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Re-imagined Silent Hill Announced

Posted by Soulskill on from the reboots-are-all-the-rage dept.

Konami has announced that a new Silent Hill game, titled Shattered Memories, is due out this fall for the Wii, PS2, and PSP. "While the game shares its twisting plot with the original PlayStation game, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories takes a different path in many, many ways. Characters can be approached but will offer different responses and be found in different places, while new clues and gameplay paths can be followed." The Wii version will make full use of the Wii Remote, taking the role of both phone and torch, as well as being used to "pick up, examine and manipulate items to solve puzzles along the journey." According to the Opposable Thumbs blog, the choice not to develop for the PS3 and Xbox 360 was due to the development costs associated with those consoles.

16 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Why re-imagine? by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The only reason to "re-imagine" an old product is to gain the loyal fanbase of the previous product. But if it is really such a departure from the old product, why not establish it as its own franchise? And if it isn't really such a departure, then why not just call it the latest version?

    What really fried my tomatoes was the way Battlestar Galactica "Re-imagined" totally crapped all over the original series. Whatever you want to say about the "story arc" or "quality of writing", it simply wasn't anything like the original Galactica. The only thing that tied it to the original series was the names of the characters. The rest, completely unrelated crap.

    So why not call it something else? If the concept is so good, take it out on its own. Don't try to leverage an old product and rape the memories of the fans of the original.

    1. Re:Why re-imagine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Whatever you want to say about the "story arc" or "quality of writing", it simply wasn't anything like the original Galactica.

      Thank the gods.

    2. Re:Why re-imagine? by Haeleth · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Oh, please. Retelling an existing story in a new way is something humans have been doing for as long as stories have existed! It's a basic practice of all cultures.

      Are you really going to argue that (for example) Shakespeare's Hamlet would have been better if he'd called it something different to avoid "raping" the memories of the fans of the previous Hamlet play he was reimagining?

      If you don't like the new version, the old version still exists. Your memory is only "raped" if you choose to mess with it yourself in your desperation to find something to be outraged about.

    3. Re:Why re-imagine? by pizzach · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Simple. When people hear re-imagened on a Nintendo console for a horror franchise from the PS side, they think of the Resident Evil remake which was incredible. Marketing really, using someone elses success as a spring board for your own.

      --
      Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
    4. Re:Why re-imagine? by fastest+fascist · · Score: 2, Informative

      Don't try to leverage an old product and rape the memories of the fans of the original.

      At least they're pretty honest about it: Silent hill: Shattered Memories

    5. Re:Why re-imagine? by j_166 · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Oh, please. Retelling an existing story in a new way is something humans have been doing for as long as stories have existed! It's a basic practice of all cultures."

      Yes, but bitching about those retellings of those existing stories is something humans have been doing for nearly just as long as stories have existed.

      Archaeologists have unearthed cave paintings in Altamira that were basically retellings of nearby existing cave paintings, but with minor details changed, such as the Star Deer being female instead of male, as it was in the original. There is also archaeological evidence that points to primitive screeds being carved by a caveman on pottery in the basement of his parents' cave that tells of how much better the original Altamira cave painting was, ending with a cryptic admonishment against the younglings that were apparently trespassing on the primitive patch of soft grass in front of the dwelling.

  2. Re:You must choose between by Thanshin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You're not re-imagining this correctly. That's Silent City and Raccoon Hill.

    You forgot Tom Clancy's Silent Racoon.

    Yes, the first mission is in Hill City.

  3. SH-Origins by valentingalea · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's from the guys that did the PSP/PS2 Silent Hill Origins... so don't expect much:(

    1. Re:SH-Origins by Walpurgiss · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They really should consider just making sure their Silent Hill PSX code runs right via PSN classic distribution, and then sell that for $5 or $10.

      It might even be cost effective, since the only cost would be Sony's tube tax, and a few guys to test it out and make some changes if necessary.

      Compared to a whole rewrite, including mob placements and plot adjustments, it should be dirt cheap.

    2. Re:SH-Origins by Sockatume · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not exactly. Origins was originally being developed by Climax Studios' LA branch, who were unceremoniously sacked around the game's original release date amidst rumours that the project was falling apart. It was brought across to Climax's UK branch, reworked over about 18 months, and published. So I have to wonder if they'll do better with a cleaner slate.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  4. Zack and Miri make a videogame by InsaneCreator · · Score: 2, Funny

    A re-imagining? With all male cast?

  5. Centralia Pennsylvania by Gnaythan1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I never played silent hill, but liked the imagery, and heard from someone it was based on a small town that had an underground coal mine catch fire.

    I did some research and found out such a place really existed. Ever since then, Centrailia Pennsylvania has fueled many of my role playing game settings. Appaerently it caught fire many years ago, and has been burning ever since.

    Wow.

    1. Re:Centralia Pennsylvania by Sockatume · · Score: 3, Informative

      The place with the coal fire was the inspiration for the movie (hence in that film it's smoke, not fog, everywhere), but not the game.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  6. Re:No combat in the game - point and click? by RogueyWon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Siren: Blood Curse on the PS3 has sections where the player controls characters who are completely unable to fight back. In many ways, Siren has taken over the mantle of the best traditional survival-horror series around, since Resident Evil became an action game and Silent Hill started to self-destruct with its fourth installment. What's interesting about the Siren games is that you control multiple characters for various sections of the game. Some are physically fit adults, who may even have experience with weapons, while others have disabilities, or are pre-teens, rendering them far more vulnerable to foes and entirely reliant upon either avoiding detection, or running away if spotted.

  7. No and no. by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 2, Informative

    Silent Hill officially ended with 3. That's when the creators decided to finish everything up and that was that. I see no reason to continue playing the series. I know other people play it for the horror atmosphere, but even then it took a nose dive when it was taken over by a different developer. I'm no fan of bringing back stories that the creators decided to finish or are unable to continue for some other reason. Say as a result of being hit by a truck for example..

    --
    I have nothing compelling to say
    1. Re:No and no. by djnforce9 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I have to agree with you there. Silent Hill 4 just felt outright different than the other 3 and I didn't find it as scary nor enjoyable (the invincible ghosts being one of the most annoying additions ever). The 5th installment I couldn't really try to its fullest extent because the PC version was ridden with audio bugs (e.g. sound being stuck in left channel only) ruining the scary atmosphere. It was also more "combat based" (including quick time events) rather than a being weak, helpless, and scared character like in Silent Hill 1-3. I have not tried silent hill origins though but I heard it was just more of the same (although it was nice to know how Silent Hill's current state originally came to be). It is kind of cool to have the original remade with what is likely a graphical upgrade (and of course new paths to keep things fresh). What made the original Silent Hill so scary was the "sound" but the graphics just couldn't deliver what the audio was building up towards (e.g. that hanging corpse at the end of the alleyway near the beginning is a good example of what I mean as it was not as horrifying as you would expect) due to the limitations of the PSX hardware. Since this is geared towards Wii, PS2, and PSP as opposed to PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, I won't expect a "high definition" remake but it'll certainly look better than the original version and could potentially scare you even more by providing more vivid visuals than what the PSX delivered