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It's important for me not to reveal too much about the storyline of Silent Hill 3 so as not to ruin key moments and events. Suffice to say that gamers who have previously played and enjoyed the first two games in the series will really get a kick out of the interwoven character-driven lifelines. Those coming at Silent Hill 3 without having played the other games might walk away a little bemused, but I guarantee that everyone will have a thrilling time either way. The dev team responsible for Silent Hill 3 have completely outdone themselves this time around. It's one of the best-looking games to date on the PlayStation 2 -- but more on that later.
The game stars a young girl by the name of Heather who is troubled by strange hallucinatory dreams and flashbacks. Heather and her father live in the sleepy town of Silent Hill, and up until her seventeenth birthday, things seem pretty normal for her. When an incident in the local mall turns into something of a living, breathing nightmare, Heather is sure that she is losing her mind. She meets with a slew of strange, almost-surreal people that seem to know a lot more about her than she does herself. It's up to the player to uncover Heather's dark past by embarking on a demon-filled journey twisted out of shape between two dimensions. You're in charge of guiding her to her inevitable destiny one way or another.
As you may or may not know, the town of Silent Hill is a pretty messed up place. There's an evil presence lurking beneath the surface which seems to manifest itself in many different ways dependant on every individuals psyche. For our heroine, demons, devils, and blood-soaked alternate realities seem to be the popular choice. From the very beginning of the game to the very end, the feeling of eeriness and doom is almost overwhelming. This is mainly due to the excellent visuals and soundtrack featured in Silent Hill 3. Featuring character models that are borderline real -- resplendent with full facial animations, lip-synching, and expressions -- and superb acoustic music and sound effects, the game is up there along the likes of Metal Gear Solid 2 in terms of production values.
But what of gameplay? Well, if you've played one survival-horror game on the PlayStation 2, you've pretty much played them all. This isn't such a bad thing though, although as I mentioned before, gamers seem to either love or hate the mechanics in this genre. Silent Hill 3 does play and control in a superior fashion to Capcom's Resident Evil series. Movement, fighting and navigation are all easier to utilize. New to Silent Hill 3 are a number of cool weapons, including a shiny new katana and a submachine gun -- both of which really kick ass. But what use are weapons in a game where most of the time a stealthy evade technique is preferable to wasting valuable ammo? It's all down to personal preference I guess. I prefer to play the game as a kind of time-challenge affair, where others might like to kill every single creature that gets in their way.
Which ever tact you take, Silent Hill 3 grabs you by the throat and begins to squeeze a little harder each time you progress. By all means, the game can be easily beaten in a handful of hours, but there are many different ways to influence the multiple endings and ratings that you can achieve. Replay value might appear to be slim on the surface, but trust me; you'll want to go back and do things better many more times before the DVD ends up gathering dust on your shelf. Plus, there's more unlockables, weapons, and costumes hidden here than ever before.
