Silent Hill 3
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developed By: Konami
Produced By: Konami
Genre: Survival Horror
ESRB: M (Blood, Gore, Violence)
MSRP: $49.99
"Oh, it was only a dream..." Heather awakens from dozing off in a fast food resturant at the mall. She remembers a dream filled with he11ish inhumane figures lurking in the shadows, the smell of decay and freshly spilt blood, and living out her deepest darket fears and hidden secrets. But as he reassured herself, it was just a dream, it was eerily familliar... Hearther finds the nearest pay phone and calls her dad, "I'll be home shortly," and as she hangs up a stranger apporaches her, "Is your name Heather?". "My dad told me not to talk to strangers" Heather replies, wonering how the straneger knew her name, and darts into the nearest restroom. To avoid the stranger she sneaks out the back and into the mall's service hallways. She finds her way back back into the mall but... it has changed. It is suddenly nightime, there is no electricity, and it looks as if years have past. The floor has rotted away, the walls are staned with rust and what looks like... blood... and from the pitch black shadows he11ish and inhumane cries echo... welcome to Silent Hill 3.
Having only played Silent Hill 2 (I never played the first Silent Hill), Silent Hill 3 pushes the creepyness further than ever. Similar to Silent Hill 2 the first items you find is the radio (it sputters static whenver a he11 creature is nearby, but remains silent other wise). But in Silent Hill 3 and ironic to the game title there is no silence. Even if there are no he11 creeps around and there is no radio static, you'll still hear footsteps drawing closer. Walking down shadowy hallways you'll hear doors creak open and close in the murky distance (and you know how creepy it sounds when rusty metal doors groooaaaan open... shiver!). You'll hear screams and howls off in the distance. You'll hear a low gruff/watery voice wisper unrecgoniseable words behind closed doors (remember the prison in SH2... shiiiver!) There are three specific pee-your-pants moments that stick out in my mind. (1) It was perfectly silent and I passed a broken down looking phone booth and heard "ringring!", scared the **** outta me, (2) it was perfectly silent and I passed a caged off area in the subway and heard "GROWLGRRR!", (D@MMIT if I didn't 'yelp!') and (3) As I was exiting a room full of mannequins (unlike SH2 there are no mannequin monsters in SH3, but it was still creepy) I heard a scream as the door shut (was it coming from inside or outside?!). But it's not like things lighten up when there are creeps all around and your radio is screaming static. When there is a large grouping of creepies around you'll hear a continous mournfull cry and when there is a big creepy near by you'll hear this nerve rattling "RRBANRRGBANRRGBANGRRBANG!" noise like lawn mowers and steel drums in a blender. The developers really know how to rattle a persons nerves when playing. SH3 is more grotesque, creepier, and just plain mystifying than SH2, and as a tag line in a SH3 magazine ad reads: what you see isn't half as scary as what you dont...
SH3 exploring is much more linear than in SH2. Yes there still is a lot of running back and forth with odd baubles and trinkets for puzzle solving (remember that on SH2 puzzle where when you found all four combinations to the safe in the Hospital all that was inside was a single strand of hair?!) and yes there are plenty of lock-broken doors (but as I say when playing Silent Hill: a locked door is one less creepy to face!) but you'll always know where to go next instead of running around and rechecking every single place for a clue what to do next.
The combat in SH3 is more defensive than offensive. If you're a person who loves going on shooting sprees then perhaps SH3 isn't for you. Save you ammo for the boss fights, and simply run from all the creepys meandering around you. In SH2 you were provided a fair amound of ammo but that is because the creepys in SH2 were more agressive. In SL3 the AI will attack you if you get close, but they aren't nessicerily stalking you down. If you quickly run by a pack of creeps they'll try to attack but Heather is simply too fast for them. Sometimes if there is an item in the room that you need but a pack of creepy dogs keep lunging at you or if you are on a narrow catwalk and a needle spider creep is blocking your way it is nessicery to waste them but otherwise it's best to save your ammo for the bosses (I learned my lesson after I ran out of bullets fighting the first boss, a giant worm creature, and had to use the steel pipe and attempt to bludgeon it to death... cost me A LOT of first aide kits)...
The plot in SH3 seems almost unbearably unclear at the begining but once you reach the halfway point of the game the beans get spilled, splatter you in the face and dribble down the back of your shirt. In SH2 you were constantly running into other people (outsiders like you) trapped in Silent Hill trying to figure out why they were there and what was wrong with the place! With each incounter you were able to peice together what was going on and why you were drawn to Silent Hill. However in SL3 you basically know nothing until the game's halfway point and then soooooo much is unveild, you discover who's summoning the he11 creatures and why Heather has been dragged into the whole sorrid affair, and all that's left to find out during the rest of the game is how to end the madness once and for all.
If you enjoyed Silent Hill 2 you will be gleefully creeped out by the going-ons in Silent Hill 3. Best played after 10pm... in a huge room, and your parents and siblings out for the evening... all alone with the lights turned out. (But seriously, I cannot play this game by myself. It can be 2pm broad daylight but unless there is someone else within hearing distance of me I'll be fine. This game has really gotten to me!)
P.S. As a bounus, the CD soundtrack of the game is included with the $49.99 price! Now you can carry the cool yet mournful solo guitar tunes,piano tunes, and solo violin tunes, the spooky hollow sounding "haunted house" synth effect (you know the one, it sounds like wind blowing through empty hallways and brushing drawnound wind-chimey noise) with the creepy inaudiable wispers in the back ground, the bizzare radio static that sounds like a mosquito buzzing in your ear with low long howls that sound like fog horns in the distance or someone sloooowly scraping a chair against a floor, and of course the "RRBANRRGBANRRGBANGRRBANG!" soundtrack... in techno!!
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developed By: Konami
Produced By: Konami
Genre: Survival Horror
ESRB: M (Blood, Gore, Violence)
MSRP: $49.99
"Oh, it was only a dream..." Heather awakens from dozing off in a fast food resturant at the mall. She remembers a dream filled with he11ish inhumane figures lurking in the shadows, the smell of decay and freshly spilt blood, and living out her deepest darket fears and hidden secrets. But as he reassured herself, it was just a dream, it was eerily familliar... Hearther finds the nearest pay phone and calls her dad, "I'll be home shortly," and as she hangs up a stranger apporaches her, "Is your name Heather?". "My dad told me not to talk to strangers" Heather replies, wonering how the straneger knew her name, and darts into the nearest restroom. To avoid the stranger she sneaks out the back and into the mall's service hallways. She finds her way back back into the mall but... it has changed. It is suddenly nightime, there is no electricity, and it looks as if years have past. The floor has rotted away, the walls are staned with rust and what looks like... blood... and from the pitch black shadows he11ish and inhumane cries echo... welcome to Silent Hill 3.
Having only played Silent Hill 2 (I never played the first Silent Hill), Silent Hill 3 pushes the creepyness further than ever. Similar to Silent Hill 2 the first items you find is the radio (it sputters static whenver a he11 creature is nearby, but remains silent other wise). But in Silent Hill 3 and ironic to the game title there is no silence. Even if there are no he11 creeps around and there is no radio static, you'll still hear footsteps drawing closer. Walking down shadowy hallways you'll hear doors creak open and close in the murky distance (and you know how creepy it sounds when rusty metal doors groooaaaan open... shiver!). You'll hear screams and howls off in the distance. You'll hear a low gruff/watery voice wisper unrecgoniseable words behind closed doors (remember the prison in SH2... shiiiver!) There are three specific pee-your-pants moments that stick out in my mind. (1) It was perfectly silent and I passed a broken down looking phone booth and heard "ringring!", scared the **** outta me, (2) it was perfectly silent and I passed a caged off area in the subway and heard "GROWLGRRR!", (D@MMIT if I didn't 'yelp!') and (3) As I was exiting a room full of mannequins (unlike SH2 there are no mannequin monsters in SH3, but it was still creepy) I heard a scream as the door shut (was it coming from inside or outside?!). But it's not like things lighten up when there are creeps all around and your radio is screaming static. When there is a large grouping of creepies around you'll hear a continous mournfull cry and when there is a big creepy near by you'll hear this nerve rattling "RRBANRRGBANRRGBANGRRBANG!" noise like lawn mowers and steel drums in a blender. The developers really know how to rattle a persons nerves when playing. SH3 is more grotesque, creepier, and just plain mystifying than SH2, and as a tag line in a SH3 magazine ad reads: what you see isn't half as scary as what you dont...
SH3 exploring is much more linear than in SH2. Yes there still is a lot of running back and forth with odd baubles and trinkets for puzzle solving (remember that on SH2 puzzle where when you found all four combinations to the safe in the Hospital all that was inside was a single strand of hair?!) and yes there are plenty of lock-broken doors (but as I say when playing Silent Hill: a locked door is one less creepy to face!) but you'll always know where to go next instead of running around and rechecking every single place for a clue what to do next.
The combat in SH3 is more defensive than offensive. If you're a person who loves going on shooting sprees then perhaps SH3 isn't for you. Save you ammo for the boss fights, and simply run from all the creepys meandering around you. In SH2 you were provided a fair amound of ammo but that is because the creepys in SH2 were more agressive. In SL3 the AI will attack you if you get close, but they aren't nessicerily stalking you down. If you quickly run by a pack of creeps they'll try to attack but Heather is simply too fast for them. Sometimes if there is an item in the room that you need but a pack of creepy dogs keep lunging at you or if you are on a narrow catwalk and a needle spider creep is blocking your way it is nessicery to waste them but otherwise it's best to save your ammo for the bosses (I learned my lesson after I ran out of bullets fighting the first boss, a giant worm creature, and had to use the steel pipe and attempt to bludgeon it to death... cost me A LOT of first aide kits)...
The plot in SH3 seems almost unbearably unclear at the begining but once you reach the halfway point of the game the beans get spilled, splatter you in the face and dribble down the back of your shirt. In SH2 you were constantly running into other people (outsiders like you) trapped in Silent Hill trying to figure out why they were there and what was wrong with the place! With each incounter you were able to peice together what was going on and why you were drawn to Silent Hill. However in SL3 you basically know nothing until the game's halfway point and then soooooo much is unveild, you discover who's summoning the he11 creatures and why Heather has been dragged into the whole sorrid affair, and all that's left to find out during the rest of the game is how to end the madness once and for all.
If you enjoyed Silent Hill 2 you will be gleefully creeped out by the going-ons in Silent Hill 3. Best played after 10pm... in a huge room, and your parents and siblings out for the evening... all alone with the lights turned out. (But seriously, I cannot play this game by myself. It can be 2pm broad daylight but unless there is someone else within hearing distance of me I'll be fine. This game has really gotten to me!)
P.S. As a bounus, the CD soundtrack of the game is included with the $49.99 price! Now you can carry the cool yet mournful solo guitar tunes,piano tunes, and solo violin tunes, the spooky hollow sounding "haunted house" synth effect (you know the one, it sounds like wind blowing through empty hallways and brushing drawnound wind-chimey noise) with the creepy inaudiable wispers in the back ground, the bizzare radio static that sounds like a mosquito buzzing in your ear with low long howls that sound like fog horns in the distance or someone sloooowly scraping a chair against a floor, and of course the "RRBANRRGBANRRGBANGRRBANG!" soundtrack... in techno!!
. Ugh...worser than...(SP)
