Silent Hill 3

released on May 23, 2003

Silent Hill 3 is the third installment in the Silent Hill series. Like the previous entries, Silent Hill 3 is a survival horror combining action-based combat and puzzle-solving, but is somewhat more combat-oriented than the preceding installments. The main character is able to side-step and block some attacks, but in general shares with the other protagonists of the series their relative ineptitude in combat.


Released on

Genres


More Info on IGDB


Reviews View More

This review contains spoilers

Silent Hill 3 is complete. This SH takes place 17 years later after the first games events as this is the continuation. We play as Heather Mason who is the daughter of Harry Mason of the first SH. After a Nightmare in an amusement park we wake up in a burger joint at a mall, we then are encountered by a PI who knows the truth about Heather's birth. Heather ends up walking from the PI only to find the mall empty and slowly changing to otherworld.
SH3 to me was the most eeriest of the trilogy. The visuals and the atmosphere did make me uncomfortable/uneasy with what was about to happen or appear. There are different difficulties for the game and riddles. The riddles were just remembering things that you read throughout the playthrough and I did not have to look up anything much, only did it about 3 times. Now this SH does not really reward you with exploring as most doors can not be opened , but the story will give you enough ammo and healing items to get through the game. There are 2 endings and 1 joke ending, the ending is the normal ending as this the ending everyone will get on their first playthrough, and once you play the game again and meet certain requirements you can get the “possession” ending and the joke ending is UFO’s again. I don't know if I like SH3 more or SH2 as they both are really good.

how did this 21 year old game scared me more than any other piece of horror media that has come out within the last decade

I think Silent Hill 3 is a great game. It ties up loose ends from SH1 making this a sort of epilogue for that game. Heather Mason is probably my protagonist in SH. She brings this sort of "tired of your bullshit" energy to this game and I love it. The other character though a bit weaker than SH2 cast. Vincent is the most interesting out the bunch. I love his weird mannerisms and messing with Heather for the fun of it.

The graphics for this game are insane for something came out in 2003. I did play through an emulator so I'm not getting that true authentic experience playing it on real PS2 hardware with a CRT TV but still, the textures and models are amazing for its time. One of those games that will age like fine wine.

Akira Yamaoka is quickly becoming one of my composers cuz man do these games have amazing soundtracks SH3 being no exception. Just from the opening movie alone got me excited to experience SH3.

If there's anything I didn't rock with in SH3 it'll be two things. One is a certain enemy type called The Slurper(I HATE THESE THINGS SO MUCH WORST ENEMY TYPE OF ALL TIME!!!!!!) and two are the lack interesting endings. Now the Normal Ending you get by just playing is great and fits the story for the game but the Possessed Ending left a little to be desired. Cool on paper but if all I get for doing another playthrough of the game while trying fulfill certain criterias is a one minute cutscene that amounts to a bad ending then I'm just fine with playing the game just once. I'm surprised that SH3 just has three endings compared to it predecessors but I'm okay with that just wish there was more done with it.

Minor gripes aside I still think this was great game overall. I love going through the unsettling atmosphere of Silent Hill once again and I only have one more game to go through to finally complete the journey.

Su diseño de niveles y monstruos es muy bueno, la ambientación es bastante turbia, y esto con el gran diseño sonoro que tiene, hace que nunca dejes de estar cagado.
A pesar de que el 2 es el mejor de todos, este definitivamente es el que más miedo da.

the real horror is finding out how much potential this game had and how much it actually delivered

Like many third entries in well acclaimed franchises, Silent Hill 3 runs the risk of being overshadowed by its predecessors.

Silent Hill 1 introduces the titular abandoned town with its unique visual style and memorable shocking first time moments.

Silent Hill 2 is a new form of shocking by flipping those preconceptions around on what we thought we understood about Silent Hill.

Silent Hill 3 is an iterative refinement, being both a direct sequel to the first game and taking elements from the second game. In many ways the third entry does surpass the previous titles. It’s one of the best looking PS2 games I’ve ever seen, content is denser in terms of section to section, arguably the set pieces and sound design are the most impressive to this point. And of course the best new element of the game is the protagonist Heather/ Cheryl Mason, she is easily the highlight of the entire journey.

Its shortcomings are definitely more towards its weak attempts to expand combat, it’s midpoint in the sewers and first half of the office seems a bit lost. And yeah the narrative itself is a lot of retreading but under the new context and perspective of Heather I don’t find this as much of an issue as others.

Silent Hill 3 is an excellent game and I definitely would put it on par with its older siblings.