This day has finally come.
That's right -- the day when you and I will meet.
I was always thinking of you,
here with this DS4 controller in my hand.
I never even knew your name
or face until today.
But now I know.
Oh how I love you, Heather.
It's okay that you run funny
with your feet out to the side.
Or that you got killed by a mirror.
Hey, it happens.
You are still a great protagonist.
Your skill rivaling Sekiro,
with a blade as sharp as your snark.
I guess a hair dryer works too, in a pinch.
I knew you'd defeat your competition.
She doesn't even have eyebrows.
Wait, did she really just eat that???
Either way, great job at being cool.
Thanks for letting me play your game.
After all, you and I exist as one.
What I give to you is the same as
what I give to me.
- Stanley Coleman
That's right -- the day when you and I will meet.
I was always thinking of you,
here with this DS4 controller in my hand.
I never even knew your name
or face until today.
But now I know.
Oh how I love you, Heather.
It's okay that you run funny
with your feet out to the side.
Or that you got killed by a mirror.
Hey, it happens.
You are still a great protagonist.
Your skill rivaling Sekiro,
with a blade as sharp as your snark.
I guess a hair dryer works too, in a pinch.
I knew you'd defeat your competition.
She doesn't even have eyebrows.
Wait, did she really just eat that???
Either way, great job at being cool.
Thanks for letting me play your game.
After all, you and I exist as one.
What I give to you is the same as
what I give to me.
- Stanley Coleman
A disturbing yet emotional ride into living hell.
This is probably the 24th or 26th time I played thru this game. I just love it. It's the greatest horror game ever made and my #3 game of all time. Were to start?
Heather is arguably the closest that I would consider a "4-dimensional" character. You could make her a mute and the flavour texts alone, while clicking the X-Button to investigate on things would still give her more personality than 99% of all other video game characters. The story about her finding out about her true self and how she deals with it along with another tragic incident that is going to happen to her, is very intruging and gives alot of depth to her character.
The side characters are well written aswell, better than those of SH1 for the most part but inferior to those from SH2. The voice acting for all characters is flawless as long you play with the original voices, avoid the HD collection as far as possible.
SH3 is also pretty much the best looking game of the PS2. The only games from 6th gen that come close to it are SH2 and 4, the Resident Evil 1 Remake and Resident Evil Zero and Black. It's art design is truly magnificent. The character faces look closer to reality than most games of 7th gen.
The score once again composed by Akira Yamaoka is terrific. It's sad, moody and scary at the same time.
Now lets get into the gameplay department. It's the most polished game in the series. If you consider tank controls clunky, you might not consider them that clunky anymore after playing SH3. There is also an option to play without tank controls so there is actually no reason, not to play this game. It improved on the little things when compared to SH2, most notably the inventory. There are also plenty of unlockables like a lightsaber for example.
The level design this time offers a lot of variety even though I still consider SH1 level design the best in the franchise but this is a close 2nd.
So for all the people that just circle jerk around SH2, give SH1 and 3 a chance. You will not regret it if you love storytelling in gaming. This for sure is an underrated hidden gem and I think it's the best game in the franchise and of the survival horror genre.
10/10 puked out demon fetuses.
Check my review for the abysmal movie on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/xgmanx/film/silent-hill-revelation-3d/
This is probably the 24th or 26th time I played thru this game. I just love it. It's the greatest horror game ever made and my #3 game of all time. Were to start?
Heather is arguably the closest that I would consider a "4-dimensional" character. You could make her a mute and the flavour texts alone, while clicking the X-Button to investigate on things would still give her more personality than 99% of all other video game characters. The story about her finding out about her true self and how she deals with it along with another tragic incident that is going to happen to her, is very intruging and gives alot of depth to her character.
The side characters are well written aswell, better than those of SH1 for the most part but inferior to those from SH2. The voice acting for all characters is flawless as long you play with the original voices, avoid the HD collection as far as possible.
SH3 is also pretty much the best looking game of the PS2. The only games from 6th gen that come close to it are SH2 and 4, the Resident Evil 1 Remake and Resident Evil Zero and Black. It's art design is truly magnificent. The character faces look closer to reality than most games of 7th gen.
The score once again composed by Akira Yamaoka is terrific. It's sad, moody and scary at the same time.
Now lets get into the gameplay department. It's the most polished game in the series. If you consider tank controls clunky, you might not consider them that clunky anymore after playing SH3. There is also an option to play without tank controls so there is actually no reason, not to play this game. It improved on the little things when compared to SH2, most notably the inventory. There are also plenty of unlockables like a lightsaber for example.
The level design this time offers a lot of variety even though I still consider SH1 level design the best in the franchise but this is a close 2nd.
So for all the people that just circle jerk around SH2, give SH1 and 3 a chance. You will not regret it if you love storytelling in gaming. This for sure is an underrated hidden gem and I think it's the best game in the franchise and of the survival horror genre.
10/10 puked out demon fetuses.
Check my review for the abysmal movie on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/xgmanx/film/silent-hill-revelation-3d/
i like how the final areas look like you're in a bowl of goulash
PLEASE CHANGE THE DESCRIPTION YOU HAVE FOR THIS GAME
A subtle, but a striking psychological horror adventure
My first complete approach to the Silent Hill series.
Silent Hill 3 for me wasn't totally a "fun" ride. But it was one that I enjoyed and kept me really surprised the more I got into it.
Where the game I think it excels the most is the eviroment as a whole. Team Silent really did something that made me uncomfortable all the way through but also appreciate the scenery for how beautifully crafted it is. And this is not including the impecable sound design and direction.
The presentation in Silent Hill 3 is just impecable and I can't stress that enough for a 2003 title. Every moment felt like I was decending to some type of hell after playing halfway through it, after reaching Silent Hill to be specific.
There were sections that I thought were a bit filler in between the story and didn't add to the overall game outside being extra bussy work to do. Don't get me wrong, the story has it's moments from time to time but can be held back by the travel itself.
Most of the time I was confused of how did I end up in some sections since this game is really linear. But that doesn't mean I enjoyed most of the levels and the puzzles.
What hurts this game the most is the combat. It's outdated, old and clunky. You can just pass by the monsters as long as they don't get directly in your way. No more than a little annoyance than something that you should be really scared off. I think this game didn't needed combat at all and just stick what the team does best, it feels like an afterthought on most occations.
The story is also solid and tackles some themes that by 2003 could've been very controversial to some people. I liked Heather as a protagonist, she's just fun to watch and interact with the others. The VA and the writting team did a great job portraying a teenager in a stressing situation, just scared of the world around her full of lunatics. Though it seems the main characters were the ones that had the most work put into Voice Acting while the secondary cast like Vincent or Douglas underdelivered a little.
So in short. Absolute must for horror fans with the only downside being it's combat.
My first complete approach to the Silent Hill series.
Silent Hill 3 for me wasn't totally a "fun" ride. But it was one that I enjoyed and kept me really surprised the more I got into it.
Where the game I think it excels the most is the eviroment as a whole. Team Silent really did something that made me uncomfortable all the way through but also appreciate the scenery for how beautifully crafted it is. And this is not including the impecable sound design and direction.
The presentation in Silent Hill 3 is just impecable and I can't stress that enough for a 2003 title. Every moment felt like I was decending to some type of hell after playing halfway through it, after reaching Silent Hill to be specific.
There were sections that I thought were a bit filler in between the story and didn't add to the overall game outside being extra bussy work to do. Don't get me wrong, the story has it's moments from time to time but can be held back by the travel itself.
Most of the time I was confused of how did I end up in some sections since this game is really linear. But that doesn't mean I enjoyed most of the levels and the puzzles.
What hurts this game the most is the combat. It's outdated, old and clunky. You can just pass by the monsters as long as they don't get directly in your way. No more than a little annoyance than something that you should be really scared off. I think this game didn't needed combat at all and just stick what the team does best, it feels like an afterthought on most occations.
The story is also solid and tackles some themes that by 2003 could've been very controversial to some people. I liked Heather as a protagonist, she's just fun to watch and interact with the others. The VA and the writting team did a great job portraying a teenager in a stressing situation, just scared of the world around her full of lunatics. Though it seems the main characters were the ones that had the most work put into Voice Acting while the secondary cast like Vincent or Douglas underdelivered a little.
So in short. Absolute must for horror fans with the only downside being it's combat.
Going into Silent Hill 3, I had no idea what to expect. There’s a divisive (if you can even call “it’s really good, just not as good as the first 2” divisive) reputation surrounding this game that had me very intrigued when booting it up for the first time. Putting the TL;DR at the start: it was an incredible experience. I recommend anyone interested in playing it to play the first 2 before it, but other than that, let me share my thoughts.
Let me get the obvious out of the way: this game looks phenomenal. It's nothing short of wizardry how much the team improved the lighting, hair effects, facial animations, and textures in only 2 years. But something I appreciate even more is that the rusty and depraved atmosphere from the nightmare sections in Silent Hill 1 and 2 not only return; they return with a vengeance. Unlike its predecessors, the nightmare sections feel unpredictable and horrifying. The hallways are bathed in blood and filth with mutilated corpses in caged boxes hanging from the ceiling. Later in the game, rooms (and your flesh) will be consumed with squirmy tentacles of black ooze. Some hallways are a high contrast orange that make you think your eyes are bleeding. Random yelps of pain will sound off right as you exit a room, accented by shuffling feet and beastly groans in the hallway outside.
When you find the source of the groaning, you'll discover that the atmosphere is thanks in large part to the skin-crawlingly disturbing enemies. The PSX limited Silent Hill 1 from going too crazy with the models and Silent Hill 2 kept itself limited in scope on purpose, but Silent Hill 3 takes the training weights off and cooks up some truly awful looking bastards to chase you around. 10 foot tall flesh pillars who come in packs. Living piles of bloated, dead flesh. Disfigured humans who crawl on the floor, gnawing at your feet. And if it wasn't bad enough, the typical dog enemies aren't just dogs anymore, their heads are split right down the middle: exposed brains and all.
It wouldn't be so bad if you were playing as Harry or James. But you're playing as Heather. While Harry has the luxury of killing dogs in 2 handgun shots and a kick, Heather has to take a whopping 6 handgun shots for the same kill (and it's a miracle if you can land them all before they turn her leg into a chew toy). She also isn't granted the power of invisible walls: it's very possible to fall off any unguarded ledge if you don't react to her stumble. The game does a good job mitigating her fragility with lots of health packs, weapons, and even a bulletproof vest. But it just doesn’t outweigh the forces you’re up against. When all of these ingredients are mixed together (unsettling enemies, terrifying level design, and a frail teenage girl to protect you from it all) only one word describes the experience: intense.
In its intensity, it's Silent Hill 3 that brings to light a frustrating aspect of the series, and that is backtracking. Going back and forth fetching items and reading memos to solve puzzles is one of my favorite aspects in the series! But due to the more intense nature of SH3's atmosphere, you dread having to backtrack anymore than you have to. James wandering around the apartment building or Harry wandering around Midwich Elementary never felt especially stressful, as the environments were very slow paced and you had ample defense against anything thrown at you. But playing as Heather feels like you're getting kicked in the balls constantly. Room after room is filled to the brim with the fastest and most dangerous enemies the series has seen yet, so just running the risk of having to go all the way back through an area brings a mental anguish I haven't yet felt playing Silent Hill. This might be the game's biggest strength to some, but I'm admittedly a huge pussy, so this was torture for me.
You might get the vibe that I hate Heather after saying all this. After all, I keep talking about her like she can’t do anything. But don't get it twisted. Heather keeps it fucking real and is, by far, the most entertaining protagonist in the original trilogy. All of her dialogue, spoken or otherwise, is brimming with personality and teenage angst. While Harry and James never had much to say when looking at an object, Heather gives well written commentary on pretty much everything you choose to look at. Her voice and motion capture actress Heather Morris gives a fantastic performance as well, ranging from tongue-in-cheek comments, to heartbreaking scenes of utter defeat, to indescribable rage and frustration. Never have I seen a Silent Hill hero so fed up with this shit and it's extremely relatable because I'm also fed up with this shit! Claudia is pissing me the fuck off! Let's get her ass together, Heather.
This is as good a time as ever to touch on the game’s relation to Silent Hill 1. It’s by all means a direct sequel to what happened in the first game and I think it does a wonderful job continuing that narrative. While I prefer Silent Hill as an anthology series tied together by the titular town, they pulled off a continuation surprisingly well. Ambiguity isn’t as important for Harry as it is for James, so hearing more of what happened to him post god-slaying made me smile. It also elaborates on Claudia and whatever the hell is going on with the cult she’s a part of without spoiling the “less is more” storytelling that SH1 was going for. All in all, it’s everything I can want out of the direction they chose.
This review is admittedly coming from a Silent Hill newbie. I decided to play Silent Hill 2 for the first time just a few weeks ago. So while I’m still falling in love, take a lot of these opinions with a grain of salt. Otherwise, I adore pretty much everything about my experience with SH3. Was it difficult and stressful? Definitely. But will I be thinking about it for years after this review? Even more definitely.
Let me get the obvious out of the way: this game looks phenomenal. It's nothing short of wizardry how much the team improved the lighting, hair effects, facial animations, and textures in only 2 years. But something I appreciate even more is that the rusty and depraved atmosphere from the nightmare sections in Silent Hill 1 and 2 not only return; they return with a vengeance. Unlike its predecessors, the nightmare sections feel unpredictable and horrifying. The hallways are bathed in blood and filth with mutilated corpses in caged boxes hanging from the ceiling. Later in the game, rooms (and your flesh) will be consumed with squirmy tentacles of black ooze. Some hallways are a high contrast orange that make you think your eyes are bleeding. Random yelps of pain will sound off right as you exit a room, accented by shuffling feet and beastly groans in the hallway outside.
When you find the source of the groaning, you'll discover that the atmosphere is thanks in large part to the skin-crawlingly disturbing enemies. The PSX limited Silent Hill 1 from going too crazy with the models and Silent Hill 2 kept itself limited in scope on purpose, but Silent Hill 3 takes the training weights off and cooks up some truly awful looking bastards to chase you around. 10 foot tall flesh pillars who come in packs. Living piles of bloated, dead flesh. Disfigured humans who crawl on the floor, gnawing at your feet. And if it wasn't bad enough, the typical dog enemies aren't just dogs anymore, their heads are split right down the middle: exposed brains and all.
It wouldn't be so bad if you were playing as Harry or James. But you're playing as Heather. While Harry has the luxury of killing dogs in 2 handgun shots and a kick, Heather has to take a whopping 6 handgun shots for the same kill (and it's a miracle if you can land them all before they turn her leg into a chew toy). She also isn't granted the power of invisible walls: it's very possible to fall off any unguarded ledge if you don't react to her stumble. The game does a good job mitigating her fragility with lots of health packs, weapons, and even a bulletproof vest. But it just doesn’t outweigh the forces you’re up against. When all of these ingredients are mixed together (unsettling enemies, terrifying level design, and a frail teenage girl to protect you from it all) only one word describes the experience: intense.
In its intensity, it's Silent Hill 3 that brings to light a frustrating aspect of the series, and that is backtracking. Going back and forth fetching items and reading memos to solve puzzles is one of my favorite aspects in the series! But due to the more intense nature of SH3's atmosphere, you dread having to backtrack anymore than you have to. James wandering around the apartment building or Harry wandering around Midwich Elementary never felt especially stressful, as the environments were very slow paced and you had ample defense against anything thrown at you. But playing as Heather feels like you're getting kicked in the balls constantly. Room after room is filled to the brim with the fastest and most dangerous enemies the series has seen yet, so just running the risk of having to go all the way back through an area brings a mental anguish I haven't yet felt playing Silent Hill. This might be the game's biggest strength to some, but I'm admittedly a huge pussy, so this was torture for me.
You might get the vibe that I hate Heather after saying all this. After all, I keep talking about her like she can’t do anything. But don't get it twisted. Heather keeps it fucking real and is, by far, the most entertaining protagonist in the original trilogy. All of her dialogue, spoken or otherwise, is brimming with personality and teenage angst. While Harry and James never had much to say when looking at an object, Heather gives well written commentary on pretty much everything you choose to look at. Her voice and motion capture actress Heather Morris gives a fantastic performance as well, ranging from tongue-in-cheek comments, to heartbreaking scenes of utter defeat, to indescribable rage and frustration. Never have I seen a Silent Hill hero so fed up with this shit and it's extremely relatable because I'm also fed up with this shit! Claudia is pissing me the fuck off! Let's get her ass together, Heather.
This is as good a time as ever to touch on the game’s relation to Silent Hill 1. It’s by all means a direct sequel to what happened in the first game and I think it does a wonderful job continuing that narrative. While I prefer Silent Hill as an anthology series tied together by the titular town, they pulled off a continuation surprisingly well. Ambiguity isn’t as important for Harry as it is for James, so hearing more of what happened to him post god-slaying made me smile. It also elaborates on Claudia and whatever the hell is going on with the cult she’s a part of without spoiling the “less is more” storytelling that SH1 was going for. All in all, it’s everything I can want out of the direction they chose.
This review is admittedly coming from a Silent Hill newbie. I decided to play Silent Hill 2 for the first time just a few weeks ago. So while I’m still falling in love, take a lot of these opinions with a grain of salt. Otherwise, I adore pretty much everything about my experience with SH3. Was it difficult and stressful? Definitely. But will I be thinking about it for years after this review? Even more definitely.
Pure distilled embodiment of anxiety in the perspective of a teenage girl as she discovers the way of growing up in a harsh world. It really demonstrates how terrifying the world can be as a girl.
A constant wave of anxiousness and dread washes over me throughout the game due to the oppressive atmosphere and highly aggressive enemies that never let me catch my breath. It wholly puts me in Heather's shoes. No other game has freaked me out as much as this one.
I liked this game about as much as Silent Hill 2
Heather is literally me btw
A constant wave of anxiousness and dread washes over me throughout the game due to the oppressive atmosphere and highly aggressive enemies that never let me catch my breath. It wholly puts me in Heather's shoes. No other game has freaked me out as much as this one.
I liked this game about as much as Silent Hill 2
Heather is literally me btw
(I wrote this review like half a year ago and I don't remember what I wrote have fun)
im not a lesbian but im completely in love with this game
can't believe this game actually took me 3 30 hrs and its still some of the most dense and claustrophobic and terrifying and well paced experience of my entire life in the horror department it felt like i played 30 hours of this masterpiece im not joking fr fr
after playing silent hill 1 (liked it) and 2 (loved it) last year i forgot about this series completely until i suddenly remembered that silent hill 3 actually exists
the game wastes literally no time and already throws you into the action they know what you want and you'll get it and this is probably the moment I realised it was gonna get real freaky in here its just scare after scare after scare trauma after trauma after trauma and for the possibly 4 or more hours youre gonna spend with it they will make sure you get shit in your pants real quick
the first ever location you'll meet is an amusement park and if you played silent hill 1 you'll recognise this location and you'll soon meet the protagonist of this game my child and my love Heather Mason now . if you say she's a bad protagonist or annoying or whatever your WILL catch my hands shes the sweetest child and she can do no wrong and most of all she wants NONE to do with this paranormal psychologically draining shit and honestly ? I can get behind this feeling
this is surely a weird and sudden change in protagonist since we were kinda used to the troubled and kinda emotionally unavailable grown ass men of the first and second game so to have a young girl as the main protagonist could give a new perspective to the entire story and silent hill in general and I love the fact that it's inherently biased by the fact that she is in fact a girl and the game knows it the people around her know it and even the nightmares she has know this fact
shes moody and loses her temper real quick all in all she can be seen as a rebellious teenager cliche + the shard tongue she got those snarky and sarcastic comments she gets out of her system here and there but she's def more than that she's still an emotionally troubled person and also really sensitive and kind . clearly the situation gets her v stressed and psychotic but wouldnt that make everyone downright exhausted people would say shes a bitch but theyre just incels keep moving
apart from being incredibly complex superficially she has quite a convoluted and troubled mind and quite escalates into an introspective lens in the later parts of the game but possibly one of the best examples is in the first parts of the game where she sees herself in a mirror and says that her reflection kinda feels like a false image or an imitator and while this has some plot relevance (more on that later) it makes it apparent that she can get very intrapersonal at times
the point is I love her as a person who's studying psychology this series of games is literally a database of case studies I wish I was joking rn should I make my thesis on this lets think
the first thing that I noticed ingame is that the graphics got so much better to the point that this still feels like a game that could've come out some years ago honestly its incredible heathers model and expressions are amazing and so are the other characters and monsters and environments really they pushed the ps2 graphics to the extreme in this one it's just an unbelievable sight and when so much of the horror is done by environmental elements and eerie dialogues it's something that heightens the entire experience to another level completely
i enjoyed in particular the new monsters that interestingly enough encapsulate some aspects of heathers even unconscious reality to the point that the guy youre gonna meet the most (the closer) straight up looks like a onahole I was so confused honestly and the double heads faces look like vaginas opening up . yeah this game is full of vaginas i guess but yknow what this is kind of like female dread centered and I can only respect that + insane cancers literally look like that ugly bastard tag on that one hentai porn site and the pendulum looks like to breasts/torsos sewn together and the hypersexualised nurses trying to fuck heather up real good but the one that really got me incredibly uncomfortable and kinda scared of the implications it brought upon is the slurper (great name) theyre like humanoid figures on 4 legs with long tongues and shorts or whatever so this is BAD + they slurp up carrion and fluids + the fact that they shove heather on the floor and climb on top of her is sooooooo umhhh liiiike theyre sexual implications are so in your face like the phallic forms the elongated tongue the aggressive and quick attacks idk this for me truly represent the epitome of heather fear of rapists or stalkers or something and this kinda made me truly feel bad shes only 17 and already got monsters and terrors that feel hypersexual in nature which is something that I can understand in silent hill 2 as james is a grown ass man but the implications that she's already so damn scared and somehow forced to defend against the sex sphere is just too much and too sad I mean probably I'm reading too much into it but I guess in the country of daily molested girls on trains some people would know how hard it is sometimes to live as a young girl and approaching a world that is not seeing you as a person anymore but as a sexual object and I guess this is kinda implied in the fact that heather only wears a miniskirt and is kind of a prey of these otherworldly penis looking figures
the femininity and maternity topics come up in the game itself and story a lot and not at least once this game makes you entertain the thought of being a girl or being a mother this is just The Female Experience from the first second to the last one and its pretty depressing to see probably this is not something that the developers were trying to convey but it makes you feel some type of way about this stuff and it's surely a feat
among the other stuff the monsters also act completely different from silent hill 2 they were kind of suffering around grieving and occasionally trying to cave james skull in (see: daddy pyramid head and his big mace) but in this one they just FULL ON ambush you everywhere and every single time they're just so fucking aggressive and fast and molest heather in any way shape or form wow this is so not gonna be a metaphor for the societal abuse that women have to live through because patriarchal standards . p fucked up heather
environments play a damn big part in the whole picture and I'd say the usual silent hill formula for scary places was took to the extremes encompassing the filthiest bloodiest rustiest structures ive ever seen in this series every single location ie either a v liminal and dark environment when its in the real world or possibly the most disgusting place ever in the otherworld the station and the hospital and the amusement park and even heathers own apartment building has this scary and extremely uneasy feeling that's just ughhhh insanely addicting every single location bears a new connotation of scare/disgust and its just a neverending spectacle of dread that could've come out of critically acclaimed (not) saya no uta
battle system got a bit rejuvenated after the other 2 games they actually said maybe let's put some thought into this instead of just giving some grown ass man a pipe and a pistol and it pays off breaking the fucking necks of these monsters is great and i would do it again any time (big fucking lie since I killed possibly 3 enemies in this game I dodged every single one of them)
and this game would be nothing without the atmosphere . people . its to my incredible hearts content that I can say that this is possibly the most oppressive terrifying martyrizing torturing psychotic landscape of horrors this series has ever had and I'm SO INTO IT every single room is just FILLED with visual and additive ok actually maybe only additive overstimulation because when I think of visual overstimulation hyperdemon comes to mind so yeah the environmental sounds and monster noises and even the radio alerts create a soundscape so layered and complex and chaotic that completely annihilates any organ out of your auditory system im so sorry and + to even heighten the whole suffering (me a masochist) I even put the radio on almost max sound because I wanted my senses to explode once and for good and its incredibly disgusting to my nervous system and still I wanted more and more every single room can either range from deepest silence with just few and distant noises or a complete fucking mess of sounds from hell + it has to be said that the OST does a great job of atmospherical dark ambience with metal clanking around eerie cries and screeches from god knows where
in the end. really cool soundtrack lmao I LOVE youre not here btw that song is something else and something that heather would 100% listen to im just sure about it lets go
this game feels like period cramps (im a man)
scene where claudia swallows the fetus
i love the symbolism of the save point
im not a lesbian but im completely in love with this game
can't believe this game actually took me 3 30 hrs and its still some of the most dense and claustrophobic and terrifying and well paced experience of my entire life in the horror department it felt like i played 30 hours of this masterpiece im not joking fr fr
after playing silent hill 1 (liked it) and 2 (loved it) last year i forgot about this series completely until i suddenly remembered that silent hill 3 actually exists
the game wastes literally no time and already throws you into the action they know what you want and you'll get it and this is probably the moment I realised it was gonna get real freaky in here its just scare after scare after scare trauma after trauma after trauma and for the possibly 4 or more hours youre gonna spend with it they will make sure you get shit in your pants real quick
the first ever location you'll meet is an amusement park and if you played silent hill 1 you'll recognise this location and you'll soon meet the protagonist of this game my child and my love Heather Mason now . if you say she's a bad protagonist or annoying or whatever your WILL catch my hands shes the sweetest child and she can do no wrong and most of all she wants NONE to do with this paranormal psychologically draining shit and honestly ? I can get behind this feeling
this is surely a weird and sudden change in protagonist since we were kinda used to the troubled and kinda emotionally unavailable grown ass men of the first and second game so to have a young girl as the main protagonist could give a new perspective to the entire story and silent hill in general and I love the fact that it's inherently biased by the fact that she is in fact a girl and the game knows it the people around her know it and even the nightmares she has know this fact
shes moody and loses her temper real quick all in all she can be seen as a rebellious teenager cliche + the shard tongue she got those snarky and sarcastic comments she gets out of her system here and there but she's def more than that she's still an emotionally troubled person and also really sensitive and kind . clearly the situation gets her v stressed and psychotic but wouldnt that make everyone downright exhausted people would say shes a bitch but theyre just incels keep moving
apart from being incredibly complex superficially she has quite a convoluted and troubled mind and quite escalates into an introspective lens in the later parts of the game but possibly one of the best examples is in the first parts of the game where she sees herself in a mirror and says that her reflection kinda feels like a false image or an imitator and while this has some plot relevance (more on that later) it makes it apparent that she can get very intrapersonal at times
the point is I love her as a person who's studying psychology this series of games is literally a database of case studies I wish I was joking rn should I make my thesis on this lets think
the first thing that I noticed ingame is that the graphics got so much better to the point that this still feels like a game that could've come out some years ago honestly its incredible heathers model and expressions are amazing and so are the other characters and monsters and environments really they pushed the ps2 graphics to the extreme in this one it's just an unbelievable sight and when so much of the horror is done by environmental elements and eerie dialogues it's something that heightens the entire experience to another level completely
i enjoyed in particular the new monsters that interestingly enough encapsulate some aspects of heathers even unconscious reality to the point that the guy youre gonna meet the most (the closer) straight up looks like a onahole I was so confused honestly and the double heads faces look like vaginas opening up . yeah this game is full of vaginas i guess but yknow what this is kind of like female dread centered and I can only respect that + insane cancers literally look like that ugly bastard tag on that one hentai porn site and the pendulum looks like to breasts/torsos sewn together and the hypersexualised nurses trying to fuck heather up real good but the one that really got me incredibly uncomfortable and kinda scared of the implications it brought upon is the slurper (great name) theyre like humanoid figures on 4 legs with long tongues and shorts or whatever so this is BAD + they slurp up carrion and fluids + the fact that they shove heather on the floor and climb on top of her is sooooooo umhhh liiiike theyre sexual implications are so in your face like the phallic forms the elongated tongue the aggressive and quick attacks idk this for me truly represent the epitome of heather fear of rapists or stalkers or something and this kinda made me truly feel bad shes only 17 and already got monsters and terrors that feel hypersexual in nature which is something that I can understand in silent hill 2 as james is a grown ass man but the implications that she's already so damn scared and somehow forced to defend against the sex sphere is just too much and too sad I mean probably I'm reading too much into it but I guess in the country of daily molested girls on trains some people would know how hard it is sometimes to live as a young girl and approaching a world that is not seeing you as a person anymore but as a sexual object and I guess this is kinda implied in the fact that heather only wears a miniskirt and is kind of a prey of these otherworldly penis looking figures
the femininity and maternity topics come up in the game itself and story a lot and not at least once this game makes you entertain the thought of being a girl or being a mother this is just The Female Experience from the first second to the last one and its pretty depressing to see probably this is not something that the developers were trying to convey but it makes you feel some type of way about this stuff and it's surely a feat
among the other stuff the monsters also act completely different from silent hill 2 they were kind of suffering around grieving and occasionally trying to cave james skull in (see: daddy pyramid head and his big mace) but in this one they just FULL ON ambush you everywhere and every single time they're just so fucking aggressive and fast and molest heather in any way shape or form wow this is so not gonna be a metaphor for the societal abuse that women have to live through because patriarchal standards . p fucked up heather
environments play a damn big part in the whole picture and I'd say the usual silent hill formula for scary places was took to the extremes encompassing the filthiest bloodiest rustiest structures ive ever seen in this series every single location ie either a v liminal and dark environment when its in the real world or possibly the most disgusting place ever in the otherworld the station and the hospital and the amusement park and even heathers own apartment building has this scary and extremely uneasy feeling that's just ughhhh insanely addicting every single location bears a new connotation of scare/disgust and its just a neverending spectacle of dread that could've come out of critically acclaimed (not) saya no uta
battle system got a bit rejuvenated after the other 2 games they actually said maybe let's put some thought into this instead of just giving some grown ass man a pipe and a pistol and it pays off breaking the fucking necks of these monsters is great and i would do it again any time (big fucking lie since I killed possibly 3 enemies in this game I dodged every single one of them)
and this game would be nothing without the atmosphere . people . its to my incredible hearts content that I can say that this is possibly the most oppressive terrifying martyrizing torturing psychotic landscape of horrors this series has ever had and I'm SO INTO IT every single room is just FILLED with visual and additive ok actually maybe only additive overstimulation because when I think of visual overstimulation hyperdemon comes to mind so yeah the environmental sounds and monster noises and even the radio alerts create a soundscape so layered and complex and chaotic that completely annihilates any organ out of your auditory system im so sorry and + to even heighten the whole suffering (me a masochist) I even put the radio on almost max sound because I wanted my senses to explode once and for good and its incredibly disgusting to my nervous system and still I wanted more and more every single room can either range from deepest silence with just few and distant noises or a complete fucking mess of sounds from hell + it has to be said that the OST does a great job of atmospherical dark ambience with metal clanking around eerie cries and screeches from god knows where
in the end. really cool soundtrack lmao I LOVE youre not here btw that song is something else and something that heather would 100% listen to im just sure about it lets go
this game feels like period cramps (im a man)
scene where claudia swallows the fetus
i love the symbolism of the save point
filthy, angry ass game, contrasting against 2's elegiac tone and pensive, guilty feeling
This review contains spoilers
THE game you play when your dad has fucking croaked it and you're angry as FUCK, there's nothing more enlightening than this.
100% Recommended.
100% Recommended.
me when i have to kill god
Part of Spooky Season 2023.
If I had to describe Silent Hill 3 in one word, it would be intense. While not much in terms of gameplay has changed between this game and the previous ones, its structure and balance have been adjusted in a way that really stressed me out and made the horror more effective than it's ever been in the franchise. I actually had to take breaks and play through it over the course of shorter sessions because I found the game to be immensely draining, even despite its short run time. Silent Hill 3 is a treacherous, suffocating nightmare from start to finish, and is quite possibly the scariest game I’ve ever played.
The previous titles in the franchise had a general pattern they’d follow. You’d usually explore the monster and fog infested town of Silent Hill for a bit before entering one of the indoor dungeon-like locations. These mostly consisted of large, dark and decrepit buildings with multiple floors, long narrow halls, various locked rooms that you’d need to find keys for, as well as several puzzles that you’d need to solve. You’d usually fight a boss once you reach the end of these places as well. These locations were generally where the games’ horror was most concentrated, as rooms contained gruesome imagery and setpieces to experience. Once you successfully clear one of these areas, you usually experience a cutscene or two and then head back into town and explore it a bit more as well as develop the story further before traveling to the next big indoor location. Rinse and repeat until the game’s climax.
The treks through town offered the player a momentary sense of relief and a chance to breathe a little bit after making it out of those dark and terrifying labyrinths. Now, the town wasn’t completely free of danger, as writhing and contorting creatures still roamed the roads and streets, but because you were outside in a more open environment, you’re generally able to maneuver around them rather easily, to the point where they’re not too much of a threat. However, Silent Hill 3 does things a little bit differently. Here, you spend almost the entire playtime making your way through those indoor dungeon-like areas. From the start of the game until a little over halfway through it, you go from one horrifying maze to the next. You really don’t spend much time exploring the town at all. This dramatically lowers the amount of opportunities for the player to catch their breath, limiting them mostly to tiny rooms void of any danger where you can save your game.
In my review of Silent Hill 2, my main point of criticism was that the game gave you way too much ammo and healing items. This dramatically lessened the effect of the horror, as there wasn’t really anything stopping you from playing safe and shooting just about every enemy you come across. Silent Hill 3 feels like an angry, vicious response to that criticism. Not only are ammo and healing items much more sparse in comparison to previous games, but the enemies are also far more aggressive. A majority of them are also designed to be either really tall, wide, or both. Most enemies eclipse Heather in size. Since you’re constantly making your way through cramped and narrow corridors, it makes avoiding and moving around these enemies rather difficult. As a result, strategic decision-making and resource management during combat is extremely vital. Even though this game came out twenty years ago, it really feels like Team Silent heard my Silent Hill 2 complaint and went above and beyond to address it here, to the point where I feel like it borders on overcorrection. Still, I do think that Silent Hill 3 is better off this way as opposed to the stockpile of ammo and healing items you’re left with at the end of Silent Hill 2.
Once again, the art direction and sound design are both handled in true masterclass fashion. The art direction in particular is extremely visceral, especially during the Otherworld sequences. It’s very reminiscent of the corrupted industrial look of Silent Hill 1, but with the PlayStation 2’s higher graphical fidelity, the game’s visuals are more striking and impactful than ever. The reddish-orange color palette that covers many areas of the game and the sadistic and violent imagery really makes you feel like you’re trapped in hell on earth.
The minimal amount of town exploration, the lack of opportunities to safely collect yourself, the greater focus on combat and resource management, in addition to the already horrifying art direction and sound design on par with the previous games, all come together to make Silent Hill 3 an immensely stressful experience. The stress in turn made the fear and horror more effective than it’s ever been in the series. I was constantly worried about my resources in addition to already feeling tense as a result of the horrific environments you have to find your way out of. Aside from the other two Silent Hill games, my horror experience up until this point has been limited to Resident Evil titles as well as Signalis. None have been as successful at making me constantly feel sheer terror and dread as Silent Hill 3 has. I fully admit that this game freaked me the hell out, and I applaud it for that accomplishment.
My biggest complaint is that while exploring a couple of areas in the game, you can stumble into rooms or areas that I consider to be traps. These are rooms that have enemies in them but otherwise serve literally no other purpose. There’s no supplies you can find, no reward for combatting the enemies, nothing. If you wander into these rooms trying to find something that you need to progress, you’ll wind up wasting your very limited ammo and healing items clearing these rooms out, only to find nothing for your efforts. I will cut the game a bit of slack because I did notice that these “trap rooms” are often very close to save rooms, so you can reload a save if you end up wandering into one of them and wasting your supplies. Still, I think that their inclusion in general is pointless and frustrating. All they do is waste time, as well as needlessly confuse and punish the player for exploring.
My next biggest issue is one that’s shared with Silent Hill 2: the camera really sucks. Just like in that game, the camera will sometimes just refuse to cooperate in narrow halls, and trying to force it to will just cause it to spin around wildly and make it nearly impossible to see what’s in front of Heather. It’s especially frustrating here when there are enemies in a hall that you encounter, and you can’t tell if your gun shots are actually hitting their target, meaning you have no idea whether or not you’re wasting ammo.
In stark contrast to Silent Hill 2, storytelling is less of a focus this time around. After the very beginning of the game, cutscenes and story development in general mostly take a backseat until a little over halfway through. Despite that, there’s no less of a focus on strong themes. Silent Hill 3 is a game all about the fear and pain of being a woman. The locations you make your way through are mostly places that women have been known to be typically harassed at, either verbally or physically. There are constant, violent depictions of motherhood and childbirth. The fact that so many enemies are much bigger than Heather could also be reminiscent of how men are generally larger than women and able to physically overpower them. I don’t have especially strong feelings about the main plot. It does have some impactful moments, especially if you’ve played the first game, but as a whole, it feels rather poorly put together. I find the imagery, symbolism and the unspoken implications of the environments to be far more stand out aspects.
Silent Hill 3 goes all out in trying to make the player feel afraid, and in that regard it absolutely knocks it out of the park. The thing is though, fear is all the game really made me feel. The previous Silent Hill games made me feel a lot more in terms of emotion, especially Silent Hill 2. There was a sense of mystery and tragedy to them that isn’t as present in Silent Hill 3. Tragedy is certainly present here, don’t get me wrong, if you know, you know. But I feel like it's limited to only a single instance. If you’ve played Silent Hill 1, then it’s pretty easy to just assume what’s going on, there’s not really much in terms of a mystery to figure out here. If you haven’t played Silent Hill 1, then I feel like the emotional moments will just go over your head even if the game does try to accommodate the folks who missed out on it. This is an extremely minor nitpick in the grand scheme of things, but it’s still something I wanted to make note of because it was an element of the previous games that I loved and its absence really stood out to me.
This game really put me through the wringer, but in a good way. I think it’s the most well structured and focused of the Team Silent games I’ve played up until this point. The only aspect of it that’s lacking compared to its predecessors is the quality of its main plot, which again, isn’t really that big of a deal. Still, as great and successful as this game is, I ended up feeling extremely exhausted by the end of it. I have to admit that I don’t really want to play this game again for quite some time. I didn’t even play on Hard difficulty, yet I still found it to be very draining. I do highly recommend Silent Hill 3, but make sure that you’re mentally prepared going into it. This game still managed to freak me out despite the fact that I usually enjoy dark and gruesome media. If you don’t have a high tolerance for this sort of stuff, then I’m not sure if this is the right game for you. If you do have that kind of tolerance, or if you just want to challenge yourself, then I’ve yet to find a better way to test your courage than with Silent Hill 3.
If I had to describe Silent Hill 3 in one word, it would be intense. While not much in terms of gameplay has changed between this game and the previous ones, its structure and balance have been adjusted in a way that really stressed me out and made the horror more effective than it's ever been in the franchise. I actually had to take breaks and play through it over the course of shorter sessions because I found the game to be immensely draining, even despite its short run time. Silent Hill 3 is a treacherous, suffocating nightmare from start to finish, and is quite possibly the scariest game I’ve ever played.
The previous titles in the franchise had a general pattern they’d follow. You’d usually explore the monster and fog infested town of Silent Hill for a bit before entering one of the indoor dungeon-like locations. These mostly consisted of large, dark and decrepit buildings with multiple floors, long narrow halls, various locked rooms that you’d need to find keys for, as well as several puzzles that you’d need to solve. You’d usually fight a boss once you reach the end of these places as well. These locations were generally where the games’ horror was most concentrated, as rooms contained gruesome imagery and setpieces to experience. Once you successfully clear one of these areas, you usually experience a cutscene or two and then head back into town and explore it a bit more as well as develop the story further before traveling to the next big indoor location. Rinse and repeat until the game’s climax.
The treks through town offered the player a momentary sense of relief and a chance to breathe a little bit after making it out of those dark and terrifying labyrinths. Now, the town wasn’t completely free of danger, as writhing and contorting creatures still roamed the roads and streets, but because you were outside in a more open environment, you’re generally able to maneuver around them rather easily, to the point where they’re not too much of a threat. However, Silent Hill 3 does things a little bit differently. Here, you spend almost the entire playtime making your way through those indoor dungeon-like areas. From the start of the game until a little over halfway through it, you go from one horrifying maze to the next. You really don’t spend much time exploring the town at all. This dramatically lowers the amount of opportunities for the player to catch their breath, limiting them mostly to tiny rooms void of any danger where you can save your game.
In my review of Silent Hill 2, my main point of criticism was that the game gave you way too much ammo and healing items. This dramatically lessened the effect of the horror, as there wasn’t really anything stopping you from playing safe and shooting just about every enemy you come across. Silent Hill 3 feels like an angry, vicious response to that criticism. Not only are ammo and healing items much more sparse in comparison to previous games, but the enemies are also far more aggressive. A majority of them are also designed to be either really tall, wide, or both. Most enemies eclipse Heather in size. Since you’re constantly making your way through cramped and narrow corridors, it makes avoiding and moving around these enemies rather difficult. As a result, strategic decision-making and resource management during combat is extremely vital. Even though this game came out twenty years ago, it really feels like Team Silent heard my Silent Hill 2 complaint and went above and beyond to address it here, to the point where I feel like it borders on overcorrection. Still, I do think that Silent Hill 3 is better off this way as opposed to the stockpile of ammo and healing items you’re left with at the end of Silent Hill 2.
Once again, the art direction and sound design are both handled in true masterclass fashion. The art direction in particular is extremely visceral, especially during the Otherworld sequences. It’s very reminiscent of the corrupted industrial look of Silent Hill 1, but with the PlayStation 2’s higher graphical fidelity, the game’s visuals are more striking and impactful than ever. The reddish-orange color palette that covers many areas of the game and the sadistic and violent imagery really makes you feel like you’re trapped in hell on earth.
The minimal amount of town exploration, the lack of opportunities to safely collect yourself, the greater focus on combat and resource management, in addition to the already horrifying art direction and sound design on par with the previous games, all come together to make Silent Hill 3 an immensely stressful experience. The stress in turn made the fear and horror more effective than it’s ever been in the series. I was constantly worried about my resources in addition to already feeling tense as a result of the horrific environments you have to find your way out of. Aside from the other two Silent Hill games, my horror experience up until this point has been limited to Resident Evil titles as well as Signalis. None have been as successful at making me constantly feel sheer terror and dread as Silent Hill 3 has. I fully admit that this game freaked me the hell out, and I applaud it for that accomplishment.
My biggest complaint is that while exploring a couple of areas in the game, you can stumble into rooms or areas that I consider to be traps. These are rooms that have enemies in them but otherwise serve literally no other purpose. There’s no supplies you can find, no reward for combatting the enemies, nothing. If you wander into these rooms trying to find something that you need to progress, you’ll wind up wasting your very limited ammo and healing items clearing these rooms out, only to find nothing for your efforts. I will cut the game a bit of slack because I did notice that these “trap rooms” are often very close to save rooms, so you can reload a save if you end up wandering into one of them and wasting your supplies. Still, I think that their inclusion in general is pointless and frustrating. All they do is waste time, as well as needlessly confuse and punish the player for exploring.
My next biggest issue is one that’s shared with Silent Hill 2: the camera really sucks. Just like in that game, the camera will sometimes just refuse to cooperate in narrow halls, and trying to force it to will just cause it to spin around wildly and make it nearly impossible to see what’s in front of Heather. It’s especially frustrating here when there are enemies in a hall that you encounter, and you can’t tell if your gun shots are actually hitting their target, meaning you have no idea whether or not you’re wasting ammo.
In stark contrast to Silent Hill 2, storytelling is less of a focus this time around. After the very beginning of the game, cutscenes and story development in general mostly take a backseat until a little over halfway through. Despite that, there’s no less of a focus on strong themes. Silent Hill 3 is a game all about the fear and pain of being a woman. The locations you make your way through are mostly places that women have been known to be typically harassed at, either verbally or physically. There are constant, violent depictions of motherhood and childbirth. The fact that so many enemies are much bigger than Heather could also be reminiscent of how men are generally larger than women and able to physically overpower them. I don’t have especially strong feelings about the main plot. It does have some impactful moments, especially if you’ve played the first game, but as a whole, it feels rather poorly put together. I find the imagery, symbolism and the unspoken implications of the environments to be far more stand out aspects.
Silent Hill 3 goes all out in trying to make the player feel afraid, and in that regard it absolutely knocks it out of the park. The thing is though, fear is all the game really made me feel. The previous Silent Hill games made me feel a lot more in terms of emotion, especially Silent Hill 2. There was a sense of mystery and tragedy to them that isn’t as present in Silent Hill 3. Tragedy is certainly present here, don’t get me wrong, if you know, you know. But I feel like it's limited to only a single instance. If you’ve played Silent Hill 1, then it’s pretty easy to just assume what’s going on, there’s not really much in terms of a mystery to figure out here. If you haven’t played Silent Hill 1, then I feel like the emotional moments will just go over your head even if the game does try to accommodate the folks who missed out on it. This is an extremely minor nitpick in the grand scheme of things, but it’s still something I wanted to make note of because it was an element of the previous games that I loved and its absence really stood out to me.
This game really put me through the wringer, but in a good way. I think it’s the most well structured and focused of the Team Silent games I’ve played up until this point. The only aspect of it that’s lacking compared to its predecessors is the quality of its main plot, which again, isn’t really that big of a deal. Still, as great and successful as this game is, I ended up feeling extremely exhausted by the end of it. I have to admit that I don’t really want to play this game again for quite some time. I didn’t even play on Hard difficulty, yet I still found it to be very draining. I do highly recommend Silent Hill 3, but make sure that you’re mentally prepared going into it. This game still managed to freak me out despite the fact that I usually enjoy dark and gruesome media. If you don’t have a high tolerance for this sort of stuff, then I’m not sure if this is the right game for you. If you do have that kind of tolerance, or if you just want to challenge yourself, then I’ve yet to find a better way to test your courage than with Silent Hill 3.
Silent Hill 3 has an amazing story and some of the best characters, imagery, and symbolism in the series so far but to be honest I can't really talk about it without acknowledging how frustrated I was with the gameplay at times. The difficulty is much higher than the previous games, which is an improvement in itself since it feels a lot more like a survivor horror game where the other games didn't require so much resource management. I have to admit it got a little boring having to run past most enemies, and fighting with the limited camera controls in order to aim was frustrating. I also ran out of healing items for the final boss and after trying to beat it for the better part of two hours I caved and used beginner mode. I would definitely like to play it again and see if the game gets easier with more experience.
I hope that Silent Hill 3 gets an Enhanced Edition style mod someday because I experienced a lot of performance issues and certain areas ran essentially in slow motion. Even with all the stuttering this game is still great to look at; the graphics aged very well.
In terms of the story, I think Heather is a fantastic protagonist and I think the writers did a great job of writing a female character. The use of religious themes in the game was super interesting and better executed than the first game. My main issue with the story is pacing. The game doesn't have much story momentum until about the halfway point so I spent a good chunk of the game wondering when any of the major plot points would be introduced.
Overall I didn't enjoy this game as much as I'd hoped, but at the same time it did so many things so well that I can't justify a lower rating. It is a worthwhile addition to the series and a great followup to the first game.
I hope that Silent Hill 3 gets an Enhanced Edition style mod someday because I experienced a lot of performance issues and certain areas ran essentially in slow motion. Even with all the stuttering this game is still great to look at; the graphics aged very well.
In terms of the story, I think Heather is a fantastic protagonist and I think the writers did a great job of writing a female character. The use of religious themes in the game was super interesting and better executed than the first game. My main issue with the story is pacing. The game doesn't have much story momentum until about the halfway point so I spent a good chunk of the game wondering when any of the major plot points would be introduced.
Overall I didn't enjoy this game as much as I'd hoped, but at the same time it did so many things so well that I can't justify a lower rating. It is a worthwhile addition to the series and a great followup to the first game.
I shit my pants 3 times
Man I can't remember the last time I felt this conflicted about a video game that I liked
There is a visceral coming-of-age story here about identity, defiance and actualization, the locales are some of the most lovingly crafted I've seen in the genre both in terms of feeling lived-in as well as absolutely grotesque when necessary, the gameplay feels simultaneously more intuitive as well as demanding what with the enemy variety and lack of resources, and Heather's demeanor is a constant treat that perfectly fits the story's themes
At the same time, a literal half the game is spent meandering around with almost zero motivation until the plot shows up and shovels itself into your face with no subtlety, the enhanced action focus punishes you for engaging with enemies by making later boss fights absolutely insufferable, all characters being connected to Heather in one way or another takes away from that signature uncomfortable feeling of finding another human in Silent Hill, and a good chunk of the game being a repeat dungeon from SH2 just exhausts me despite its Otherworld being spectacular
But, but, but then, so much of this plays in thematically with what they're going for!! It's turbulent, things feel overwhelming, everyone expects shit of you that you couldn't care less about, I don't wanna give birth to God I wanna listen to Blink-182!!! Every major opposition ends up getting actively mocked by the main character to the point that this often feels like an RE game in terms of tone, and as jarring as it can be after going through SH1&2, it makes perfect sense. Heather killing God with her own hands, cracking a quip like she always did, and then following it with a bout of such intense, sincere grief is an incredible way to tie together a character in a game that had a very limited time to tell its story. Acceptance of suffering as a fact of life followed up by a ditzy joke about blondes is the essence of Silent Hill 3 and I cannot think of a better way for it to end
I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a while. I hope subsequent playthroughs don't turn it into one of those games I'd rather reminisce about than actually replay
There is a visceral coming-of-age story here about identity, defiance and actualization, the locales are some of the most lovingly crafted I've seen in the genre both in terms of feeling lived-in as well as absolutely grotesque when necessary, the gameplay feels simultaneously more intuitive as well as demanding what with the enemy variety and lack of resources, and Heather's demeanor is a constant treat that perfectly fits the story's themes
At the same time, a literal half the game is spent meandering around with almost zero motivation until the plot shows up and shovels itself into your face with no subtlety, the enhanced action focus punishes you for engaging with enemies by making later boss fights absolutely insufferable, all characters being connected to Heather in one way or another takes away from that signature uncomfortable feeling of finding another human in Silent Hill, and a good chunk of the game being a repeat dungeon from SH2 just exhausts me despite its Otherworld being spectacular
But, but, but then, so much of this plays in thematically with what they're going for!! It's turbulent, things feel overwhelming, everyone expects shit of you that you couldn't care less about, I don't wanna give birth to God I wanna listen to Blink-182!!! Every major opposition ends up getting actively mocked by the main character to the point that this often feels like an RE game in terms of tone, and as jarring as it can be after going through SH1&2, it makes perfect sense. Heather killing God with her own hands, cracking a quip like she always did, and then following it with a bout of such intense, sincere grief is an incredible way to tie together a character in a game that had a very limited time to tell its story. Acceptance of suffering as a fact of life followed up by a ditzy joke about blondes is the essence of Silent Hill 3 and I cannot think of a better way for it to end
I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a while. I hope subsequent playthroughs don't turn it into one of those games I'd rather reminisce about than actually replay
most of my reviews are prompted by a problem with a game, its fanbase, or its critical reception. silent hill 3 is... perfect, and everyone with their head on straight knows it. no notes.
𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯?
I’ve taken a considerable amount of time between my experiences with each of the main Silent Hill games. I played the first entry around six-seven years ago when I was still in a mutually toxic relationship and found it excellent yet downright baffling. Containing industrial and metallic horrors beyond immediate comprehension and freaky cults and oddly touching ‘chosen family’ dynamics, it pushed the limits for what I believed a PS1 title could achieve through sheer atmosphere and symbolic prowess alone. After nabbing a decently priced copy of the second game a year post my separation from said relationship (and in the wake of the pandemic), I found myself shattered by its oppressive deconstruction of a guilty conscience and the interconnective nature of trauma- both shared and isolated. How pain binds fractured souls together, and winds them up into botched and abstracted spaces of American normality to fend for themselves on a primal level. It took everything the first entry accomplished and confidently treks into bold territories that challenged the player’s allegiance to their supposed protagonist as well as call attention to their adjacent relationships to side characters- who upon the surface don’t directly contribute much to James’ arc but rather gracefully ebb and flow with the intention of supplementing the themes of the story. These first two games were exhausting to push through, almost sadist in quality and punishing in developer motivation with how they marry deeply complicated and expressionistic narratives with deliberately stunted and claustrophobic gameplay. They are, to me, a primordial testament to what the medium can achieve as singular works of art (as well as propelling the interactive possibilities of horror).
Anyways, Backloggd word salad aside, it has been nearly four years and I have finally gotten to the trilogy capper. I have since healed from my own personal traumas from the relationship that haunted my experiences with the previous two games (but still write the inflated wordy nonsense on here for the four people that actually read my reviews). That word, “healed”, succinctly captures what it felt like to play through Silent Hill III. It is an encompassing coming of age narrative about origin and birthright and interrogates the identity that we are born with versus the one we ultimately choose for ourselves. The game also wraps itself back into the thematic backbone of the first game in a clever way, weaving in ideas of evangelic persecution that removes women’s agency from their bodies and intertwining that with emotional struggles of familial belonging. Team Silent fills the game with the adequate amount of angst, grief, and sass that any teenage girl confronts as they are exposed to the chronic realities of impending adulthood. And yes, it is also very scary; utilizing some fairly cursed sound work and utterly hideous (and frequently phallic) creature designs in addition to incorporating another deliciously brooding soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka. Everything in this game carries the instinct to exercise hostility and discomfort towards Heather. Who didn’t feel that way about the world as an insecure adolescent? At the very least the sense that nothing is quite “okay” permeates much of the game’s wildly structured first half leading up to the story’s venture to the titular town in the second. The player navigates through malls, subway stations, construction sites, office buildings, and apartment complexes with the overall goal of getting home and then from there we are thrust into the familiar spaces we’ve walked before as other characters.
Despite its messy development, this is as much an effectively bittersweet culmination of the franchise’s mythology as it a deliriously unique exploration of its own themes. While I wasn’t as taken with the characterizations here as I was with the previous entry (Douglas didn’t do much for me, sorry), that remains somewhat the only sour note to an otherwise masterful game that I imagine will smooth over with time. Just writing this I look back on my nights playing this fondly and already with slight tinges of nostalgia. Every dream-like moment is so committed to utmost immersion for the player, inducing unease within the most mundane of everyday locations- at least before they are transformed into otherworldly distortions of malice incarnate. This dynamic allows for pulpy levity that toggles self-reflexive tone shifting; registering discordant humor, occasional dramatic poignancy, but mostly unhinged beats of urban surrealism. The game’s iconic visual and thematic aesthetic teamed with Heather’s infectious presence providing a much-needed cushion for the player to fall back on for reprieve against the most ungodly of manifestations, this is truly as well-rounded as horror games can be. Now if someone out there wants to lend me Silent Hill IV..
I’ve taken a considerable amount of time between my experiences with each of the main Silent Hill games. I played the first entry around six-seven years ago when I was still in a mutually toxic relationship and found it excellent yet downright baffling. Containing industrial and metallic horrors beyond immediate comprehension and freaky cults and oddly touching ‘chosen family’ dynamics, it pushed the limits for what I believed a PS1 title could achieve through sheer atmosphere and symbolic prowess alone. After nabbing a decently priced copy of the second game a year post my separation from said relationship (and in the wake of the pandemic), I found myself shattered by its oppressive deconstruction of a guilty conscience and the interconnective nature of trauma- both shared and isolated. How pain binds fractured souls together, and winds them up into botched and abstracted spaces of American normality to fend for themselves on a primal level. It took everything the first entry accomplished and confidently treks into bold territories that challenged the player’s allegiance to their supposed protagonist as well as call attention to their adjacent relationships to side characters- who upon the surface don’t directly contribute much to James’ arc but rather gracefully ebb and flow with the intention of supplementing the themes of the story. These first two games were exhausting to push through, almost sadist in quality and punishing in developer motivation with how they marry deeply complicated and expressionistic narratives with deliberately stunted and claustrophobic gameplay. They are, to me, a primordial testament to what the medium can achieve as singular works of art (as well as propelling the interactive possibilities of horror).
Anyways, Backloggd word salad aside, it has been nearly four years and I have finally gotten to the trilogy capper. I have since healed from my own personal traumas from the relationship that haunted my experiences with the previous two games (but still write the inflated wordy nonsense on here for the four people that actually read my reviews). That word, “healed”, succinctly captures what it felt like to play through Silent Hill III. It is an encompassing coming of age narrative about origin and birthright and interrogates the identity that we are born with versus the one we ultimately choose for ourselves. The game also wraps itself back into the thematic backbone of the first game in a clever way, weaving in ideas of evangelic persecution that removes women’s agency from their bodies and intertwining that with emotional struggles of familial belonging. Team Silent fills the game with the adequate amount of angst, grief, and sass that any teenage girl confronts as they are exposed to the chronic realities of impending adulthood. And yes, it is also very scary; utilizing some fairly cursed sound work and utterly hideous (and frequently phallic) creature designs in addition to incorporating another deliciously brooding soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka. Everything in this game carries the instinct to exercise hostility and discomfort towards Heather. Who didn’t feel that way about the world as an insecure adolescent? At the very least the sense that nothing is quite “okay” permeates much of the game’s wildly structured first half leading up to the story’s venture to the titular town in the second. The player navigates through malls, subway stations, construction sites, office buildings, and apartment complexes with the overall goal of getting home and then from there we are thrust into the familiar spaces we’ve walked before as other characters.
Despite its messy development, this is as much an effectively bittersweet culmination of the franchise’s mythology as it a deliriously unique exploration of its own themes. While I wasn’t as taken with the characterizations here as I was with the previous entry (Douglas didn’t do much for me, sorry), that remains somewhat the only sour note to an otherwise masterful game that I imagine will smooth over with time. Just writing this I look back on my nights playing this fondly and already with slight tinges of nostalgia. Every dream-like moment is so committed to utmost immersion for the player, inducing unease within the most mundane of everyday locations- at least before they are transformed into otherworldly distortions of malice incarnate. This dynamic allows for pulpy levity that toggles self-reflexive tone shifting; registering discordant humor, occasional dramatic poignancy, but mostly unhinged beats of urban surrealism. The game’s iconic visual and thematic aesthetic teamed with Heather’s infectious presence providing a much-needed cushion for the player to fall back on for reprieve against the most ungodly of manifestations, this is truly as well-rounded as horror games can be. Now if someone out there wants to lend me Silent Hill IV..
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐂 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐂 𝐅𝐢𝐱 𝐌𝐨𝐝:
In my restless dreams, I see that town... My sweet Silent Hill, some could say I finally ended the big three of the franchise, and with a sad face I will tell you, the love for this game is huge and even if the next entries aren't as good as these three, this was THE entry to finally stop being afraid of the horror genre, also got into Resident Evil so a win-win!
Ok, without deviating too much, the story was weaker even if it connected dots to the happenings of 17 years ago, Silent Hill 1, but a solid story nonetheless.
This game is so freaking scary, you start the game and already encountering the huge sleeve monsters and the pendulums, I call them the beyblades (thought they were only the bosses of some part when I watched a trailer on YouTube.)
And while the game ended quickly, each session completed made the ending closer, can't say it was rushed, but there is less room to breath here you go from section to section and can't catch a break (less town exploration!), compared to the calm parts of SH1 / SH2 which made me more relaxed, this is without a doubt the scariest one I've played so far (just sweating thinking about SH4), the Otherworld parts followed by the soundtrack and monster noises really made me poop better the following days.
The perception of a game by the gaming community affects my ability to see it, this is why I tend to avoid seeing many reviews before submitting my thoughts here. Love Silent Hill 1, Silent Hill 2 (kudos for the team that made the Enhanced project for PC) and Silent Hill 3. I wish to have played this franchise so much sooner, and the nostalgia given for playing the PS3 HD Collection crappy version on the PS4's PS+ cloud streaming for some minutes gave a glimpse of what was awaiting. Hope this isn't the end, I want to keep enjoying the next Silent Hill entries. Silent Hill 4: The Room, don't fail me. Send me with the final love letter from the fantastic and creative, Team Silent.
In my restless dreams, I see that town... My sweet Silent Hill, some could say I finally ended the big three of the franchise, and with a sad face I will tell you, the love for this game is huge and even if the next entries aren't as good as these three, this was THE entry to finally stop being afraid of the horror genre, also got into Resident Evil so a win-win!
Ok, without deviating too much, the story was weaker even if it connected dots to the happenings of 17 years ago, Silent Hill 1, but a solid story nonetheless.
This game is so freaking scary, you start the game and already encountering the huge sleeve monsters and the pendulums, I call them the beyblades (thought they were only the bosses of some part when I watched a trailer on YouTube.)
And while the game ended quickly, each session completed made the ending closer, can't say it was rushed, but there is less room to breath here you go from section to section and can't catch a break (less town exploration!), compared to the calm parts of SH1 / SH2 which made me more relaxed, this is without a doubt the scariest one I've played so far (just sweating thinking about SH4), the Otherworld parts followed by the soundtrack and monster noises really made me poop better the following days.
The perception of a game by the gaming community affects my ability to see it, this is why I tend to avoid seeing many reviews before submitting my thoughts here. Love Silent Hill 1, Silent Hill 2 (kudos for the team that made the Enhanced project for PC) and Silent Hill 3. I wish to have played this franchise so much sooner, and the nostalgia given for playing the PS3 HD Collection crappy version on the PS4's PS+ cloud streaming for some minutes gave a glimpse of what was awaiting. Hope this isn't the end, I want to keep enjoying the next Silent Hill entries. Silent Hill 4: The Room, don't fail me. Send me with the final love letter from the fantastic and creative, Team Silent.
Отличный сиквел к оригиналу, но камера и управление до сих пор калят меня, особенно после 2 части, где все было в разы лучше.
Meditation on sexuality and adolescence within a labyrinthe landscape, one of the greatest ever
While SH2 is my personal favorite mainly due to the time and point in my life I was at when I first played it. SH3 is in my opinion the absolute peak of the series when it comes to horror, themes, and gameplay.
"I'll be waiting where all begins. In the town of Silent Hill"
Acho interessante o jeito como cada jogo dessa franquia até então aborda um aspecto diferente na utilização do terror.
No primeiro jogo, temos algo mais tenso ao enfrentar algo desconhecido;
No segundo, testemunhamos uma coisa mais melancólica e dramática;
E agora nesse terceiro, é simplesmente um terror mais frenético, onde não tem um segundo de paz sequer, ou seja, é uma porra louca insana (pro quarto jogo eu ainda não sei, mas eu chuto algo envolvendo mais um terror psicológico/onírico). A Team Silent (quem desenvolveu os jogos) não ficaram na mesma fórmula para executar o terror, eles sempre se mantiveram inovando a cada novo título, o que deixa muito imprevisível sobre o que pode acontecer ou os temas que irão retratar. Ás vezes até esqueço que todos esses jogos são sequenciais/se passam no mesmo universo, já que as histórias contadas são tão fechadinhos em cada título.
Como eu ressaltei antes, Silent Hill 3 possui uma outra maneira de abordar o terror, ousando em uma experiência mais agitada, isso é não só pela dificuldade do jogo, como também pela quantidade de inimigos e o quão difícil é de mata-los no combate em geral, seja com armas brancas ou de fogo (eu achei esse jogo o mais difícil até então). Os cenários acho que tem uma certa colaboração nisso tudo, assim como de costume da franquia, a maioria dos lugares dão uma sensação de claustrofobia enorme, entretanto os cenários e ambientação desse jogo, acho que são os melhores até então. É tudo muito grotesco e bizarro, lembra bastante o do primeiro jogo, principalmente na questão de ser uma loucura sem limites do tipo: você entra em um lugar e quando tenta voltar pro lugar onde estava antes ele some, ou até mesmo quando o cenário começa a dar uma sensação de vida e começa a mudar todo o ambiente e estrutura do lugar, sem contar nos momentos TROLLS. Parece que nada está verdadeiramente no controle e tudo pode acontecer da forma mais inesperada possível.
Os puzzles continuam presentes, mas aqui eu senti falta de um elemento que deixava a dinâmica da resolução de puzzles de uma maneira tão única pra franquia. Literalmente quase todos os puzzles desse jogo são sobre você descobrir senhas/números para abrir determinada porta ou algum compartimento e pegar algum item, só acrescentando que não são puzzles ruins, mas se comparar com os puzzles do primeiro e segundo jogo, eles são inferiores. Os antecessores de Silent Hill 3 tinham puzzles que eram relacionados ao enredo do game, fazia conexão com os personagens sempre de forma mais metafórica, mais interpretativa, acrescentavam na história dos jogos, porém aqui esse elemento se perdeu um pouco e se baseou somente a descobrir números.
Acho que nunca discuti isso aqui, mas eu não gosto muito da ideia de Silent Hill ter "BOSS FIGHTS". Eu acho que o conceito de BOSS FIGHTS não se encaixa muito com a proposta da franquia no geral , não é atoa que a maioria das batalhas contra esse tipo de inimigo não é tão boa e quando digo isso, não me refiro só nesse jogo, mas também me refiro tanto ao primeiro (principalmente) quanto ao segundo. Nesse jogo é ainda menos pior, aqui eu sinto que eles conseguiram desenvolver um pouquinho melhor, mas ainda me incomoda um pouco.
Os designs de monstros estão insanos e sinceramente acho que são os melhores da franquia até agora e também foram os que me causaram mais medo com toda certeza (e raiva também, porque putaquepariu tem uns bixo chato pra porra nesse jogo).
Um dos elementos que me agradou nesse jogo também foi a protagonista, a presença dela foi bem reconfortante, já que ela bem carismática, tem bastante personalidade e de certa forma um pouco irônica com algumas situações. A construção de personagem também é bem escrito e bastante interessante, mas sem querer entrar em detalhes pra não entrar em spoilers. Os personagens no geral são bons, mas a protagonista com certeza é a que mais se destaca.
Já cansei de rasgar elogios com a parte técnica da franquia, seja em direção, trilha sonora, gráficos (inclusive, os gráficos desse jogo acho que é um dos melhores que eu já vi em um PS2, muito bom), mas destaque aqui pro trabalho de som do jogo que é aterrorizante (não ironicamente) de boa.
Eu gosto da narrativa, acho que comparado com o segundo jogo, logicamente é inferior, mas esse tem o seu valor. Ele serve como um tipo de "retcon" (não sei se esse seria o termo certo) pro primeiro jogo principalmente, então tem muitas respostas de perguntas não respondidas, além de ter muitas comparações com situações parecidas do primeiro título. Ademais os diálogos são muito bem escritos também (como já de costume da franquia até então) e muito bem atuado (acho que é uma das melhores atuações da época do PS2 também).
Pra mim Silent Hill 3 tem seu valor, tanto quanto Silent Hill 2 tem, além de melhorar muitos aspectos do seu antecessor ele também traz uma aula de escrita e assim como o jogo anterior, ele também tem pequenos problemas, mas o jogo é tão especial que eu consigo passar o pano pra ele. Enfim, puta experiência satisfatória e falta somente mais um jogo pra completar essa quadrilogia, até então, maravilhosa.
Atualização: eu descobri que Silent Hill inicialmente não era pra ser uma quadrilogia e que o quarto jogo foi somente egoísmo da Konami..... então me corrigindo aqui: estou grato por ter jogado uma das melhores trilogias que já experimentei até então.
"Don't you think blondes have more fun?"
Acho interessante o jeito como cada jogo dessa franquia até então aborda um aspecto diferente na utilização do terror.
No primeiro jogo, temos algo mais tenso ao enfrentar algo desconhecido;
No segundo, testemunhamos uma coisa mais melancólica e dramática;
E agora nesse terceiro, é simplesmente um terror mais frenético, onde não tem um segundo de paz sequer, ou seja, é uma porra louca insana (pro quarto jogo eu ainda não sei, mas eu chuto algo envolvendo mais um terror psicológico/onírico). A Team Silent (quem desenvolveu os jogos) não ficaram na mesma fórmula para executar o terror, eles sempre se mantiveram inovando a cada novo título, o que deixa muito imprevisível sobre o que pode acontecer ou os temas que irão retratar. Ás vezes até esqueço que todos esses jogos são sequenciais/se passam no mesmo universo, já que as histórias contadas são tão fechadinhos em cada título.
Como eu ressaltei antes, Silent Hill 3 possui uma outra maneira de abordar o terror, ousando em uma experiência mais agitada, isso é não só pela dificuldade do jogo, como também pela quantidade de inimigos e o quão difícil é de mata-los no combate em geral, seja com armas brancas ou de fogo (eu achei esse jogo o mais difícil até então). Os cenários acho que tem uma certa colaboração nisso tudo, assim como de costume da franquia, a maioria dos lugares dão uma sensação de claustrofobia enorme, entretanto os cenários e ambientação desse jogo, acho que são os melhores até então. É tudo muito grotesco e bizarro, lembra bastante o do primeiro jogo, principalmente na questão de ser uma loucura sem limites do tipo: você entra em um lugar e quando tenta voltar pro lugar onde estava antes ele some, ou até mesmo quando o cenário começa a dar uma sensação de vida e começa a mudar todo o ambiente e estrutura do lugar, sem contar nos momentos TROLLS. Parece que nada está verdadeiramente no controle e tudo pode acontecer da forma mais inesperada possível.
Os puzzles continuam presentes, mas aqui eu senti falta de um elemento que deixava a dinâmica da resolução de puzzles de uma maneira tão única pra franquia. Literalmente quase todos os puzzles desse jogo são sobre você descobrir senhas/números para abrir determinada porta ou algum compartimento e pegar algum item, só acrescentando que não são puzzles ruins, mas se comparar com os puzzles do primeiro e segundo jogo, eles são inferiores. Os antecessores de Silent Hill 3 tinham puzzles que eram relacionados ao enredo do game, fazia conexão com os personagens sempre de forma mais metafórica, mais interpretativa, acrescentavam na história dos jogos, porém aqui esse elemento se perdeu um pouco e se baseou somente a descobrir números.
Acho que nunca discuti isso aqui, mas eu não gosto muito da ideia de Silent Hill ter "BOSS FIGHTS". Eu acho que o conceito de BOSS FIGHTS não se encaixa muito com a proposta da franquia no geral , não é atoa que a maioria das batalhas contra esse tipo de inimigo não é tão boa e quando digo isso, não me refiro só nesse jogo, mas também me refiro tanto ao primeiro (principalmente) quanto ao segundo. Nesse jogo é ainda menos pior, aqui eu sinto que eles conseguiram desenvolver um pouquinho melhor, mas ainda me incomoda um pouco.
Os designs de monstros estão insanos e sinceramente acho que são os melhores da franquia até agora e também foram os que me causaram mais medo com toda certeza (e raiva também, porque putaquepariu tem uns bixo chato pra porra nesse jogo).
Um dos elementos que me agradou nesse jogo também foi a protagonista, a presença dela foi bem reconfortante, já que ela bem carismática, tem bastante personalidade e de certa forma um pouco irônica com algumas situações. A construção de personagem também é bem escrito e bastante interessante, mas sem querer entrar em detalhes pra não entrar em spoilers. Os personagens no geral são bons, mas a protagonista com certeza é a que mais se destaca.
Já cansei de rasgar elogios com a parte técnica da franquia, seja em direção, trilha sonora, gráficos (inclusive, os gráficos desse jogo acho que é um dos melhores que eu já vi em um PS2, muito bom), mas destaque aqui pro trabalho de som do jogo que é aterrorizante (não ironicamente) de boa.
Eu gosto da narrativa, acho que comparado com o segundo jogo, logicamente é inferior, mas esse tem o seu valor. Ele serve como um tipo de "retcon" (não sei se esse seria o termo certo) pro primeiro jogo principalmente, então tem muitas respostas de perguntas não respondidas, além de ter muitas comparações com situações parecidas do primeiro título. Ademais os diálogos são muito bem escritos também (como já de costume da franquia até então) e muito bem atuado (acho que é uma das melhores atuações da época do PS2 também).
Pra mim Silent Hill 3 tem seu valor, tanto quanto Silent Hill 2 tem, além de melhorar muitos aspectos do seu antecessor ele também traz uma aula de escrita e assim como o jogo anterior, ele também tem pequenos problemas, mas o jogo é tão especial que eu consigo passar o pano pra ele. Enfim, puta experiência satisfatória e falta somente mais um jogo pra completar essa quadrilogia, até então, maravilhosa.
Atualização: eu descobri que Silent Hill inicialmente não era pra ser uma quadrilogia e que o quarto jogo foi somente egoísmo da Konami..... então me corrigindo aqui: estou grato por ter jogado uma das melhores trilogias que já experimentei até então.
"Don't you think blondes have more fun?"
Oh yeah this is def da best one and probably the closest thing to a comfort game for me
Good games are ones with pretty levels with pretty blonds and cool music.
Also Vincent being somewhat inspired by Vincent Gallo makes so much sense lol
Good games are ones with pretty levels with pretty blonds and cool music.
Also Vincent being somewhat inspired by Vincent Gallo makes so much sense lol
I remember the first time I ever saw Silent Hill 3. A friend told me:
"It's the scariest game ever made, dude. Seriously, you gotta play it. It keeps me up at night. You need to check it out."
Or something like that. I wasn't big on horror games. I was a real scaredy-cat as a kid. But the way they were hyping it up definitely got me curious. My step-brother had showed me games like Twisted Metal: Black before, and even though they freaked me out, I couldn't deny that they were just... Kind of cool. They felt adult in a different way from games like Grand Theft Auto, making me feel things, even if those feelings were largely unpleasant. At any rate, Nintendo was my main squeeze back then. I didn't have any fancy Playstation - and my parents wouldn't have condoned a game so intensely violent anyways - so it remained out of my reach. But there was this one site called Youtube where you could watch other people play video games...
I stumbled onto a Let's Player named L0rdVega (one of the earliest I can think of, and who hasn't uploaded a video in ten years). With his commentary keeping me grounded and sane, I managed to watch the game start to finish with my pants decidedly un-peed. And yeah, I was smitten. Following Heather's journey through Hell and back again was gripping. Still, for as awesome as it was, I didn't have the means to try it out for myself yet. That would be rectified with time, and I cut my teeth on a few other titles, the original Silent Hill included. And yet, despite Silent Hill 3 being what was likely my first real introduction to horror games, I didn't play it myself until much, much later. I think I needed time to forget everything so I could rediscover what made me fall in love. Thus, when I finally got around to my recent run-through, Heather's journey of self-discovery very much mirrored my own.
I won't be including any explicit spoilers, but I will be breaking down mechanics and characters somewhat, which may spoil your personal experience with it. If you want to go in completely blind - and I think that's for the best - skip on this for now. I should also note that I won't be making many (if any) comparisons to Silent Hill 2, as 3 being a continuation of the first game means I recommend playing them one after the next, and I want to highlight the disparity between those two.
I'm going to go ahead and start with my criticisms. I would absolutely love to tell you that Silent Hill 3 is a perfect game and feels like a full improvement on what came before. I would love to tell you that, but I would be lying. If we're being completely above ground about it, our third outing to this haunted town has some questionable design choices that somewhat dampen its impact.
So many of the quirks that are commonly associated with the series really begin to overstay their welcome at this point. "The lock is broken" might have started out as something I could lightheartedly roll my eyes at in 1999. Four years later, the tradition of rubbing my face up against hallways trying to figure out which one of these damn doors will actually open up has somewhat worn me down. It's easy to understand why Team Silent does it. Places that humans occupy generally have doors, and lots of them. Not having a lot of doors would make these locations feel strangely barren and potentially compromise their verisimilitude. But having something behind all of those doors would take away precious time and effort and attention from the ones that are meant to have something behind them. So what's the play? You just make 80% of them nonfunctional. Thus, the onus is on the player to sample them all while hordes of monstrosities nip at their heels. Shake hands with each door, and if one tells you "sorry, I'm just set dressing," then you mark it off with a squiggly line and never touch it again. In fairness, being forced to hastily find an escape from danger is a perfectly viable and valid way to ramp up tensions... Maybe the first or second time around. After a few hours of it, though, the sheen wears off a bit. I'm preemptively looking at my map for hallways with lots of doors and mentally hyping myself up to perform another 50-meter dash. Heather will have the makings of a varsity athlete by the time she gets home.
It isn't just the doors themselves, either - sometimes it's what's behind them. Compared to the first game, Silent Hill 3 seems to have a real affection for what I can only describe as "trap rooms". After performing the aforementioned scramble, you finally find a functional door, only to be greeted by a swarm of baddies. These rooms almost universally have no purpose, save for perhaps hiding a small cache of supplies. Often, though, there won't be anything in that room except enemies. I had eventually developed a reflex where if I opened a door and saw more three or more enemies at once, I would immediately mash R1+L1 to turn around and press X to leave. Whatever was in there, it likely wasn't worth it. It feels like a bit of a middle finger when you're already struggling to figure out where to go and you finally find a room you can enter, only to be greeted by yet another surprise party. It wasn't excessively frequent, but it definitely happened enough to make it worth mentioning.
Speaking of enemies, their design likewise suffers heavily here with regards to mechanics. Simply put, almost every single mook you encounter in the game is a complete asshole, and the game makes it worse by throwing you softballs at first. The first enemy you encounter in the game, the Closer, is a large and imposing foe. However, it's slow to attack and very easily juked out. A savvy player (and you should be savvy if you've played the others first) will likely make a mental note to simply avoid them when possible. It won't be long before you encounter the Numb Body and Double Head, the former of which is fairly trivial to defeat with melee weapons and the latter of which is, like any canine enemy, too fast and numerous to be worth combating unless your hand is forced. Then you run up against the Pendulums, who introduce themselves with some absolutely atrocious metallic screeching. These are where the problem really starts to set in. They tend to appear in groups and simply float towards you attempting to hit you with their swinging blades. Because they deal damage on contact and aim to swarm you, fighting them is unwise. Much better to simply try and kite them where they appear. Following this is the Insane Cancer, which is a broad, hard-hitting foe which is deceptively fast. They take a lot of punishment, are dangerous to fight with melee weapons, and have a regenerative factor that will result in them inevitably getting back up if you don't make a point of finishing them off while they're down. Better to avoid them where you can. Are you noticing a trend, here? It could be argued that a smart survival horror player will always try to avoid conflict where possible, as every engagement represents a potential loss of resources. What's more, any survival horror title worth its salt will also try to force you into spending some of those resources on occasion by putting you in situations where you'll need to bust out the big guns. Both of these things are true in Silent Hill 3, but every enemy that you meet either has a glaring weakness that makes facing them unnecessary or are strong enough that you would have to be foolish to willingly fight them. This comes to a head with the Slurpers. These are fast-moving creatures that crawl along the ground towards Heather. If one so much as grazes Heather, it will knock her onto the ground, dealing a small amount of damage but potentially dealing more if it crawls over her while she's prone. When I say it only needs to graze Heather, I mean that. If it's on the move and it brushes her foot, she's going down. They're too fast to reliably dodge, too low-profile to easily hit with melee weapons, and astonishingly hard to kill despite how small and common they are. So you'd want to avoid them, too... Except they frequently appear in tight corridors, sometimes in numbers, and are virtually impossible to sneak by without taking at least one hit. Every time I saw these guys, and I saw them a lot, I groaned. Oh, and before I forget, the nurses are back. They can use guns now. Whoever dreamt up that inspired concept, please contact me so we can meet up. I just want to pick your brain for a bit. Anyways, by the time you approach the end of the game, most of the less threatening enemy types are replaced by the more irritating ones, and the horror might start to give way to frustration after a point. It's a difficult balancing act and I feel the first game might have chosen the better extreme: I would never call the original Silent Hill especially challenging, but it always felt like fight or flight was still a choice I had in most cases. In Silent Hill 3, when I'm forced to fight I feel put upon, and when I choose to fight I feel like a dumbass.
By the by, there's this whole mechanic now where you can find what are basically Beggin' Strips and leave them as bait to distract certain enemy types. Never had much luck with that, which is a real shame, because I can't eat the jerky either.
There's a handful of other gripes I have. Heather is more competent in melee combat than our two previous protagonists. She can block! It's a far handier ability than you might initially anticipate, but even though the controls are overall much better compared to where we started out, scrapping can still manage to be frustratingly awkward at times. This, combined with the issues I've already mentioned, can lead to a lot of moments where you're taking more scrapes than you may feel you deserve. Shame, then, that the game is noticeably stingier on supplies as well. Regardless of that, the bosses are largely pushovers. The puzzles are a bit more involved than previous examples but I can't readily recommend setting the riddle difficulty to "High" here. They've never been this series' strong point and all you're really doing is giving yourself a few possible roadblocks that will kill the game's pacing. Speaking of, while the game isn't especially long, it is notably longer than the first Silent Hill and some areas can feel a bit drawn out. This can probably be at least partly attributed to the fact that the game is rather cleanly split down the middle, and the first half doesn't offer too much in the way of story revelations to keep you looking forwards. The level design doesn't help much either, with at least one or two locations being surprisingly open-ended and not doing a great job of funneling you in the correct direction. This can lead to you wandering around a fair bit before finally going "oooooh" and feeling like a dope. At the very least, there's much less chance of you missing cues and getting an unsatisfying ending. And yeah, for as much as I obviously adore the visuals of Silent Hill, there were a couple of moments where things became so chaotic I had a hard time locating doors or items. None of these ruined my fun by any stretch of the imagination, but it does feel like Silent Hill 3 could have spent maybe just a little more time in the oven.
Finally, what hurts me the most: The refusal to commit to better writing and voice direction finally starts to take its toll. The writing, for its part, isn't especially bad - it's just not especially good, either. For the most part it works just fine, and can even be quite affective or entertaining, but every now and again you just get one or two chuckle-worthy lines that make you wonder if the translators were having an off day or if somebody at Konami really just thinks people talk like that. The voice acting itself is a bit more questionable. Heather Morris did well in voicing our protagonist, and I can chalk up the moments where she slips to the quality of the writing and direction. Claudia is also performed well, even if she is inexplicably British in a game that takes place in the States. It would have been a little less weird if her dad had the same accent, but eh. Douglas and Vincent easily suffer the most, here. Richard Grosse shows brief flashes of the grizzled gumshoe he's intended to portray, but a lot of the time he sounds like he showed up to work half-awake. (Rest in peace, Richard.) He asks a lot of questions, which is to be expected of a detective, but the questions being asked make him sound more clueless than anything else. Clifford Rippel has a voice that should suit a weasel like Vincent, but he sounds like he's phoning a lot of his lines in - a shame, given Vincent delivers many of the more important ones in the story. Again, it's easy enough to blame that on the direction. Still, the overall quality of the acting and writing can potentially undercut what really should have been a very dramatic and emotional conclusion to the story Silent Hill began. And of course, there's one particular character who is sadly underutilized... But I suppose that simply is what it is.
Much like the first game, Silent Hill 3 has its fair share of weaknesses that sadly keep it from being perfect. By comparison, though, this game has the benefit of a few years and a surge in popularity behind it. The few improvements made don't do quite enough to mask that other aspects of the experience still weren't getting the love they deserved.
But it's really hard for me to fixate on any of that too much because Silent Hill 3 is harrowing.
Everything about the experience from an audiovisual standpoint is refined to a razor edge. The demo opens with "You're Not Here", a dark and emotional alt-rock piece that perfectly encapsulates the mood of the game while giving you a sampler platter of the horrors you're about to live through. The game wastes absolutely zero time tossing you into the deep end, with an initial dream sequence that mirrors the one Harry experienced at the start of the first Silent Hill, followed by a brief introductory cutscene before things immediately take a turn for the worse. The scenes of pain, decay and primal fears made manifest are beautifully realized here, translating the abstract appearance of the Otherworld into something much more visceral and tangible. Meanwhile, Akira Yamaoka works his usual magic converting terror into sound. An incessant and discomforting cry fills the corridors of this dilapidated office space. A rusted metal gate slams shut behind you as you enter an elevator, so violent as to almost seem hostile. The silence of a dim storage room is broken by a sudden and hurried thumping outside. Is there something waiting for me there? Or is it merely watching? Your pocket radio still shrieks at the presence of evil, and as it blends together with the grinding and grating ambience, the sensory overload will leave little room for much other than panic. Watching the world around me slowly melt into something beyond my wildest dreams was equal parts disgusting and mesmerizing, and when all is said and done, I think the artistic talents of Team Silent are demonstrated masterfully in Silent Hill 3.
Heather's character design deserves to be given special attention for what it lends to the experience. Unlike the deliberately simple everymen of the previous two games and of the broader genre, Heather is a young girl of 17 years. She wears her heart on her sleeve and responds to the events happening around her with intense fear, but also with a heaping spoonful of sarcasm and flippancy. She's in way over her head, and she knows it, but she pushes forward regardless because the only other option would be to keel over and die. As you interact with her surroundings, she gives insight into her memories and phobias, and makes it clear that even if she doesn't understand why she's been thrust into this waking nightmare, she's always suspected there was something decidedly unordinary about her. She also makes it abundantly clear she loves her dad. Meanwhile, she's pursued by assailants both seen and unseen. Heather's foes have suggestive designs and can often put her in compromising and voyeuristic positions. She is followed by strange men who all seemingly want something from her, and acquires at least one truly abhorrent admirer along the way. All the while, she must reckon with a destiny that has been forced upon her, and one that she is horrified of seeing through to the end. She's perfectly relatable and perfectly vulnerable. Even though her dismissive attitude sometimes comes off as almost comical, her steadfastness even in the face of a reality that would break the minds of most makes her a lead that's easy to root for and to admire. Silent Hill 3 does an exceptional job of conveying two key points: This town is terrifying, and so is being Heather.
While I don't want to downplay the shortcomings of this game, I feel that its strengths handily outweigh its weaknesses. Did it come dangerously close to sucking me out of my immersion every now and again? Yes. But when it had my attention, it had my full attention. It begs for a bit more refinement in a few departments, but when all is said and done I play horror games to be horrified, and Silent Hill 3 delivers in spades. It has hands down the most disturbing imagery and heart-stoppingly frightening moments of the original trilogy (or quadrilogy) - in my opinion, of course. It also does an admirable job of filling out the background lore, especially with regards to the Order that is central to so much of it. I don't think we've seen anything quite like it in the last twenty years, and at the absolute least, I can't say I'm as eager as some others might be for Silent Hill's supposed return. This is lightning in a bottle. Asking for another serving is vanity.
I love this game and I love Silent Hill. Haven't played it? If you have a love of horror games or, frankly, art in general, I think the series is absolutely worth diving into. You can start from the beginning or start with 2, but you should definitely play 3 shortly after the first. It helps keep the lack of build up at the beginning of 3 from feeling too jarring if you consider 1 to be the true introduction.
Is that the end? I guess it's time to roll the credits.
"It's the scariest game ever made, dude. Seriously, you gotta play it. It keeps me up at night. You need to check it out."
Or something like that. I wasn't big on horror games. I was a real scaredy-cat as a kid. But the way they were hyping it up definitely got me curious. My step-brother had showed me games like Twisted Metal: Black before, and even though they freaked me out, I couldn't deny that they were just... Kind of cool. They felt adult in a different way from games like Grand Theft Auto, making me feel things, even if those feelings were largely unpleasant. At any rate, Nintendo was my main squeeze back then. I didn't have any fancy Playstation - and my parents wouldn't have condoned a game so intensely violent anyways - so it remained out of my reach. But there was this one site called Youtube where you could watch other people play video games...
I stumbled onto a Let's Player named L0rdVega (one of the earliest I can think of, and who hasn't uploaded a video in ten years). With his commentary keeping me grounded and sane, I managed to watch the game start to finish with my pants decidedly un-peed. And yeah, I was smitten. Following Heather's journey through Hell and back again was gripping. Still, for as awesome as it was, I didn't have the means to try it out for myself yet. That would be rectified with time, and I cut my teeth on a few other titles, the original Silent Hill included. And yet, despite Silent Hill 3 being what was likely my first real introduction to horror games, I didn't play it myself until much, much later. I think I needed time to forget everything so I could rediscover what made me fall in love. Thus, when I finally got around to my recent run-through, Heather's journey of self-discovery very much mirrored my own.
I won't be including any explicit spoilers, but I will be breaking down mechanics and characters somewhat, which may spoil your personal experience with it. If you want to go in completely blind - and I think that's for the best - skip on this for now. I should also note that I won't be making many (if any) comparisons to Silent Hill 2, as 3 being a continuation of the first game means I recommend playing them one after the next, and I want to highlight the disparity between those two.
I'm going to go ahead and start with my criticisms. I would absolutely love to tell you that Silent Hill 3 is a perfect game and feels like a full improvement on what came before. I would love to tell you that, but I would be lying. If we're being completely above ground about it, our third outing to this haunted town has some questionable design choices that somewhat dampen its impact.
So many of the quirks that are commonly associated with the series really begin to overstay their welcome at this point. "The lock is broken" might have started out as something I could lightheartedly roll my eyes at in 1999. Four years later, the tradition of rubbing my face up against hallways trying to figure out which one of these damn doors will actually open up has somewhat worn me down. It's easy to understand why Team Silent does it. Places that humans occupy generally have doors, and lots of them. Not having a lot of doors would make these locations feel strangely barren and potentially compromise their verisimilitude. But having something behind all of those doors would take away precious time and effort and attention from the ones that are meant to have something behind them. So what's the play? You just make 80% of them nonfunctional. Thus, the onus is on the player to sample them all while hordes of monstrosities nip at their heels. Shake hands with each door, and if one tells you "sorry, I'm just set dressing," then you mark it off with a squiggly line and never touch it again. In fairness, being forced to hastily find an escape from danger is a perfectly viable and valid way to ramp up tensions... Maybe the first or second time around. After a few hours of it, though, the sheen wears off a bit. I'm preemptively looking at my map for hallways with lots of doors and mentally hyping myself up to perform another 50-meter dash. Heather will have the makings of a varsity athlete by the time she gets home.
It isn't just the doors themselves, either - sometimes it's what's behind them. Compared to the first game, Silent Hill 3 seems to have a real affection for what I can only describe as "trap rooms". After performing the aforementioned scramble, you finally find a functional door, only to be greeted by a swarm of baddies. These rooms almost universally have no purpose, save for perhaps hiding a small cache of supplies. Often, though, there won't be anything in that room except enemies. I had eventually developed a reflex where if I opened a door and saw more three or more enemies at once, I would immediately mash R1+L1 to turn around and press X to leave. Whatever was in there, it likely wasn't worth it. It feels like a bit of a middle finger when you're already struggling to figure out where to go and you finally find a room you can enter, only to be greeted by yet another surprise party. It wasn't excessively frequent, but it definitely happened enough to make it worth mentioning.
Speaking of enemies, their design likewise suffers heavily here with regards to mechanics. Simply put, almost every single mook you encounter in the game is a complete asshole, and the game makes it worse by throwing you softballs at first. The first enemy you encounter in the game, the Closer, is a large and imposing foe. However, it's slow to attack and very easily juked out. A savvy player (and you should be savvy if you've played the others first) will likely make a mental note to simply avoid them when possible. It won't be long before you encounter the Numb Body and Double Head, the former of which is fairly trivial to defeat with melee weapons and the latter of which is, like any canine enemy, too fast and numerous to be worth combating unless your hand is forced. Then you run up against the Pendulums, who introduce themselves with some absolutely atrocious metallic screeching. These are where the problem really starts to set in. They tend to appear in groups and simply float towards you attempting to hit you with their swinging blades. Because they deal damage on contact and aim to swarm you, fighting them is unwise. Much better to simply try and kite them where they appear. Following this is the Insane Cancer, which is a broad, hard-hitting foe which is deceptively fast. They take a lot of punishment, are dangerous to fight with melee weapons, and have a regenerative factor that will result in them inevitably getting back up if you don't make a point of finishing them off while they're down. Better to avoid them where you can. Are you noticing a trend, here? It could be argued that a smart survival horror player will always try to avoid conflict where possible, as every engagement represents a potential loss of resources. What's more, any survival horror title worth its salt will also try to force you into spending some of those resources on occasion by putting you in situations where you'll need to bust out the big guns. Both of these things are true in Silent Hill 3, but every enemy that you meet either has a glaring weakness that makes facing them unnecessary or are strong enough that you would have to be foolish to willingly fight them. This comes to a head with the Slurpers. These are fast-moving creatures that crawl along the ground towards Heather. If one so much as grazes Heather, it will knock her onto the ground, dealing a small amount of damage but potentially dealing more if it crawls over her while she's prone. When I say it only needs to graze Heather, I mean that. If it's on the move and it brushes her foot, she's going down. They're too fast to reliably dodge, too low-profile to easily hit with melee weapons, and astonishingly hard to kill despite how small and common they are. So you'd want to avoid them, too... Except they frequently appear in tight corridors, sometimes in numbers, and are virtually impossible to sneak by without taking at least one hit. Every time I saw these guys, and I saw them a lot, I groaned. Oh, and before I forget, the nurses are back. They can use guns now. Whoever dreamt up that inspired concept, please contact me so we can meet up. I just want to pick your brain for a bit. Anyways, by the time you approach the end of the game, most of the less threatening enemy types are replaced by the more irritating ones, and the horror might start to give way to frustration after a point. It's a difficult balancing act and I feel the first game might have chosen the better extreme: I would never call the original Silent Hill especially challenging, but it always felt like fight or flight was still a choice I had in most cases. In Silent Hill 3, when I'm forced to fight I feel put upon, and when I choose to fight I feel like a dumbass.
By the by, there's this whole mechanic now where you can find what are basically Beggin' Strips and leave them as bait to distract certain enemy types. Never had much luck with that, which is a real shame, because I can't eat the jerky either.
There's a handful of other gripes I have. Heather is more competent in melee combat than our two previous protagonists. She can block! It's a far handier ability than you might initially anticipate, but even though the controls are overall much better compared to where we started out, scrapping can still manage to be frustratingly awkward at times. This, combined with the issues I've already mentioned, can lead to a lot of moments where you're taking more scrapes than you may feel you deserve. Shame, then, that the game is noticeably stingier on supplies as well. Regardless of that, the bosses are largely pushovers. The puzzles are a bit more involved than previous examples but I can't readily recommend setting the riddle difficulty to "High" here. They've never been this series' strong point and all you're really doing is giving yourself a few possible roadblocks that will kill the game's pacing. Speaking of, while the game isn't especially long, it is notably longer than the first Silent Hill and some areas can feel a bit drawn out. This can probably be at least partly attributed to the fact that the game is rather cleanly split down the middle, and the first half doesn't offer too much in the way of story revelations to keep you looking forwards. The level design doesn't help much either, with at least one or two locations being surprisingly open-ended and not doing a great job of funneling you in the correct direction. This can lead to you wandering around a fair bit before finally going "oooooh" and feeling like a dope. At the very least, there's much less chance of you missing cues and getting an unsatisfying ending. And yeah, for as much as I obviously adore the visuals of Silent Hill, there were a couple of moments where things became so chaotic I had a hard time locating doors or items. None of these ruined my fun by any stretch of the imagination, but it does feel like Silent Hill 3 could have spent maybe just a little more time in the oven.
Finally, what hurts me the most: The refusal to commit to better writing and voice direction finally starts to take its toll. The writing, for its part, isn't especially bad - it's just not especially good, either. For the most part it works just fine, and can even be quite affective or entertaining, but every now and again you just get one or two chuckle-worthy lines that make you wonder if the translators were having an off day or if somebody at Konami really just thinks people talk like that. The voice acting itself is a bit more questionable. Heather Morris did well in voicing our protagonist, and I can chalk up the moments where she slips to the quality of the writing and direction. Claudia is also performed well, even if she is inexplicably British in a game that takes place in the States. It would have been a little less weird if her dad had the same accent, but eh. Douglas and Vincent easily suffer the most, here. Richard Grosse shows brief flashes of the grizzled gumshoe he's intended to portray, but a lot of the time he sounds like he showed up to work half-awake. (Rest in peace, Richard.) He asks a lot of questions, which is to be expected of a detective, but the questions being asked make him sound more clueless than anything else. Clifford Rippel has a voice that should suit a weasel like Vincent, but he sounds like he's phoning a lot of his lines in - a shame, given Vincent delivers many of the more important ones in the story. Again, it's easy enough to blame that on the direction. Still, the overall quality of the acting and writing can potentially undercut what really should have been a very dramatic and emotional conclusion to the story Silent Hill began. And of course, there's one particular character who is sadly underutilized... But I suppose that simply is what it is.
Much like the first game, Silent Hill 3 has its fair share of weaknesses that sadly keep it from being perfect. By comparison, though, this game has the benefit of a few years and a surge in popularity behind it. The few improvements made don't do quite enough to mask that other aspects of the experience still weren't getting the love they deserved.
But it's really hard for me to fixate on any of that too much because Silent Hill 3 is harrowing.
Everything about the experience from an audiovisual standpoint is refined to a razor edge. The demo opens with "You're Not Here", a dark and emotional alt-rock piece that perfectly encapsulates the mood of the game while giving you a sampler platter of the horrors you're about to live through. The game wastes absolutely zero time tossing you into the deep end, with an initial dream sequence that mirrors the one Harry experienced at the start of the first Silent Hill, followed by a brief introductory cutscene before things immediately take a turn for the worse. The scenes of pain, decay and primal fears made manifest are beautifully realized here, translating the abstract appearance of the Otherworld into something much more visceral and tangible. Meanwhile, Akira Yamaoka works his usual magic converting terror into sound. An incessant and discomforting cry fills the corridors of this dilapidated office space. A rusted metal gate slams shut behind you as you enter an elevator, so violent as to almost seem hostile. The silence of a dim storage room is broken by a sudden and hurried thumping outside. Is there something waiting for me there? Or is it merely watching? Your pocket radio still shrieks at the presence of evil, and as it blends together with the grinding and grating ambience, the sensory overload will leave little room for much other than panic. Watching the world around me slowly melt into something beyond my wildest dreams was equal parts disgusting and mesmerizing, and when all is said and done, I think the artistic talents of Team Silent are demonstrated masterfully in Silent Hill 3.
Heather's character design deserves to be given special attention for what it lends to the experience. Unlike the deliberately simple everymen of the previous two games and of the broader genre, Heather is a young girl of 17 years. She wears her heart on her sleeve and responds to the events happening around her with intense fear, but also with a heaping spoonful of sarcasm and flippancy. She's in way over her head, and she knows it, but she pushes forward regardless because the only other option would be to keel over and die. As you interact with her surroundings, she gives insight into her memories and phobias, and makes it clear that even if she doesn't understand why she's been thrust into this waking nightmare, she's always suspected there was something decidedly unordinary about her. She also makes it abundantly clear she loves her dad. Meanwhile, she's pursued by assailants both seen and unseen. Heather's foes have suggestive designs and can often put her in compromising and voyeuristic positions. She is followed by strange men who all seemingly want something from her, and acquires at least one truly abhorrent admirer along the way. All the while, she must reckon with a destiny that has been forced upon her, and one that she is horrified of seeing through to the end. She's perfectly relatable and perfectly vulnerable. Even though her dismissive attitude sometimes comes off as almost comical, her steadfastness even in the face of a reality that would break the minds of most makes her a lead that's easy to root for and to admire. Silent Hill 3 does an exceptional job of conveying two key points: This town is terrifying, and so is being Heather.
While I don't want to downplay the shortcomings of this game, I feel that its strengths handily outweigh its weaknesses. Did it come dangerously close to sucking me out of my immersion every now and again? Yes. But when it had my attention, it had my full attention. It begs for a bit more refinement in a few departments, but when all is said and done I play horror games to be horrified, and Silent Hill 3 delivers in spades. It has hands down the most disturbing imagery and heart-stoppingly frightening moments of the original trilogy (or quadrilogy) - in my opinion, of course. It also does an admirable job of filling out the background lore, especially with regards to the Order that is central to so much of it. I don't think we've seen anything quite like it in the last twenty years, and at the absolute least, I can't say I'm as eager as some others might be for Silent Hill's supposed return. This is lightning in a bottle. Asking for another serving is vanity.
I love this game and I love Silent Hill. Haven't played it? If you have a love of horror games or, frankly, art in general, I think the series is absolutely worth diving into. You can start from the beginning or start with 2, but you should definitely play 3 shortly after the first. It helps keep the lack of build up at the beginning of 3 from feeling too jarring if you consider 1 to be the true introduction.
Is that the end? I guess it's time to roll the credits.
it’s bread
Although if you want the true Silent Hill 3 experience, you'd have to mod it a little, this is my personal favourite Silent Hill game. It's just so damn insane, my first playthrough has just been me shitting myself over this work of art, I wish I could play it through again without any memory of it.
In recognition that Silent Hill 2's psychological-horror narrative couldn't be topped, this third entry is a fairly straightforward sequel to the original Silent Hill which has some fun with the series' conventions, engaging in some self-depreciating humour at points (Heather's reaction to the "Repressed Memories" painting is a highlight). It's much more of a GAME game than the prior titles, with melee stun-locking a less reliable strategy this time around. I actually found this one pretty difficult, ending the game with no remaining healing items, a full shotgun with no extra shells, and an ok amount of handgun ammo. I never minded how easy the prior games were, but I appreciated the extra challenge here.
Not too much to say on this that hasn't already been said, it's another excellent Silent Hill game. For all its bleak oppressive atmosphere, Silent Hill 3 is mostly just trying to be a fun time, offering a tighter gameplay challenge and sporting a more optimistic tone. This tone is supported by Heather, the first Silent Hill protagonist with charisma. She's likeable and morally uncomplicated, a perfect fit for the game she finds herself in.
Not too much to say on this that hasn't already been said, it's another excellent Silent Hill game. For all its bleak oppressive atmosphere, Silent Hill 3 is mostly just trying to be a fun time, offering a tighter gameplay challenge and sporting a more optimistic tone. This tone is supported by Heather, the first Silent Hill protagonist with charisma. She's likeable and morally uncomplicated, a perfect fit for the game she finds herself in.
This game feels like they/them pussy
While I'm definitely more of a 2 person, I can see why so many love this one as much as they do.
The atmosphere is on point and the story still has a lot of great moments, I liked how this expended on the first game, even if I prefer 2's smaller scope.
The atmosphere is on point and the story still has a lot of great moments, I liked how this expended on the first game, even if I prefer 2's smaller scope.
i hope every woman reading this has an amazing life
Be safe y'all
Be safe y'all