always the same, dull story, controls, and objectives over and over again. Over the years, Silent Hill has lost its physiological edge and become a run-of-the-mill horror franchise. Now, all that being said, I will probably still check out “Shattered Memories” when the PS2 port is released in January . . . but I also may not.
Either way, here’s looking at you Henry, James, and Heather – you’ll be missed.
On a brief side note, Lynsey and I have our gamertags listed on our blog for a reason: we would love for you all add and play with us but please either send us an e-mail or a message on Xbox Live letting us know you’re from the blog and not spam. Thanks!
The Wii is where franchises go to die.
ReplyDeleteIt is very, very sad. I picked up the guide book out of curiosity while at the store the other day. It was about 30 pages long. I said "Ew." aloud and put it back down. It is actually too much to ask that the Wii be anything other than a gaming graveyard. T_T
"The Wii is where franchises go to die"
ReplyDeleteHa! That's so true . . . and sad. *sigh*
You ought to take a look at the Destructoid review, where it was given a 9.5:
ReplyDeletewww.destructoid.com/review-silent-hill-shattered-memories-wii--157608.phtml.
The site is down at the moment, but it's worth a look when it comes back. Mostly, it really is a true Silent Hill, unlike the feel of Homecoming. Reminicent of 1 and 2.
Shawn,
ReplyDeleteHoly crap! I 9.5?! That site needs to get back up so I can read this review! Hmm. Maybe there is hope. Thanks so much for sharing this with me - I don't know if I ever would have found it.
~ Cary