Game Soundtracks We Love: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Game Soundtracks We Love: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Hello to everyone! Thank you for joining us, on our cuppa filled gaming journey.

Last week, we started off these Halloween themed Soundtracks with Luigi’s Mansion. If you missed it and want to check it out: Game Soundtracks We Love: Luigi’s Mansion

We’re going to take a big step away from the family friendly of last week’s choice and take a step into a psychological horror! (rated 16+ in UK & EU)

Game of Choice

This week’s choice has many obscure moments and elements to it. Your answers to questions and even the things you look at alters the world around you: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

We don’t really delve into the horror games here on Ladies Gamers, but there are a few of us writers that like a good horror experience! 😀

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a re-imagining of the first Silent Hill game and has the character Harry Mason going around the town of Silent Hill, searching for his daughter that has gone missing – but nothing is what it seems and soon Harry finds himself running for his life from obscure faceless creatures (called Raw Shocks) and the environment suddenly freezing over.

It was very different to the rest of the series, but the game mechanics made it a very interesting to play. The answers to questions (while in a Psychiatrist’s office) and what the player paid attention to the most (while traversing through Silent Hill), would alter aspects in the game; body forms of the Raw Shock creatures, characters changed personality/look, some locations even changed and the ending would also be different.

The E3 trailer for the game is below – it does include some horror moments (as expected), which may not be suitable for children (you have been warned 😛 ).

The Soundtrack

Note: The sound is rather quiet in the trailer, so you may need to turn the volume up a bit to hear it.

The first track in the trailer starts off with a cover version of the song “Always on my Mind” – suits the game brilliantly though, as the music and the vocals give the song a whole new darker feeling; rather bone chilling!

The other track used in the trailer, is dramatic and rather menacing sounding; adds to the intensity when being chased in the game – certainly makes you want to run for dear life!

Note: If you turned up the volume for the trailer, you might want to turn it back down for the next two.

The track “Angel’s Scream” has a haunting, wind whistling sound to it that’s just perfect for creating an eerie, uneasy atmosphere; great for making the player expect something terrible to happen and putting them on edge – making the game more engaging! 😀

“Acceptance” is a track that many players heard after finishing the game; really added to the sadness and loss experienced in the game – it’s brilliant! – The vocalist is Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, who has provided vocals for other Silent Hill soundtracks and is well known for her voice acting in many English dubbed anime.

Final Thoughts

Although some fans weren’t fond of the direction the developers took with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories; it’s soundtrack is just as brilliantly dark and eerie as the rest of them, with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn once again providing great vocals.

Before I played Silent Hill, I heard Mary’s voice in the English dubbing of ‘Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex’ as the character Major Kusanagi. I got so used to hearing her voice as the Major that it took awhile before I stopped thinking of the anime when hearing her vocals; definitely suits the game’s atmosphere perfectly though – I love it! 😀

A few questions for you:

  • Do you like a good horror game?
  • Have you played any Silent Hill games?
  • What do you think of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn’s vocals?

Would love to read your thoughts 😀 – Thanks for reading!

One comment

  1. As you know I’m not into horror but I how you apply music adding to the atmosphere of a scary title reminds me of how powerful an effect music and sound can have on you. When I was younger I watched a few scary movies, but I wonder what it was about these pictures that scared me the most. Now I think back, it was probably the tension caused by the sound, music, and in some cases lack of sound.

    I wonder what these films would have been like if I had watched them with the volume down. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *