As Resident Evil before it, Silent Hill has gone through some serious ups and downs (though it may be hard mining for material to work with in a location known for absolute nothingness, there is no excuse for Silent Hill 4 : The Room).

Developer: Climax Studios
Genre: Survival Horror
ESRB: M
Number of players: 1
Publisher: Konami
Release Date: January 19th, 2010

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To fans of the series, one bad installment after another seemed like the direction this sleepy town’s story was headed. Like Weezer’s Blue Album, Silent Hill 2 was regarded by most as this sub-genre’s pinnacle of human achievement that has yet to be matched. With the bar set so unbelievably high, it shouldn’t be a surprise that nothing has really compared to the “I can’t sleep without the lights on” horror of James Sunderland’s last trip through small town hell. With that said, Silent Hill has really blossomed on the PSP.

Maybe it’s the difference between being huddled over the modest screen, headphones in, one-joystick playing style, as opposed to conventional console gaming. It adds an extra layer to the madness when the audio is right in your ear, or when the playability area is not large enough to see who’s chasing you. While I believe this contributes to the enjoyment (and why I chose to get Shattered Memories on PSP instead of the Wii [sorry Nintendo]), it really is the return to what made Silent Hill great that allows Shattered Memories to be so brilliant and fun.

The first Silent Hill for the PSP, Silent Hill : Origins, tells the story of a lonely trucker named Travis. His own horrible life, the worst parts trapped in his subconscious until wrecking his rig in Silent Hill, shape the town into the manic Nurse-inhabited hell hole we all know and love. Interesting, fun, and deeply disturbing, Origins invited the player back to the town and let them know that things were going to be cool again. Shattered Memories finds us hanging out with original protagonist Harry Mason, as well as most of the other characters from the first game, re-imagined for this installment.

The phone plays a huge part in Shattered Memories. Clunky at times, though it's interesting calling the various phone numbers scattered around the city, and it adds an extra layer to the creepiness.

Without giving too much away, Harry crashes his car, loses his daughter, and tries to find her in Silent Hill. While this sounds exactly like every other Silent Hill game (except for 4, which I’ve already explained is dead to me), Harry’s adventure is set apart by the fact that there’s no combat. None, whatsoever. There are definitely creepy alleyways and dark halls that I proceeded into with caution, but all of the enemies have been consigned to specific Dark Silent Hill times. Believe me, this is awesome. I understand that this is a horror game, and as such, there needs to be a certain level of tension that comes with every new corner, but for too long did I loathe trying to get something done and being unable to do it because I was once again chased off by those unyielding, armless torso monsters. A game can be scary without bothering you every 5 minutes. With Shattered Memories, I was able to explore and interact with my environment. Every time I was too comfortable in my superiority, the game would transform into Dark Silent Hill and the chase was on. The fact that my character was defenseless added to the dread.

Another interest mechanic employed by the developers was the psychological aspect of this installment. Actions having consequences is all the rage these days, but I’ve never seen it employed on such a bare-bones level like this game. Throughout the story, there are brief first-person respites in a psychologist’s office, where he’ll ask you questions about seemingly random things, ranging from high school memories to color association. This, coupled with things the player looks at specifically while in-game (like spending a little too much time looking at the row of alcohol bottles, or women in lingerie), creates a unique experience for every player. Not only does it affect the ending, but there are also subtle differences along the way. It’s worth playing again at least once to answer the questions differently for a new experience.

Perhaps this is what the developers were counting on, the person wanting to play the game over immediately, which is why the game clocks in at about 10 hours of active gameplay. I have nothing against games that cut out all of the BS and don’t waste my time by just getting to the point and leaving me satisfied, but if you’re going to make it short, at least include something along the lines of Game+ or unlockables. When I beat Shattered Memories in a day, I was a bit shocked but figured that by beating it I surely unlocked a new outfit or something that would further entice me to play again. Imagine my disappointment when I got to just play the game over again without any bonus for beating it the first time.

This happens far too often.

The Dark Silent Hill levels were different and cool (they’re ice levels, get it?), but got really frustrating after a while. I was fine with the premise of it, but Dark Silent Hill involved running through a maze of doors to an appropriate destination. It was the kind of Silent Hill maze where the doors don’t make sense and never lead you to where you think you’re going. It’s tedious running through door after door after door, running into the same swarms of naked ladies when you’re just trying to find where you were 10 minutes ago. While there are a couple hang ups (and what game doesn’t have them), Shattered Memories was much more than just a guy with a flashlight who doesn’t know when to come in from the weather. The final scenes of Harry falling, the water to the lighthouse, and the psychologists office are all very powerful and emotional. Rarely does a game strike a chord like that within me, but for a game that spends most of its time finding out what makes the player tick, it’s hardly a surprise.

While I would hesitate before spending the $30 for a new copy (equating to about $3 an hour), I’d definitely recommend adding Shattered Memories to your PSP library. Support a company when they get it right, so we have better luck getting more quality installments in the future.