LogFAQs > #892039299

8. Silent Hill 3 (26.5 points)
Nominated by: v_charon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz3ufaZCoVw

Importance: 7
Fear: 9.5
Snake: 10

Too often overlooked by gamers and overshadowed by it's predecessor, Silent Hill 3 is just as artful, terrifying, devious, and masterfully detailed as Team Silent's previous efforts. In fact, it does some things even better than Silent Hill 2 does them, and that's a tall order. Silent Hill 3 returns back to series roots after the more stand-alone SH2, focusing on the malicious cult The Order and their attempts to make protagonist Heather Mason (last seen reincarnated as a baby Alessa) feel hatred and anger in order to birth the God they believe in. Compared to the deeply personal plot of Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3 appears grander and presents more stakes, but Heather is definitely the most well-realized character of the series and the story is just as personal. She's a far cry from the stoic everyman Harry Mason and the socially awkward James Sunderland. Heather gives us a younger perspective on being trapped in the town; she has typical teenage attitude and spunk, but also shows plenty of fear, confusion, and vulnerability to the dangers of the town. Initially anyway, Heather isn't really suffering from trauma or loss, and the game portrays a character getting acclimatized to this new twisted reality of strange monsters in a realistic manner. Heather is also well-characterized by her relationship to the ensemble cast of characters. She finds a father figure in the private investigator Douglas Cartland, a character who could've been himself a Silent Hill protagonist in any other game with the loss of his son. Claudia Wolf, the game's main antagonist, has a sisterly relationship towards Heather due to having a close relationship with Alessa when they were young, but Heather refuses to return the favor, and their arguments are some of the most powerful scenes in the game. Heather finds a sarcastic counterpart in Vincent Smith, a more reasonable member of the Order who straddles the line between ally and opponent whilst holding a conflicting view on God compared to the fanatical and zealous Claudia. Finally, despite not sharing any screen time really, Heather's love and relationship to her father is one of her defining aspects, so much so that her father's death at the hands of Claudia brought me to tears. Silent Hill 3 understands most of all how important character is at the center of the series. Each game brings a unique cast that's memorable and themed in their own ways, but the characters of SH3 always stand-out the most to me thanks to colorful, realistic personalities without being bogged down by only one type of trauma or one particular character trait.

Silent Hill 3 brings in a little more action to the series, with a larger variety of weapons to use and increased enemy counts in certain areas. Now, this still isn't Resident Evil 4 level of change, but it is a bit harder to feel afraid when carrying an awesome katana or SMG around with you. SH3 makes up for this though with great level design, tiny moments that will no doubt scare the crap out of you, and my favorite video game soundtrack of all time. Silent Hill has always been aces when it comes to atmosphere, and Silent Hill 3 continues to up the ante with a refreshing variety of locales. Just as you start to get tired of the Mall of America setting, the game shifts to a tense creeping through a quiet subway, and then an office building with a variety of businesses. Each location gives you something to remember it by; a near-fatal ghost encounter can be had in the subway, a piercing scream in Store Front Poseables will definitely make you change your pants, and later on, the game even takes you through a haunted house attraction that feels really unique.
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The first monster you have to scare the audience with is yourself.
http://tinyurl.com/zqwzc9a - http://i.imgur.com/e6kIv3X.png - https://i.imgur.com/ecJSilM.png