by Marcus Lai, punchjumpKonami Corp. this week demonstrated Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for Nintendo Co.'s Wii at the E3 convention in Los Angeles.
The title, a remake of the original Silent Hill title, allows users to move the Wii Remote as a flashlight to lurk through the mysterious town of Silent Hill.
The Wii Remote provided accurate light controls to illuminate and investigate objects in dim-lit areas. The Nunchuk is used to control character movement.
Additionally, users can shake enemies away from them by gesturing a toss motion. Each toss can vary from a forward motion to a left motion.
At one area, the character could use a light flare to stun enemies.
A representative said that the game would lend itself to avoid enemy confrontation.
The E3 build included many interior locations to investigate. Toward the end, users were required to enter an abandoned facility full of skinless enemies. The location included a maze of doors that led to other similar rooms. When users move from one room to the other, the character simply busts open the door to reveal the next area without any load times.
The graphics engine was impressive at 60 to 30 frames per second. Many interior locations held at 60 frames, while some outdoor areas moved down to 30 frames. The light sourcing from the flashlight was well done to bask an accurate glow on nearby objets.
The sound effects were trademark to the Silent Hill franchise, with radio static and a hefty pounding of percussion when enemies lurked in the same vicinity.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories will be released to Wii in the second half of 2009.
