Silent Hill 3

Who here has read my Silent Hill 2 review?

Now, half of you with your hands up are either shaking your fists angrily or agreeing wholeheartedly.

I hated Silent Hill 2. I really hated it. I hated it with a passion, in fact. I hated it more than I've hated anything in a long time of hating. I'll spit venom about that game until I die. I hated almost everything about it, praising nothing but the graphics and the sounds.

Why, then, did I buy Silent Hill 3? Simple, really… I loved the movie, and figured the franchise deserved a second chance.

I'm incredibly glad to say Silent Hill 3 changed my mind. Behold one of the most incredible and, importantly, terrifying games I've ever played.

Where to begin? I guess with the story.

So you play as generic-horror-teen-hero who's struggling to come to terms with her world slowly merging with the Silent Hill world. The game makes a bold start by not actually setting itself in Silent Hill for the first half of the game, which despite making you wonder why it bears the badge of Silent Hill is still incredibly effective and makes for some very original dungeon sections. Embarking on a misadventure of sorts, you guide young Heather through terrifying double-worlds full of creepy monsters, creaky floorboards, buckets of blood and guts, and an assortment of zany and crazed characters.

I must again praise the graphics. They really do exceed expectations, and with some levels - the dark side of the hospital in particular - you'd be forgiven for thinking this game would be more at home on one of the next gen consoles. The environments genuinely feel alive and as the torch light causes shadows to flicker across the room you'll feel the atmosphere suck you in. It's very absorbing. There are all kinds of extra touches… for example, there's a section of the game that views Heather through a metal grating of sorts. Every now and then you'll see a dead, dismembered body impaled on the grating pass in front of the camera. It's incredible.

The sounds lose a few points this time and I can't quite place my finger on why. I think it might be the voice acting… it's just not up to the same level as the previous game which is a shame. That's not to say it's necessarily bad, just a step backwards. The music and sound effects are still very atmospheric and fitting.

The gameplay is considerably improved this time. There are so many extra touches to the game that just make it feel worth playing. The camera is still impossible and the combat is slow and sluggish, and there are some incredibly unforgiving parts of the game in terms of difficulty. The dungeons also suffer from a major case of "too much in one map" which would put off the more casual gamer. However, this can all be forgiven.

Let me put it this way. I will again reiterate that Silent Hill 2 was Not Scary. It was so Not Scary that Not Scary needs to be capitalised to elaborate how incredibly Not Scary it was. It had far too many build up moments, all of which ended with an anticlimax. The one exception to this was Pyramid Head smacking you off of the top of the hospital, but that had no build up. It was a cheap scare. An unforgivably cheap scare. In fact, the Resident Evil series suffers from this too. It's just not scary! The programmers seem to think that numerous slow moving enemies coupled with limited ammunition and weaponry makes a good gaming experience when it doesn't.

Silent Hill 3 throws all of these rules out the window from the very start. You know the second you step on the roller coaster track in the opening sequence of the game what's going to happen. You just know it. And you hesitantly push the analogue stick forward, anxiously waiting for the inevitable. You know it's coming. And do you know what? It does. She gets smacked by a roller coaster. And it's bloody beautiful.

To pick out other parts of the game that deserve a mention, I'll say look out for an incredible walk from one end of a subway train to the other… increasing garbage and graffiti represents the transition from the real world to the otherworld. Also look out for the hospital, a part of the game that I actually had to walk away from in fear. When it turns dark things get incredibly trippy and you'll love it. There's also an assortment of secrets such as the famed Mirror Room. The crowning moment for me is a Haunted House section, but I'd rather not describe it in any more detail for fear of spoiling it.

If you want a fun but short thrill then Silent Hill 3 is perfect. Even though many of the bad marks from the last game (clunky controls, awful camera, and uninspired weaponry) remain, they really make up for it by being a fright fest like no other.