(no subject)
So I really should get to the massive pile of reviews I have, here.
The next thing on the pile is Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. A video game.
There's not much I can say about it that wouldn't spoil this brilliant work of art - and it is a work of art. And that would be a tragedy for such a perfect plot.
It's the story of a man named Harry Mason, who's looking for his tiny daughter Cheryl in the town of Silent Hill. Since it's Silent Hill - the city perched on the edge of reality - things get weirder and weirder.
This game's claim to fame is it's ability to psychologically profile the player. The claim was a bit overhyped - it only measures along a few axes, largely specific to the character. It builds these up from your actions, as well as from from what you look at, and what you say in the psychiatrist's office scenes that are spliced onto the main story.
It handles this aspect well, though. The entire game wraps itself around the profile you create. Your every action alters the aesthetic of the game - posters advertise films that mirror your identity, and storefronts display things a person like you. People wear different clothing. Conversations unfold differently. And of course, the endings change.
And it has one of the most brilliant, perfectly-crafted climaxes of any game I've ever encountered. Everything leads to a well-tooled conclusion that's a masterwork of the genre.
It's short - 2 or 3 hours - flawless, and brilliant. I'm astonished no one played it. It's out of print now, or whatever the video-game equivalent is. You can only get it secondhand. But it's a little gem of a game, and anyone out there with a Wii, Playstation 2, or PSP should see if they could lay their hands on it.
In other news, the Canadian government will almost certainly fall today. That means an election. Here's hoping we can dislodge the worst prime minister in Canadian history.
The next thing on the pile is Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. A video game.
There's not much I can say about it that wouldn't spoil this brilliant work of art - and it is a work of art. And that would be a tragedy for such a perfect plot.
It's the story of a man named Harry Mason, who's looking for his tiny daughter Cheryl in the town of Silent Hill. Since it's Silent Hill - the city perched on the edge of reality - things get weirder and weirder.
This game's claim to fame is it's ability to psychologically profile the player. The claim was a bit overhyped - it only measures along a few axes, largely specific to the character. It builds these up from your actions, as well as from from what you look at, and what you say in the psychiatrist's office scenes that are spliced onto the main story.
It handles this aspect well, though. The entire game wraps itself around the profile you create. Your every action alters the aesthetic of the game - posters advertise films that mirror your identity, and storefronts display things a person like you. People wear different clothing. Conversations unfold differently. And of course, the endings change.
And it has one of the most brilliant, perfectly-crafted climaxes of any game I've ever encountered. Everything leads to a well-tooled conclusion that's a masterwork of the genre.
It's short - 2 or 3 hours - flawless, and brilliant. I'm astonished no one played it. It's out of print now, or whatever the video-game equivalent is. You can only get it secondhand. But it's a little gem of a game, and anyone out there with a Wii, Playstation 2, or PSP should see if they could lay their hands on it.
In other news, the Canadian government will almost certainly fall today. That means an election. Here's hoping we can dislodge the worst prime minister in Canadian history.