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Silent Hill 3 Review
TVG Staff
23/05/2003
TVG attempts to stay brave enough to play through the latest title in Konami's deranged survival/horror series...
Let me just firstly say itās nice to see a publisher use their common sense and treat the European territory with the recognition it deserves; in case you were wondering Silent Hill 3 is released in Europe before both Japan and America, wisely realising where the series is most favoured.
The Silent Hill series has without a shadow of a doubt provided the most scares and jumps from me in recent years, whilst thereās no denying that Resident Evil started the craze, dogās jumping out of windows and bio-genetic monsters come nowhere near to the crazed mind that came up with some of the situations and confrontations featured in the SH series.
Being big fans of the previous two titles we kept a close eye over development of Silent Hill 3; whilst there are some noticeable changes, weāre glad to say itās still the same deranged and disturbed title that will have men screaming like little girls.
Once again a new title introduces you to a new cast of characters, assuming the role of the likeable teenager Heather Morris, whose dark and mysterious past look like catching up with her in a less-then happy way.
Chucking players straight into the deep end, Heather finds herself standing in the middle of a run-down amusement park, alone, if it werenāt for the pink fluffy bunnyās with blood stains around their mouths! Having come across a variety of monstrous creatures akin to those featured in the previous two titles, Heather awakens to realise that it was all just a dream.
Of course this being Silent Hill, we know thereās no way that itās all just a dream and after a little time spent trying to escape from an informative stranger, Heather finds herself once again in the nightmarish location. The opening phases see Heather exploring through a macabre vision of the mall, dealing with the hideously disfigured creatures, solving a couple of relatively simple puzzles and meeting a strange women named Claudia who certainly knows more then she lets on to.
Fundamentally the game remains very close to its predecessor, however thankfully KCET have taken on-board some of the criticism levelled at that title and made the adventure a lot tighter then before. Whilst youāll still find yourself wandering around without a clue on a number of occasions, there seems to be less scope for players becoming completely lost as the path is often kept to a very limited choice. Usually weād moan about games becoming more linear, however this is certainly the exception as Silent Hill 3 instantly becomes more enjoyable then itās mightily impressive predecessor. Another feature that has been changed is the increase in action, players find themselves with all manner of weapons including sub-machineguns early on in the game; fans of Silent Hill may think this slightly bizarre, however itās certainly an improvement on the bars and clubs that predominantly featured in the first two titles. Finally the game makes the puzzle solutions a lot clearer and the experience less frustrating, make no mistake youāll still find yourself scratching your head at times, but overall KCET have eliminated the feeling of aimlessly wandering around that plagued Silent Hill 2.
Elsewhere itās general enhancements to the equation that was set out in Silent Hill 2; one area that stands out more then most is in the visual department. Silent Hill 2 amazed us at the time with itās intricately detailed character models and sublime lighting effects, Silent Hill 3 notches it up another level by featuring fantastic environments, character models that you simply canāt believe are happening on the PS2 and quite possibly the most impressive lighting engine weāve seen running on the machine. Admittedly the game makes use of higher polygon models in the beautiful cut-scenes, however thereās no escaping the luscious lighting tricks that chill your bones as well as impress you; to a certain extent you'll want to carry on playing just to see more of the games wonderful visuals.
Another area that Silent Hill always excels in is the audio stakes, and Iām glad to say Silent Hill 3 raises the bar considerably. The first time you hear a spine-chilling cackle from the dark corridor in front, I guarantee youāll find yourself trying to make excuses for turning straight back; simply put, some of the noises witnessed in Silent Hill 3 would make Johnny Hard Nut crawl into a ball and cry out loud. Accompanying the musical effects is a wonderful arrangement of songs that leave you wishing other games paid this much attention and respect to a games musical score; from orchestra to guitar strums, it seems as if Silent Hill3 has all bases covered yet never out of context. Completing the package is some wonderfully opaque dialogue, that makes the likes of Resident Evil look like Sesame Street in comparison.
Unfortunately there are criticisms, namely weāve reached the limits of what this type of genre can offer before it evolves. Silent Hill 3 may offer the finest experience and certainly the most terrifying one to be found in the survival/horror genre, however it still finds itself in the pitfalls commonly associated with it ā“ namely weak camera angles and a generally outdated gameplay system.
Whilst the controls are less restrictive then those featured in Resident Evil titles, youāll still find yourselves wrestling with them and walking the wrong way when you donāt want to. If it werenāt for the strong story and fantastic directing, itās less likely that players would be enthralled in the actual gameplay; by todayās standards, these type of puzzles combined with the weak combat system just donāt feel that absorbing anymore.
The camera will be the cause of the most frustration as you wrangle with the set camera positions that often make it hard to fight or pick out something that needs closer inspection; why KCET havenāt included a first-person view is beyond me. In their favour the camera angles certainly create the right atmosphere and the game simply wouldnāt be the same without them.
