B-Horror Entry into an A-Class Series
When I first played its sequel, “Silent Hill 2”, I did not expect it to be a direct continuation of the story from the first game, as the events from the first game were so unique and came to such a dramatic close. The events from that game took place in the same mythos of the first game, but they didn’t attempt to continue that literal story, framing it instead as a place lost souls wander to resolve guilt from their past. While many gamers didn’t like this direction, I thought it was a perfect one for the series to take. It's safe to say that I expected “Silent Hill 3” to continue in this vein, rather than be a true sequel to the original. When it was finally released, it took me by surprise that the developers had decided to make a literal sequel to the first game. But it was at first pleasant surprise, as the story also managed to stick to the formula I had so admired, with the main protagonist of the game, Heather, seeking to discover both her origins and a resolution to a complex past she doesn’t even remember. Many of the improvements made to gameply in "Silent Hill 2" are here, providing the gamer with a choice of either a 2D or 3D control scheme , and fixing some of the issues with the camera’s behavior. Beyond that, the game employs most of the same foundational elements from the previous two games, including the flashlight to illuminate almost constant darkness, and a radio that puts out static when enemies are drawing near. Most stages also have a nightmare stage, which has become an important environmental framework to the series. Gameplay does make a major departure from the series in one respect that up to now virtually defined its game mechanics. That aspect is town exploration, and with no significant innovative offerings to replace it, it's severely missed. Unlike its predecessors, the game is purposefully linear. The action initially takes place in an unnamed city long before you ever get to Silent Hill, but there is no exploration of this city at all other than a short walk down a road and alley. Even when you do get to the Silent Hill township (about half-way through the game), you actually get to traverse VERY little of it. This is my biggest objection. Both of the previous games had intricate sections of town to explore, in which you could move freely from place to place and discover your next move. A lot of charm is lost with the game moving to a level-train format.
Thankfully, the building levels follow the same tried and true formula, requiring a lot of interaction, searching, exploration, and puzzle-solving. Most of the levels take place in the unnamed city, but they are solidly designed and present a significant challenge. This is particularly true of the shopping mall area, which is large and diverse. Some of the stages you face once you reach Silent Hill are taken from the previous games, but are updated with new enemies and puzzles. This includes the “Brookhaven Hospital” from "Silent Hill 2", which has been given an all new terrifying look in its nightmare state. It also includes the “Lakeside Amusement Park” from the first “Silent Hill”, which is a real treat to experience with this console generation’s graphical capabilities. Sadly, none of these replace the void created from actually traversing the abandoned town after which this game is named, even if they do represent significant strides in their own right.
The “Silent Hill” series is known for its horrific creatures and its cryptic puzzles, and those features of the game have not been abandoned in this entry. There are some truly disturbing creatures in this game. Some of them have been encountered before in the series, such as the skinned zombie dogs, but there are also some new disturbing amalgamations of flesh, bone, and blood that rival many of the creatures encountered before. The game also has some of the most interesting and original mind-stretching puzzles available. There are initially three difficulties for combat, and three difficulties for puzzles, each one progressively more difficult for that aspect of gameplay. The hardest of the three initial combat modes is insanely difficult, making monsters take large amounts of damage to kill, as well as making Heather vulnerable to other aspects of her environment. Likewise, the hard puzzle mode has puzzles that will really stretch your puzzle-solving capabilities. After finishing a single game on both the hard action and hard riddle mode, new action modes are unlocked to make the game progressively harder each time. These are called "Extreme Modes", and there are, *gasp*, ten of them. After completing one Extreme Mode, the next Extreme Mode is unlocked. The last of these, Extreme Mode X, is virtually impossible except for the most skilled of players. I can easily see how it could give great replay value to gamers who are always wanting to up the ante on subsequent playthroughs, but I personally found this to be a tedious and superficial attempt at artificially expanding replay value.
If there is any one area in which this game shines above previous entries in the series, it's in the department of its visuals and sound effects. The graphics are absolutely astounding in this game. “Silent Hill 2” literally pushed the Playstation 2 to the edge of its abilities, but “Silent Hill 3” rivals it in almost every way. Graphical presentation, textures, colors, expressions, and environments are put forth with a startling clarity that shouldn’t be possible on a system like the Playstation 2. In fact, though the game was only released on the Playstation 2, it could easily be mistaken for an XBOX title. For the first time in the series, even the cut scenes are generated in real time rather than pre-rendered, and it makes for a very fluid experience. Sound effects are disturbing and frightening, being easily the most realistic effects the series has had to offer. The game’s musical soundtrack is arguably the best in the series as well. It's so good in fact, that the game comes with the soundtrack featured prominently in its own part of the game case.
It's a grand production indeed, but it's not a perfect one. The dialogue is really not up to the exacting standards of the past two games in the series, especially “Silent Hill 2”, which had some of the best dialog in any game before it. The characterizations are too stiff and predictable, coming across as less mysterious and atmospheric than those of the previous two games. Even the ones which have a direct relationship to the first game are less believable. Two of these characters are unintentionally comical, and while the series has always provided some comic relief in the past, it's usually only presented AFTER you finish the game at least once, allowing the player to experience the full terror of the game on his first playthrough. The failure in this area hurts the presentation far more than I think the developers must have realized, giving the game the feeling of a B-quality horror movie that seems more jeuvenile than horrifying. Despite the success of the overall atmosphere created by the blood-soaked visuals and tortureous sound effects, the corny dialog has ruined any chance I would have had at being scared by this title.
As with previous entries in the series, new bonus items and abilities appear after playing through the game at least once. Possibilities include a flamethrower, an unlimited machine gun, a light saber, and even a strange power to shoot lasers and energy missiles from the heroine’s eyes. A secrets menu also appears, allowing you to unlock new t-shirts and costumes featuring prominent gaming sites and magazines, as well as a full “goth chick” outfit complete with dyed hair and tattoos, and a strange outfit that turns the heroine into a Japanese super hero. It's nice to see that the series hasn’t lost its famous sense of humor. These extra items and costume changes are too gimicky to constitute reason in and of themselves to play through the game more than once, and so the usual tactic comes into play with providing multiple endings. Unfortunately, the game falls short in this area as well. Unlike the original game, which had five possible endings, and the sequel, which had five or six depending on which version of the game you are playing, this game has only three. Neither of the two serious endings are very compelling. Still, one of the endings available is a continuation of what has become a series staple, the UFO ending. And what a UFO ending it is! Presented in Japanese anime format, it features both Harry Mason and James Sunderland, the heroes of the previous games, and ends with a cheesy Japanese campfire song that will leave you chuckling for hours. Overall, there is enough value here to play through the game two to three times, but not five to six as in the first two games.
I had a lot of enthusiasm for this game's release, but after examining everything it had to offer, my experience was mixed. My overall impression is one of disappointment with the direction this series seems to be going. Though the story of this sequel is fitting, the quality of the dialog made it both less profound as a continuation of the incredible story presented by the original “Silent Hill”, and less-involved psychologically as the story presented in "Silent Hill 2". Though the game is challenging, the lack of town exploration hurts the presentation, keeping it from being comparable to the series entries that preceded it. Though there is replay value, only a few of the perks for playing through the game scenario again constitute solid reason to do so, as most of them are a bit too gimmicky and superficial to be worth the effort. In cinematic movie terms, it feels like an acceptable sequel to a classic horror masterpiece, but hardly deserving of its predecessor's status. The game is still above average when compared to most games in the market today, but it just doesn't feel worthy of the "Silent Hill" title. The game is still worth more than a rental to both new players picking it up for the first time and fans of the series, but the latter shouldn't expect this to be on part with the series they'v grown to love.