10 Video Game "Remakes" That Changed EVERYTHING
2. Silent Hill Shattered Memories
With the remake of Silent Hill 2 on the way looking so far quite faithful to the original, many asked why Konami didn’t reboot the long dormant franchise with a remake of the first game instead. As it stands, the original Silent Hill was revisited in 2009 with Shattered Memories.
Rather than merely update the game for the Wii, Shattered Memories takes advantage of the chance for a fresh playstyle. As Harry Mason explores Silent Hill for his missing daughter Cheryl, he enters an icy outworld where he is hunted by monsters in high-energy chases.
The game does away with combat entirely to emphasise panic and puzzle-solving and, interspersed throughout, are psychological evaluations that affect Harry’s journey and the people he meets.
The further into the story players go the broader the changes are with the final act, regardless of which ending you get, concluding with a vastly different outcome compared to the original.
As it stands, Shattered Memories is a big enough departure from the source material in both storyline and gameplay that it exists in a sort of “what if” universe.
Whilst reactions from fans were mixed at the time, Shattered Memories reviewed well. Time has been kind too, since with the decade without an entry in the franchise players have been less critical of its divergent narrative.