Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Silent Hill 3

Written by Chris Reiter on July 30, 2003

First Impressions: Leaky pant side effects may vary.

Every game company that creates its own horror story lends out a unique style all of its own. Capcom has shocked us, Infogrames has bent our very thoughts, and as for Konami...they have perceived a reality that not only twists our eyes in the other direction, but also gives our ears a new meaning to want be clogged up. Konami's Silent Hill franchise is known today as one of the most shocking and grotesque horror adventures that takes on so many forms of reality that it's hard to imagine anyone could ever survive through finishing the game of their own will and testament. And starting early next month, you'll soon see why...

Previous installments in representations of the series presented gamers with the main character as a male figure who came in contact with the arcane town of Silent Hill. In search of their lost loved ones, the protagonists unmasked details to the most important chapter in their lives -- something essentially unnerving to the core. Where the first two games were one and the same, Silent Hill 3 will take you elsewhere. Heather is the everyday teenager of today. She doesn't have any special powers. She isn't out on a search mission to save her lost child or husband. Her only reason for going out in the world today is to participate in everyday activities...but when Heather is encountered by a mysterious man and woman, a strange world starts to unwrap itself around her, and she gets caught up in it. Strength will be her creed...fear will be her burden...survival will become her ticket back to reality.

Where the first two Silent Hill adventures took you through just the town itself, Silent Hill 3 will offer a bit more as it begins in a tangent location that will eventually lead the player through recognizable doors. Now consisting of only the hardcore development team members behind Silent Hill 2, the sequel is bringing to the table a substantial number of fresh faces -- ones with ideas that are of new and different interest, which will be implemented in the final release. One of these ideas of course is to substitute a male lead with Heather. Another is the use of the pattern in which the game can and most definitely will scare you. From the start of the game, instead of drifting gradually into an unseen place of pure terror, you'll face the stench of fear immediately.

Tons of other diversity that made Silent Hill 2 amplified over the original is what will drive Silent Hill 3's core. Unlike Silent Hill 3's other two counterparts, in this one, players will have automatic guns to aid them in their quest in escape of the twisted town. Add to that some other new and familiar items like a katana, a pistol, a shotgun, a stungun, and of course the always-in-your-pocket flashlight, and you've got yourself a game. Evidentially, Konami is focusing toward an action-packed feel by giving the third title their all with more twisted creatures than ever to slay -- from a nefarious rabbit suit, to snaking monstrosities wrapped in a suit of skin, to a lumbering giant that stands high above Heather and wields club shaped limbs that which of all induces a new sense of terror into the mix. But as this is also a thinking man's game, a more laden heavy puzzle system will construe itself into Heather's journey to remain alive in a way that should be able to school most gamers' into using their brains more often than not.

In a living, breathing state of putrid surroundings, Silent Hill 3's visuals are being juiced up in a blender with a naturally real, yet disgusting demeanor to them. Having enhanced textures produced over numerous solid objects, environmental fragments are set to stand out as sickly as possible. Some game areas such as the carnival seen in the first game will return with the full technological update it deserves, as the same can be said about brand new places of exploration, one place being a subway. Silent Hill 2's visuals affected human characters and expressions almost to the point where you could tell that they weren't your ordinary generic people. Following suit, Silent Hill 3 is to go beyond that limit, with a marvel of graphic and surreal visuals that are far from the every day. Covered in dark, and monsters, and other stuff that bumps in the night, this Silent Hill will feature more of an "organic" touch, with walls that bleed red, eschewing reality for its own morbid splendor.

Strangeness will fill the void for the things you'll notice with your ears rather than your eyes in Heather's adventure back to her world. You'll be able to hear the radio drive you mad with its static blur whenever a monster is creeping close, as well as the thuds and shrill screams of terror beckoning you at every corner. Through real time cut scenes, the game's cast of voice actors will provide matching personas to their character's calling. And made of melancholy guitar strum rhythms, the music in the game will also help to keep Heather in a stage of tension for whatever's to come.