When Capcom decided to take the Resident Evil series away from Sony consoles and place them on the Nintendo GameCube, Silent Hill became the de facto premiere horror franchise. Of course, many believed this was already the case, even if Silent Hill has always been a much, much different kind of horror game in comparison. While RE has always been about quick thrill jump scares (though RE CODE: Veronica did an admirable job of emulating SH), Silent Hill took the psychological horror route, creating a franchise that only wanted to screw around with your head. Both Silent Hill adventures did just this, both mixing in numerous tricks such as odd noises, disturbing imagery, and a twisted, mind-boggling story that was left with open interpretation as wide as the Grand Canyon.
This brings us to the 3rd game in the series, Silent Hill 3. While it feels slightly different than past SH games, with a more focused story and a bit more of a linear path, the trademarks of the series are here, and amped up to increase the creep factor many times over. The result is the best horror game since the aforementioned CODE: Veronica and easily the best game in the series. Beware though - if you have a weak bladder or don't have a telephone nearby to call your mommy, you might be better suited to play the latest Spongebob game.
Unlike past SH games, Silent Hill 3 does not fully take place in the disturbing town of Silent Hill. It also contains the first female lead in the series - a 17 year old girl named Heather, who for spoiler purposes won't go any further (if there's any game that can be ruined by spoilers, its this one). The game begins similar to SH1 (as it is a direct sequel), as Heather is in the middle of a creepy, destroyed amusement park, being chased around by creepy monsters by air or ground. Eventually though, she gets nailed by a train, and dies. Of course, she then wakes up, like Harry Mason did in the original Silent Hill. It was obviously a nightmare. So she leaves the mall burger joint, ready to leave when she encounters a detective named Douglas, who claims someone wants to see her and if he can have 30 minutes of her time. She blows him off and tries to get out of the mall without him finding her. Along the way, Heather encounters Claudia (a reference to White Claudia, perhaps?), who is a very weird little person, and makes all sorts of weird statements about paradise and that sort of thing. Heather tells her to fly a kite, but then...suddenly...the world around her changes, and we get all the usual SH darkside tricks - bloody, beaten down buildings, chain link fences for walkways, and the like. From here, we get right into the meat of the game.
The story does develop at a snails pace, and a lot of the first hour or so involves solving puzzles or killing enemies. Actually, the first half of the game doesn't take place in Silent Hill, as it takes a major plot twist to get Heather to head for that nightmarish town. However, just because we're not in Silent Hill doesn't mean it's not scary.
As always, while SH3 has hordes of weird, creepy enemies, the main scares come from the environment itself. SH3, like other SH games, builds in a different kind of fear, as the beat down buildings and odd noises or events wear away on a mind quickly. When you're running around the hospital, only to stop and hear another set of footsteps nearby, you'll know what I mean. Of course, there's a lot of oddball side humor - especially if you have a completed Silent Hill 2 file on your memory card. Some of the silliness is a great relaxer after getting the crap scared out of you, that's for sure. And you'll need some humor here and there, as SH3 manages to really make your skin crawl when encountering some of the more disturbing stuff. Even if you've already been in half of this game already (as the Silent Hill portion takes place in Southvale, the location of Silent Hill 2), Konami managed to make the familiar world even scarier than the new areas - if only because you DO know what to expect, they turn the tables right on you.
As mentioned before, Silent Hill 3 is a might more tightly focused game in story and gameplay. The puzzles are more logical, but still a challenge, and not a whole lot of backtracking is required. Many are still pretty messed up though, which is always a good thing. The game progression is fairly linear, as the game doesn't begin you in Silent Hill like the past (and as such, you're on your own right away, while SH3 you're in a fixed location), and maintains a linear path through the first half. This was probably done to ease the minds of those who got lost very quickly in the last couple games (as well as perhaps get the action going quickly instead of dragging for a while to get to the first main portion of the game), and it does end up working well and creates a fresh feeling for the series.
The gameplay hasn't changed a whole lot - it's just tuned to work even better. Heather has a few new weapons to go with, such as the katana and the sub-machine gun, to go along with handguns and shotguns and the like. However, on any of the 3 difficulty levels, be prepared to use plenty of melee weapons such as the pipe or the katana. Why? Because ammo is at a premium in Silent Hill 3. While the previous SH games gave you plenty of ammo to work with, SH3 gives you just enough to get by, and handle the boss fights, basically. You really never run out of ammo, but it seems like you only have a clip or 2 to work with at any given time. Thus, the main strategy is to either club the sick enemies to death, or just run away from them - which of course only increases the scares, as you're afraid of what enemies are behind a door and you're low on ammo. Just another way Konami messes with your head.
The classic Silent Hill control is still back, and this is a love-hate affair. Similar to RE, yet not, SH3 isn't easy to control, but does get better as you learn the game. SH vets will naturally have no problems, though. As always, Heather is a crappy shot from a distance given her lack of knowledge of using firearms, making up close shooting (or hacking) a necessity. The camera is really the only problem with the game, as it tends to create a funny angle, that only makes the game frustrating at times, not scary. However, just pressing a button to shift the camera solves this, or it also lets you freely look around to observe the surroundings. If you're a sicko like that, anyway.
The only thing I can find troublesome with SH3 is the pacing itself, especially in story. The story progresses very casually, with bits and pieces unveiled here and there to tease but never satisfy. It does pick up once you reach Silent Hill, but the first part of the game tends to be a puzzle solving, enemy blastin' affair, which is a first for the series as combat wasn't as emphasized in past games. Still, this is little reason to dislike the most polished, entertaining, and most disturbing entry in the series thus far.
Silent Hill 3 is also the prettiest game in the series, and perhaps the best looking PS2 game thus far. The grainy look is taken straight from SH2, but it only adds to the atmosphere. The place SH3 shines the most is without question the awesome character models. Every main character you encounter looks downright real, with perfect mannerisms and details, so much that you can see the whiskers on the male characters. Heather though, looks like she just spent the day snorting coke, with her eyes all wacky like that. The lip synching is a tad off (seems that it wasn't changed from the Japanese translation), but the rest of the characters look utterly brilliant.
The lighting and details are also some of the PS2's best. The lighting that casts shadows realistically through your flashlight (as it gets really dark in many many places) is really good and helps along the tense atmosphere. The environments themselves are excellently arranged and detailed, adding along the creepy atmosphere that's a necessity to make Silent Hill work properly. While the enemies are somewhat tossed together and have very little redeeming characteristics, they do the job of being so obscure they scare the crap out of you. All told, SH3 is a wonder of the PS2, and a testament to whatever power is left in the tank of the aging console.
To get the most out of the Silent Hill 3 sound, you need to listen to the enclosed soundtrack. Listening to this you can grab a listen to the moody, creepy, yet hauntingly beautiful music that plays along in the story aspects, as it never plays in-game - for a reason too. The soundtrack is over 1 hour long and is loaded with some great, great music - though I suggest you beat the game first (at least one of the endings, anyway) as some of it could be considered spoilers given some of the content.
Of course, in-game there's the sound effects - also great stuff. All of it is there to intimidate and scare you, with the odd noises here and there (don't be surprised to hear screaming in strange places), and of course the radio that tips off enemies. They really overdid the radio this time, as it goes bonkers, louder than ever.
Unfortunately, SH3 is hurt a bit by poor voice acting. It's actually a bit worse than SH2, with campy delivery and odd pauses, along with a general poor group of actors. I suppose it's intentional to continue the campy storyline and all, but it's still really bad and lame. Where's James Sunderland when you need him?
The Real Bottom Line
The 3rd time seems to be the charm for Silent Hill, as the 3rd installment is the best yet. It's much more focused, and not quite as cryptic (though it has to be somewhat vague given the subject matter), and the scares are at an all-time high. The good characters and great graphics, along with a real sense of urgency throughout the game add up to a great horror experience that is sure to keep you up into the night...and probably because you can't sleep after a few hours of gun-toting zombie nurses attacking. It still could use some improvement, but no matter, Silent Hill 3 is a brilliant piece of game design.
Other Adventures In Silent Hill
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2
