Introduction:

This review is geared towards the player that has already spent time with the previous Silent Hill games. I have included some general information about the series for those that have not so they can try to follow the rest of the review.

Silent Hill: The Series...

The series revolves around the town of Silent Hill, its history and inhabitants are what drive the story. Each game finds the player manipulating a character that gets "stuck" in the "world of Silent Hill". Each main character deals with their own set of dilemmas and during the course of the game you realize that there are much more serious underlying themes than are apparent on the surface. This is the essence of Silent Hill and leaves MUCH to be interpreted by the player; this has the effect of bringing a more personal connection to the game. The actual game play of Silent Hill consists of a combination of action, puzzle solving and cinematics that has become the standard in this genre.

Silent Hill is often lumped in the same category that Biohazard/Resident Evil is, however there are a few notable distinctions between the two series' for the discerning gamer. One is that Biohazard relies mostly on shock value for its "scare factor" and Silent Hill, while it has its shock moments is truly scary throughout the game. This comes from a mix of NOT explaining what is going on AND it's truly unworldly characters erratic behavior.

Highlights:

Eagerly anticipated, Silent Hill 3 was released in the summer of 2003 to rabid Silent Hill fans worldwide. Bringing with it a higher level of graphic detail to the series and an overall familiarity that fans of the earlier games will appreciate. Silent Hill 3 is the shortest SH game (up to its release), taking me around three to five hours to complete. However this is not a detriment to the overall experience as this game is more of a continuation of the original Silent Hill and players that have finished the first game will feel at home with the story and flow of the game. With that in mind, Silent Hill 3 is THE true sequel to the original Silent Hill continuing the story a few years after the original concludes.

You play the role of Heather, a 17 year old resident of Silent Hill. Having lived in Silent Hill all her life, SH fans will notice immediately that Heather is more resigned to the events that take place in her hometown than protagonists from the earlier games, effectively losing the dazed and confused motif found in SH and SH2. Heather also has more spunk than either Harry or James (the main characters from SH and SH2) with her dialog bringing a smirk to my face more than once. The only true recurring character is Harry from the original game, though his appearance is brief and I will spoil no more...

The first thing that comes to mind when I'm asked about Silent Hill 3 is "red", the game is very... well... red, not unlike the grayish undertones that Silent Hill 2 had. During the course of the game you will wander in and out of the real world and alternate reality (as in all SH games), revisiting old locations from previous games and exploring a few new areas. Both melee weapons and guns are familiar from past versions with nothing really notably new. The flashlight and broken radio also make their seemingly mandatory Silent Hill appearance. The overall pace of the game is perfect with the only slow parts being the larger maps where backtracking is inevitable to proceed, thankfully Heather is a fast runner and unless you have triggered a major event, enemies that you have killed stay dead. I won't dwell on story specifics and give anything away but I will say that the story and flow of the game is faster paced than the earlier SH games.

The enemies of Silent Hill 3 are right in line with what we have come to expect from Silent Hill. Being the third game in the series, I had hoped that the style would have evolved to allow more detail in the enemy features. SH veterans know that nearly all of the enemy characters are missing details such as, I dunno, FACES and sometimes fingers, etc... This is very intentional rather than some sort of hardware limitation and is a trademark aspect of Silent Hill that will probably not change in future SH titles.

The music of the Silent Hill series in general to me is not that memorable, though it serves it purpose very well adding to the atmosphere of the game. Many will disagree and I base my opinion on the fact that I judge a soundtrack by its "memorability factor", if I remember it after finishing the game as adding a significant aspect to the experience, I call it "good". If it stands out after finishing the game on its own, that is, outside of the context of the game (and meets the previous requirement); I'd call it "excellent". The soundtrack of SH3 falls in the good category.

For those who complete the game, there are three aspects that add replay value: the ability to change the puzzle and overall difficulty (independent of one another), multiple endings, and unlockable items upon finishing the game. All three are fairly balanced in terms of effort and reward with one exception, the numerous outfits you can unlock. I felt that the sheer amount of outfit options cheapened the effect. Having three endings (the least amount of endings in the SH series), I found this refreshing after the high number the earlier games had. Overall it would be nice to see some real innovation on replayability in this genre as you find these features in nearly all survival horror titles.

Exercise in patience and tolerance...

I felt that there were two aspects holding this game back in terms of playability. The first being the loose camera angles and the frustration of trying to manipulate it to a good angle while being mauled to death from an enemy you can't see... The second is the collision detection. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the clanking of my melee weapon against the wall while an enemy casually sent me to an early grave. Between those two flaws I can attribute nearly all of my deaths. The remaining few "game over moments" I had were a result of the few one-hit deaths throughout the game that are equally frustrating as they give you very little chance to compensate with any skill to avoid (meaning you die if you walk there, don't do it again because you will ALWAYS die, end of story).

Verdict:

SH3 fares well on its own but its strength lies in the ties it has to the original game. Do yourself a favor and play the original Silent Hill if you haven't already before embarking on a SH3 marathon. This game is everything I hoped it would be with the pace of the game being a welcome change to the original SH formula. Its shortcomings are forgivable being offset by all the good aspects coupled with the length of the game. In closing, I'd consider SH3 a MUST HAVE for fans of the genre.