Over a year ago now, I first played the original Silent Hill, and I absolutely loved it. Then last month (at the time of writing this), I played Silent Hill 2 which is an absolute masterpiece. When it comes to horror franchises, Silent Hill may be my favorite overall. No matter which game I play, I find myself adoring them, finding them to be masterclass in dread, paranoia, and just general horror. This of course leads me into the topic of this review, and the game I just beat, Silent Hill 3. While Silent Hill 2 as I earlier described is easily a masterpiece, so too do I think the same of Silent Hill 3, and dare I say, it may just be my favorite of the series thus far.
Much like with Silent Hill 2, I played the PC Abandonware version of Silent Hill 3, though unlike Silent Hill 2, there weren’t any graphical upgrades to the game. I don’t exactly know why only Silent Hill 2 was granted a graphical update mod, I’d love to see Silent Hill 3 get the same treatment. Especially because the Abandonware version of Silent Hill 3 has issues with settings, particularly you can only play the game in a set resolution, and only in full-screen. Another similar issue is that the Abandonware version had issues with my controller, it didn’t recognize some of my buttons, particular the triggers, and both L3 and R3. It made me have to sacrifice the strafe buttons, though since I played in 2D mode, I didn’t have to worry about it too much. Though with this in mind, these are probably issues with the abandonware version of the game, not necessarily the game itself, so I can’t really be upset at the actual game for this. Just know that if you plan to use the Abandonware version of the game, these issues may occur.
Onto Silent Hill 3 proper, I will limit myself here on talking about the game’s story. I absolutely love it, but this is a game that I think deserves being experienced for yourself, it’s not one that I want to spoil. But with what I can say, I absolutely love it. Heather Mason is probably my favorite of the Silent Hill 3 protagonists, there’s a lot I can’t explain to why that is, but with what I can, I like how she’s relatively a normal person going through all of this. Seeing Heather react normally and realistically while every other character acts extremely off-putting is something really cool to see. There’s also so many themes that can be seen within Silent Hill 3, though yet again, that’s not for me to tell you, it’s for you to experience. There’s some themes that are more obvious than others, but there’s one theme that I’ve read that’s extremely personal to me, which is why I love it so.
And I’m going to repeat myself here in the same way I talked about Silent Hill 2. Yet again, my absolute favorite part of these games is the general atmosphere. The suffocating fog and darkness that constantly surrounds you, and the numerous noises that just keep playing, playing and playing. Oftentimes, they were just completely out of bounds, and not something that can actually be seen. Continuously I found myself opening a door, hearing an unsettling noise, and just immediately exiting the room through the door I had just used. The sounds made me so paranoid, that noises that occurred in real life (I live in a multi-storied building, so noises above or below me are common) scared me as well, as it felt like they were part of the game. And to me that feels like an excellent showcase of how well Silent Hill’s atmosphere is extremely effective, and yet again, it’s one that I absolutely love. The environments are also really well done in Silent Hill 3 as well. It’s nice to see somewhat new locations in the game as well, I really love the mall as a starting point, it’s completely different to Silent Hill locations of the past, but still features the same atmosphere and all around vibes that can be seen in a Silent Hill game. And as well, seeing the environment deteriorate around you is amazing, it’s both terrifying, and awe inspiring. It really well shows how wrong Silent Hill as a location is, it’s as if it can’t handle the weight of existing, and it’s both alive, and breaking apart at the same time.
And as I played through Silent Hill 3, I found myself absolutely amazed by the horror found in the game. There were genuine segments that caught me off guard, but once they ended, I thought “that was genius”. One moment, relatively early on in the game had you jump down onto a Subway Track, to try and enter a door with a glowing red light on it. The game actively attracts you to that door, thinking that the door is where you need to go to. But when you try to open the door, it’s locked, and suddenly you hear the noise of the Subway Train, barreling towards you. But as you try to get back onto the Subway Platform, enemies appear, and start attacking you. It’s one of the few times the game actively deceives you in a way like this, and it’s downright genius. I found myself taking a moment to sit back and just be in awe of that, I love it.
As I go further, I absolutely love the puzzles of Silent Hill 3 as well, I’m a sucker for puzzles that require me to write things down in a notebook to remember things. It happens in a lot of games, but no matter what I find myself loving it. If I were to describe my favorite puzzle in particular, it was a puzzle to find the code to a locked door, but the game only tells you how each number relates to each other, and where they are not. A math kid like myself absolutely loves a puzzle like this, and figuring it out felt so great, I felt proud of myself for figuring it out. Though in other cases, I definitely wasn’t the brightest, and I had to pull up a guide, though it’s typically cause I missed a specific item, or I just wasn’t close enough to interact with objects. Regardless of that, I still absolutely adore puzzles in Silent Hill games, and Silent Hill 3 is no exception.
Yet again as I said at the beginning of this review, Silent Hill 3 is most assuredly my favorite Silent Hill game (of the ones I’ve played thus far). There’s much I wish I could talk about it, especially in themes, and the theme that is particular to me, but Silent Hill 3, much like its predecessors is one that should be played for itself, before I describe my thoughts on its themes and story. Silent Hill 3 is absolutely terrifying, and there’s so much I haven’t described that instilled fear in me. And yet again, Silent Hill as series, Silent Hill 3 included has outstanding atmosphere. I swear, I can’t recommend this series enough, each game I’ve played has just been amazing. While Silent Hill 2 is easily a masterpiece, I also think Silent Hill 3 is a must play as well.
Much like with Silent Hill 2, I played the PC Abandonware version of Silent Hill 3, though unlike Silent Hill 2, there weren’t any graphical upgrades to the game. I don’t exactly know why only Silent Hill 2 was granted a graphical update mod, I’d love to see Silent Hill 3 get the same treatment. Especially because the Abandonware version of Silent Hill 3 has issues with settings, particularly you can only play the game in a set resolution, and only in full-screen. Another similar issue is that the Abandonware version had issues with my controller, it didn’t recognize some of my buttons, particular the triggers, and both L3 and R3. It made me have to sacrifice the strafe buttons, though since I played in 2D mode, I didn’t have to worry about it too much. Though with this in mind, these are probably issues with the abandonware version of the game, not necessarily the game itself, so I can’t really be upset at the actual game for this. Just know that if you plan to use the Abandonware version of the game, these issues may occur.
Onto Silent Hill 3 proper, I will limit myself here on talking about the game’s story. I absolutely love it, but this is a game that I think deserves being experienced for yourself, it’s not one that I want to spoil. But with what I can say, I absolutely love it. Heather Mason is probably my favorite of the Silent Hill 3 protagonists, there’s a lot I can’t explain to why that is, but with what I can, I like how she’s relatively a normal person going through all of this. Seeing Heather react normally and realistically while every other character acts extremely off-putting is something really cool to see. There’s also so many themes that can be seen within Silent Hill 3, though yet again, that’s not for me to tell you, it’s for you to experience. There’s some themes that are more obvious than others, but there’s one theme that I’ve read that’s extremely personal to me, which is why I love it so.
And I’m going to repeat myself here in the same way I talked about Silent Hill 2. Yet again, my absolute favorite part of these games is the general atmosphere. The suffocating fog and darkness that constantly surrounds you, and the numerous noises that just keep playing, playing and playing. Oftentimes, they were just completely out of bounds, and not something that can actually be seen. Continuously I found myself opening a door, hearing an unsettling noise, and just immediately exiting the room through the door I had just used. The sounds made me so paranoid, that noises that occurred in real life (I live in a multi-storied building, so noises above or below me are common) scared me as well, as it felt like they were part of the game. And to me that feels like an excellent showcase of how well Silent Hill’s atmosphere is extremely effective, and yet again, it’s one that I absolutely love. The environments are also really well done in Silent Hill 3 as well. It’s nice to see somewhat new locations in the game as well, I really love the mall as a starting point, it’s completely different to Silent Hill locations of the past, but still features the same atmosphere and all around vibes that can be seen in a Silent Hill game. And as well, seeing the environment deteriorate around you is amazing, it’s both terrifying, and awe inspiring. It really well shows how wrong Silent Hill as a location is, it’s as if it can’t handle the weight of existing, and it’s both alive, and breaking apart at the same time.
And as I played through Silent Hill 3, I found myself absolutely amazed by the horror found in the game. There were genuine segments that caught me off guard, but once they ended, I thought “that was genius”. One moment, relatively early on in the game had you jump down onto a Subway Track, to try and enter a door with a glowing red light on it. The game actively attracts you to that door, thinking that the door is where you need to go to. But when you try to open the door, it’s locked, and suddenly you hear the noise of the Subway Train, barreling towards you. But as you try to get back onto the Subway Platform, enemies appear, and start attacking you. It’s one of the few times the game actively deceives you in a way like this, and it’s downright genius. I found myself taking a moment to sit back and just be in awe of that, I love it.
As I go further, I absolutely love the puzzles of Silent Hill 3 as well, I’m a sucker for puzzles that require me to write things down in a notebook to remember things. It happens in a lot of games, but no matter what I find myself loving it. If I were to describe my favorite puzzle in particular, it was a puzzle to find the code to a locked door, but the game only tells you how each number relates to each other, and where they are not. A math kid like myself absolutely loves a puzzle like this, and figuring it out felt so great, I felt proud of myself for figuring it out. Though in other cases, I definitely wasn’t the brightest, and I had to pull up a guide, though it’s typically cause I missed a specific item, or I just wasn’t close enough to interact with objects. Regardless of that, I still absolutely adore puzzles in Silent Hill games, and Silent Hill 3 is no exception.
Yet again as I said at the beginning of this review, Silent Hill 3 is most assuredly my favorite Silent Hill game (of the ones I’ve played thus far). There’s much I wish I could talk about it, especially in themes, and the theme that is particular to me, but Silent Hill 3, much like its predecessors is one that should be played for itself, before I describe my thoughts on its themes and story. Silent Hill 3 is absolutely terrifying, and there’s so much I haven’t described that instilled fear in me. And yet again, Silent Hill as series, Silent Hill 3 included has outstanding atmosphere. I swear, I can’t recommend this series enough, each game I’ve played has just been amazing. While Silent Hill 2 is easily a masterpiece, I also think Silent Hill 3 is a must play as well.
2 Comments
@Armakeen I definitely plan on playing Silent Hill 4, though I like to space out games in a series, so I'll probably play it next month. For me my ratings of the series would probably have to go 3>2>1, I really like this idea of Silent Hill being an ever changing location depending on the game, and from the little knowledge I have of 4, I'm really interested by it.
Armakeen
5 months ago
In order, I'd say my favorites are 3>1>2. All three of them are about the same quality, but I liked the story centered around the cult in SH1 & SH3 a bit more than the story of SH2.
I think SH3 also has the best music in the franchise. So many great "teenage" songs that are typical of a girl Heather's age.
It's also the scariest game in my opinion. The nightmare hospital is probably the most horrifying place of all three games. Remember when the hospital turns into its nightmare version? The first room is completely red and the walls are blurry.
I had to put my controller down at this exact moment, because I was absolutely terrified 😅
I had to take a small break and take a deep breath because it was so oppressive!
I'm glad you loved all the SH games you've played. I still need to play SH4, and I bet you want to play that one aswell?