Perhaps it’s quite ironic then to find Silent Hill 3 begins on that mother of adrenaline: the roller coaster of an amusement park. Yet to examine this series in relation to the rest of it's survival horror brethren is to do it an injustice. The fear here isn’t based on a principle of entertaining through brief exciting spikes, Resident Evil style. No, the core concept of Silent Hill is about getting deep underneath your skin and finding out who you are, and what you can and can’t take. In many ways, that overriding philosophy extends it’s way to the storyline central of this latest addition. You play Heather, a young girl who finds her ordinary visit to a shopping mall turned upside down and inside out within the confines of her own particular hell. In order to succeed, she needs to uncover her past and what it means in relation to the mysterious town of Silent Hill. There’s a great use of symbolism in many locations and cutscenes that help expand on several ideas not fully covered in a complex story, a story which may prove impenetrable for newcomers, and even those who joined the series from the second game. While a lack of open interpretation harms the flexibility of the narrative this time around, Silent Hill 3’s literally focused drive helps give it more of a defined direction. Something which could be argued it’s predecessor somewhat lacked. Fans of the first title won’t be disappointed here, because this game retains and takes the themes of the original much further when it comes to uncovering the past and the origins of the town itself.
There’s a tremendous sense of urgency throughout that steadily builds more as the adventure progresses, eventually growing to an absolutely terrifying and hideous climax. Silent Hill 3 is very much a psychological journey, and if you can forgive its minor faults and take the experience as a whole, you’ll find it deeply satisfying in a way few other games can match. The main focus of the narrative this time is on the effects of religion, and how the ideals of good and evil can become intertwined within certain belief systems focused on the greater good over individual morality. Hate, in particular, is considered the very foundation of Silent Hill, with deviance providing its fuel, especially in terms of sacrifice and manipulation. The game almost suggests that to reach paradise, people have to let go of their humanity and achieve another form of ‘purity’. Issues of personal identity are of particular concern, especially in relation to how we as individuals sometimes run from who we are, because we're afraid of examining ourselves in case it alters our own perception of the world around us. Silent Hill 3's narrative could be taken as a metaphor for our struggle to keep hold of our individualism when we aren’t even sure what such a concept means anymore.
Heather herself is a different player-character for the Silent Hill series. She is young, aggressive and female, whereas the previous two games featured rather passive middle-aged men who didn’t impose themselves when it came to communication with the other NPCs (Non-Player Characters). One of the reasons why characterisation excels is because although there are a smaller number of overall people in comparison to the last outing, they’re simply given more time to build their relationships and interactions with each other in cutscene format. Whereas Silent Hill 2 mostly kept NPCs separate from each other, this time they are allowed to communicate more amongst themselves. Narrative in the series previously has been based on the player’s viewpoint, but here characters interact oblivious to whether Heather is with them or not, which gives the narrative more scope because we can understand motive outside of Heather’s reasoning. In fact, although it could be said putting a young girl in a mini-skirt as the main lead is a slightly cynical move, Heather's strong personality gives her much more of an edge over Harry and James.
Technically speaking, the facial animation and detail used to flesh out these varying characteristics is simply incredible. No longer do Silent Hill’s characters look as if they’ve sprouted from the same polygonal tree. These are real, living breathing people, and consequently Konami’s fantastic use of the PS2 hardware helps flesh out their idiosyncrasies very convincingly. An example is the fact that Silent Hill 3 doesn’t require the use of pre-rendered cinematics for close-contact cutscenes anymore - Its own in-game engine simply does a better job. Just as impressive is the environmental level of detail, for although texture quality remains roughly identical to Silent Hill 2, it’s the attention that’s been lavished which helps everything appear so utterly stark. Backing up this wonderful (or perhaps terrifying) combination of art, imagination and technology is Akira Yamaoka’s sound direction, who just as ever supremely crafts dark abstract styles into scathingly abusive uses of sound. If there is perhaps any criticism that can be levelled at Silent Hill 3 sonically, then it’s that the vocalised musical pieces accompanying a few of the cutscenes don’t entirely work, mostly because they sometimes interfere and impose themselves a little too much. In contrast, much of the gameplay is conducted under the guise of complete silence, which helps emphasis isolation and how alone the player often is as Heather.
At first this isn’t so much of a problem, because many of the enemies lure you into a false sense of security as they appear somewhat small and inconsequential. It’s only much later on that we see them suddenly start coming forth in different sizes, helping to play about with the game’s sense of scale and perspective. Even more unnerving is when this becomes amplified through the fact certain doors and objects in the real world sometimes appear smaller or larger than we would normally expect. Seeing this creates an uncomfortable feel, because we can never be sure if we are in the dark or real version of reality due to such unpredictable iconography.
With regards to the monsters, they slowly change mass in relation to the context of their environment. Some monsters, for example, appear bloated, fat and almost slothful. And yet when on the move in tight spaces, they become very fast and manoeuvrable. In comparison to the second game, these enemies chase, fly and run at you with greater speed, and due to the complex claustrophobic nature of Silent Hill 3 (most of it taking part indoors), this creates an extremely threatening atmosphere.
Thankfully, a greater selection of weapons are available to combat foe, but because more emphasis is placed on combat in light of limited ammo, it’s easy to feel outnumbered and hunted. Having said that, an increased range of short and long distance weaponry does increase tactical depth, as does the fact you can now lay food traps for enemy diversion. However, boss battles feel rather monotonous in comparison as they lack tension and although disturbing, often become a simple case of learning basic patterns, consequently making such moments repetitive. It’s to Silent Hill 3’s credit then that focus isn’t applied much to these segments but instead on moving and getting out of one location to the next as quickly as possible. There’s less wandering about than in the previous two games, and the experience feels more tuned and balanced as a result.
One of Silent Hill 3’s strengths is in the element of surprise, and this is evident in the number of puzzles which are found to be logical, diverse and well designed, not to mention focused on encouraging a little bit of thought. It could be said this impressive element (along with others) from the game won’t quite have the same impact when playing through a second time. But such a criticism can be levelled at any linear form of entertainment, and this game shouldn’t be dismissed as a one-trick pony. Although it’s linear by nature, Silent Hill 3 has been specifically designed to be scripted. Equally, criticising the title’s survival horror roots for not innovating enough is a touch unfair, because this is partly why it excels, especially in terms of theme. Just like its characters, Silent Hill 3's dynamic is under an identity crisis too, for although the conventions are familiar, what happens within these borders often staggers belief. This is a powerful experience which can’t be fully absorbed on initial play, and although shorter than its predecessor, more happens within Silent Hill 3’s time frame. Konami have also made sure you will want to come back through a carefully considered replay system. Different endings, alternative weapons, costumes and several easter eggs are waiting to be found, not to mention a results page for those looking to analyse and better their in-game performance.
This screen doesn’t have to be navigated via the game’s convoluted menu system though, which still suffers from being both clumsy to navigate and disruptive when you have to externally remove yourself from the gameworld to access it. As a consequence the playing experience feels slightly turn-based, which perhaps its otherwise seamless nature could have done without.
Amongst critics, this isn’t the only dynamic of the game’s interface which has drawn attention. Clumsy control has often been cited as a major problem, but it’s perhaps one that has been misinterpreted to a degree. Fear in Silent Hill 3 could even be considered a resulting side effect of some of these flaws, for clumsy control just emphasises the fact we as the player can connect better with our character in context of their place in the narrative. We have to remember Heather is an ordinary teenage girl, not a trained commando designed to take on zombies. Her aim and movement are awkward, and could even be interpreted as a reaction to the unpredictable situation she finds herself in.
Silent Hill 3 is all the more extraordinary because it pushes a variety of shocking themes and radical ideas under a gameplay system based on recognised convention. Perhaps this familiar format is being used to lure us into a sense of security in order to further promote a contrast between the expected and unexpected. Or maybe it helps the player to associate with their interface on a fairly immediate level, thus enabling the game to undercut this sense of comfort via an overwhelming expression of abstract terror. Through using a framework that’s familiar with the rest of the survival horror genre, this means acceptable boundaries elsewhere can be focused on and pushed with a great deal of force.
If you fall under Silent Hill 3’s spell, then it will blow your mind.
And isn’t that what fear should really be about?
Text by Ben Mottershead
For me SH2: Restless Dreams is the benchmark of the series particularly as it gives you Maria as both playable character in the "Born From a Wish" additional level (best played first IMHO) and as a primary NPC in the main SH2 story.
But it is closely followed by SH3 with Heather another interesting but quite a different type of strong yet still vulnerable female character.
The first Silent Hill game nailed the feel, the claustrophobic, looming dread of the place, the crackle of the radio warning you some revolting, nightmarish creatures was nearby but hidden by the fog or darkness. It doesn't use jump scares, that I can remember, it builds the threatening atmosphere slowly, relentlessly, expertly.
However the graphics were always an issue as were the controls and now even more so. You just can not call it the best survival horror game ever made if it doesn't stand the test of time on any of its most important elements.
SH2: RD and SH3 addressed both those issues, building on that template to create something much better. They too are far from perfect. The script and voice acting which once seemed great, in retrospect would be better off described as: great, for video games of that time.
Now we expect more even if we don't get it.
But the bottom line is that both games are still very playable and the fact we're not just talking about them and reviewing them 20+ years later, they're being played. That's the thing to celebrate because it is testament to their quality as games.