Going into Silent Hill 3, I had no idea what to expect. There’s a divisive (if you can even call “it’s really good, just not as good as the first 2” divisive) reputation surrounding this game that had me very intrigued when booting it up for the first time. Putting the TL;DR at the start: it was an incredible experience. I recommend anyone interested in playing it to play the first 2 before it, but other than that, let me share my thoughts.
Let me get the obvious out of the way: this game looks phenomenal. It's nothing short of wizardry how much the team improved the lighting, hair effects, facial animations, and textures in only 2 years. But something I appreciate even more is that the rusty and depraved atmosphere from the nightmare sections in Silent Hill 1 and 2 not only return; they return with a vengeance. Unlike its predecessors, the nightmare sections feel unpredictable and horrifying. The hallways are bathed in blood and filth with mutilated corpses in caged boxes hanging from the ceiling. Later in the game, rooms (and your flesh) will be consumed with squirmy tentacles of black ooze. Some hallways are a high contrast orange that make you think your eyes are bleeding. Random yelps of pain will sound off right as you exit a room, accented by shuffling feet and beastly groans in the hallway outside.
When you find the source of the groaning, you'll discover that the atmosphere is thanks in large part to the skin-crawlingly disturbing enemies. The PSX limited Silent Hill 1 from going too crazy with the models and Silent Hill 2 kept itself limited in scope on purpose, but Silent Hill 3 takes the training weights off and cooks up some truly awful looking bastards to chase you around. 10 foot tall flesh pillars who come in packs. Living piles of bloated, dead flesh. Disfigured humans who crawl on the floor, gnawing at your feet. And if it wasn't bad enough, the typical dog enemies aren't just dogs anymore, their heads are split right down the middle: exposed brains and all.
It wouldn't be so bad if you were playing as Harry or James. But you're playing as Heather. While Harry has the luxury of killing dogs in 2 handgun shots and a kick, Heather has to take a whopping 6 handgun shots for the same kill (and it's a miracle if you can land them all before they turn her leg into a chew toy). She also isn't granted the power of invisible walls: it's very possible to fall off any unguarded ledge if you don't react to her stumble. The game does a good job mitigating her fragility with lots of health packs, weapons, and even a bulletproof vest. But it just doesn’t outweigh the forces you’re up against. When all of these ingredients are mixed together (unsettling enemies, terrifying level design, and a frail teenage girl to protect you from it all) only one word describes the experience: intense.
In its intensity, it's Silent Hill 3 that brings to light a frustrating aspect of the series, and that is backtracking. Going back and forth fetching items and reading memos to solve puzzles is one of my favorite aspects in the series! But due to the more intense nature of SH3's atmosphere, you dread having to backtrack anymore than you have to. James wandering around the apartment building or Harry wandering around Midwich Elementary never felt especially stressful, as the environments were very slow paced and you had ample defense against anything thrown at you. But playing as Heather feels like you're getting kicked in the balls constantly. Room after room is filled to the brim with the fastest and most dangerous enemies the series has seen yet, so just running the risk of having to go all the way back through an area brings a mental anguish I haven't yet felt playing Silent Hill. This might be the game's biggest strength to some, but I'm admittedly a huge pussy, so this was torture for me.
You might get the vibe that I hate Heather after saying all this. After all, I keep talking about her like she can’t do anything. But don't get it twisted. Heather keeps it fucking real and is, by far, the most entertaining protagonist in the original trilogy. All of her dialogue, spoken or otherwise, is brimming with personality and teenage angst. While Harry and James never had much to say when looking at an object, Heather gives well written commentary on pretty much everything you choose to look at. Her voice and motion capture actress Heather Morris gives a fantastic performance as well, ranging from tongue-in-cheek comments, to heartbreaking scenes of utter defeat, to indescribable rage and frustration. Never have I seen a Silent Hill hero so fed up with this shit and it's extremely relatable because I'm also fed up with this shit! Claudia is pissing me the fuck off! Let's get her ass together, Heather.
This is as good a time as ever to touch on the game’s relation to Silent Hill 1. It’s by all means a direct sequel to what happened in the first game and I think it does a wonderful job continuing that narrative. While I prefer Silent Hill as an anthology series tied together by the titular town, they pulled off a continuation surprisingly well. Ambiguity isn’t as important for Harry as it is for James, so hearing more of what happened to him post god-slaying made me smile. It also elaborates on Claudia and whatever the hell is going on with the cult she’s a part of without spoiling the “less is more” storytelling that SH1 was going for. All in all, it’s everything I can want out of the direction they chose.
This review is admittedly coming from a Silent Hill newbie. I decided to play Silent Hill 2 for the first time just a few weeks ago. So while I’m still falling in love, take a lot of these opinions with a grain of salt. Otherwise, I adore pretty much everything about my experience with SH3. Was it difficult and stressful? Definitely. But will I be thinking about it for years after this review? Even more definitely.
Let me get the obvious out of the way: this game looks phenomenal. It's nothing short of wizardry how much the team improved the lighting, hair effects, facial animations, and textures in only 2 years. But something I appreciate even more is that the rusty and depraved atmosphere from the nightmare sections in Silent Hill 1 and 2 not only return; they return with a vengeance. Unlike its predecessors, the nightmare sections feel unpredictable and horrifying. The hallways are bathed in blood and filth with mutilated corpses in caged boxes hanging from the ceiling. Later in the game, rooms (and your flesh) will be consumed with squirmy tentacles of black ooze. Some hallways are a high contrast orange that make you think your eyes are bleeding. Random yelps of pain will sound off right as you exit a room, accented by shuffling feet and beastly groans in the hallway outside.
When you find the source of the groaning, you'll discover that the atmosphere is thanks in large part to the skin-crawlingly disturbing enemies. The PSX limited Silent Hill 1 from going too crazy with the models and Silent Hill 2 kept itself limited in scope on purpose, but Silent Hill 3 takes the training weights off and cooks up some truly awful looking bastards to chase you around. 10 foot tall flesh pillars who come in packs. Living piles of bloated, dead flesh. Disfigured humans who crawl on the floor, gnawing at your feet. And if it wasn't bad enough, the typical dog enemies aren't just dogs anymore, their heads are split right down the middle: exposed brains and all.
It wouldn't be so bad if you were playing as Harry or James. But you're playing as Heather. While Harry has the luxury of killing dogs in 2 handgun shots and a kick, Heather has to take a whopping 6 handgun shots for the same kill (and it's a miracle if you can land them all before they turn her leg into a chew toy). She also isn't granted the power of invisible walls: it's very possible to fall off any unguarded ledge if you don't react to her stumble. The game does a good job mitigating her fragility with lots of health packs, weapons, and even a bulletproof vest. But it just doesn’t outweigh the forces you’re up against. When all of these ingredients are mixed together (unsettling enemies, terrifying level design, and a frail teenage girl to protect you from it all) only one word describes the experience: intense.
In its intensity, it's Silent Hill 3 that brings to light a frustrating aspect of the series, and that is backtracking. Going back and forth fetching items and reading memos to solve puzzles is one of my favorite aspects in the series! But due to the more intense nature of SH3's atmosphere, you dread having to backtrack anymore than you have to. James wandering around the apartment building or Harry wandering around Midwich Elementary never felt especially stressful, as the environments were very slow paced and you had ample defense against anything thrown at you. But playing as Heather feels like you're getting kicked in the balls constantly. Room after room is filled to the brim with the fastest and most dangerous enemies the series has seen yet, so just running the risk of having to go all the way back through an area brings a mental anguish I haven't yet felt playing Silent Hill. This might be the game's biggest strength to some, but I'm admittedly a huge pussy, so this was torture for me.
You might get the vibe that I hate Heather after saying all this. After all, I keep talking about her like she can’t do anything. But don't get it twisted. Heather keeps it fucking real and is, by far, the most entertaining protagonist in the original trilogy. All of her dialogue, spoken or otherwise, is brimming with personality and teenage angst. While Harry and James never had much to say when looking at an object, Heather gives well written commentary on pretty much everything you choose to look at. Her voice and motion capture actress Heather Morris gives a fantastic performance as well, ranging from tongue-in-cheek comments, to heartbreaking scenes of utter defeat, to indescribable rage and frustration. Never have I seen a Silent Hill hero so fed up with this shit and it's extremely relatable because I'm also fed up with this shit! Claudia is pissing me the fuck off! Let's get her ass together, Heather.
This is as good a time as ever to touch on the game’s relation to Silent Hill 1. It’s by all means a direct sequel to what happened in the first game and I think it does a wonderful job continuing that narrative. While I prefer Silent Hill as an anthology series tied together by the titular town, they pulled off a continuation surprisingly well. Ambiguity isn’t as important for Harry as it is for James, so hearing more of what happened to him post god-slaying made me smile. It also elaborates on Claudia and whatever the hell is going on with the cult she’s a part of without spoiling the “less is more” storytelling that SH1 was going for. All in all, it’s everything I can want out of the direction they chose.
This review is admittedly coming from a Silent Hill newbie. I decided to play Silent Hill 2 for the first time just a few weeks ago. So while I’m still falling in love, take a lot of these opinions with a grain of salt. Otherwise, I adore pretty much everything about my experience with SH3. Was it difficult and stressful? Definitely. But will I be thinking about it for years after this review? Even more definitely.