Silent Hill 3 ~ review

Silent Hill 3 was developed by Team Silent and published by Konami for PlayStation 2, it was released in 2003. The game following its release received high scores from reviewers and fans alike similar to its popular predecessors. It is a direct sequel to the first Silent Hill video game.

The story continued 17 years after the events from the first video game and players get to control our main protagonist, Heather Mason. Heather had been living with her father and the both of them are continuously on the run from something that Heather could not fully understand. Finally, after some major event in the game, Heather (and the player of course) come to realize who Heather really is. She heads to Silent Hill to find out more about what was going on and also to avenge his father. Accompanied her is a detective, Douglas Cartland, who initially works for the people who was after Heather. Travel between the fog world and the Otherworld, Heather slowly unfolds the history behind her own birth and the history of the cursed Silent Hill.

I like the story of Silent Hill 3 because it has that dark element about it, about finding yourself and who you really are, and they managed to make it flows beautifully without making it cheesy or predictable. At times I did get a bit confused about certain events but as you progress through the game, you will begin to understand what was going on. Some minor details might not be clear though, but that’s the beauty about Silent Hill games, they are multilayered and many different interpretations can be made about certain things. It would be best that after you finish the game, go to the internet and find out more about the story and other official or unofficial interpretations about the game. You will be surprised about how certain items, events, character or behavior might have certain meanings behind them.

Heather was a great character, beautifully rendered and has that tough-girl attributes that makes her likable and someone that players can relate to. Other characters fared quite well. Claudia Wolf, the main antagonist, who was also the leader of a cult, was seriously delusional and eager to get Heather to birth the god that will destroy all humans and create Paradise on earth. Vincent, another cult member who rejected Linda vision of a perfect world, somewhat guides Heather through the chaos of the Otherworld. Douglas, the detective who Claudia hired, was eager to reveal Heather true identity at first but in the end  decided to help her after feeling somewhat responsible to what had happened to Heather's father. All these characters were carefully modeled to convey human-like personalities so that they can give emotions to the story. The efforts can be seen when you play the game. The voice-acting were a little bit off though, but the overall performance were quite good.

 The graphics for this game is slightly different than the previous games in the series. It's more pitch black and darker where the use of dark colors are truly excessive. The Otherworld sequence involves more blood-stained walls and ceilings, and occupied with corpses and caged creatures. With such environments, it managed to brings out the creeps in you as you play the game. The game design, in my opinion, is truly brilliant. You get to explore an abandoned shopping mall, subway station, building in construction, and the usual hospital among others. The developer was clever in incorporating several creepy moments in the game like someone knocking on the door of an empty toilet stall, or when a mannequin that suddenly got its head chopped off and covered in blood. All these little details might not add to the story but it gives the game a unique value that players will come to appreciate. My only complaint would be that for a Silent Hill game, you get to explore very little of the town as most of the places that players get to explore are not in Silent Hill.

My favourite stage in the game would be when Heather entered a haunted house at an amusement park. It was totally creepy and I felt like I was in a haunted house for real. The side story of the people who used to live at the haunted house was also interesting, it makes you want to know more about them. It was just a short trip though but it was fun.

The music score for the game is very good and memorable, it suits the game very well. It creates the mood for the story and gives you that uneasy feeling as you explore the disturbing atmosphere of the game. Another great thing is the sound effects which make you feel like there is always something near you.

As a conclusion, Silent Hill 3 brings a lot to the table with its great story and clever game design. The visuals, characters, and music are very good but the voice-acting could be improved. Fans of the series will be pleased with this title while new fans may find this interesting although the story might get a bit confusing at times. It's a great addition to the already great franchise. If you like survival horror, Silent Hill 3 is definitely for you.

Images from Wikipedia and IGN.