Games I've beaten
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satanisgreat
- Vault Veteran
- Posts: 300
- Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:12 am
- Location: Bridgewater, MA
Silent Hill 3
I have to admit I was a little skeptical going into this one. Despite enjoying the previous two games immensly, I'd heard quite a few negative things about the third installment, and with this being the only one I hadn't played yet, my expectations were rather low.
In this game you play as Heather. Yes, the series departs from the usual "average late twenties/early thirties guy vs. demons and monsters" to "average late teens/early twenties girl does the same". You start off in a mall, where you "wake up" from a dream and into a nightmare. A detective is following you, as is a mysterious woman who follows a freaky cult religion. As you try to make your way back home, you go through a distorted subway, the mall, sewers, the old hospital, a church, and a haunted house (which is short, but probably my favorite location in the games).
I hated Heather at the beginning of the game. I found it hard to identify with a teenage girl who thinks things like "these clothes aren't my style" and would rather find something to fetch a key beneath a pallet than move a few boxes. As the game went on, however, Heather rather grew on me and her personality turned out to be kind of appealing. I thought maybe playing as a somewhat helpless young girl might add to the tension of being hunted down, but in the end it really didn't make much difference; but it was somewhat refreshing.
Although the gameplay remains largely the same from the previous games, the atmosphere has changed rather dramatically. In 3, rather than the slow paced, cerebral scares of the first two, the horror is more graphic, immediate, and...vicious. This game seems to overstep more boundaries in terms of gore and violence than the prequels: more blood, gore, etc. There are deformed horses which you must slaughter in order to proceed, and a fetus which is vomited up by one character then eaten by another. Mmmmmm...
The monsters are larger, faster, harder to kill, more aggressive, and do more damage to you. Add to this the fact that ammo is very scarce as are health items, and this game is easily the most difficult (so far) in the series. I still can't figure out how to kill some of the monsters without getting seriously fucked up in the process, and by the time I killed the end boss I had three handgun bullets left. You are presented with the option of wearing a bulletproof vest early in the game, but this slows you down conciderably, making you take more damage anyway.
The graphics are a major upgrade from even Restless Dreams. Everything is much clearer and smoother, and the characters move much more realistically. The CGG are dramatically improved as well, which is amazing. While having cleaner graphics is nice, it also sacrifices some of the grittiness that makes the games eerie.
The sound is spot on terrifying. Once again you need a 5.1 system and be playing in pitch darkness to truly appreciate this game. From the dogs snarling behind you as they hunt Heather down to the cries of unseen little girls, the sound design is excellent.
The puzzles are simply brilliant as is expected. Departing just a small bit from the Myst or exploration style, this time you're given the information up front and explicitly. You just have to solve them using your head. As an example, there's a locked door in front of you with a number pad. You pick up five Shakespear books with what appears to be strange symbols on the bindings at first. You read a little saying on a note next to the locked door and realize the symbols are numbers, you just have to rearrange the books in an order make numbers out of them, then enter the correct code into the keypad. It's not rocket science, but it's difficult enough to be entertaining.
Some of the changes made to the game threw me off. Instead of getting a map to the area right from the get go, you have to search hard for some of them. Depending on how long it takes you to find it, the levels can be rather easy or much, much harder than is necessary. The head turning to look at items has returned, but now it's almost too prominent. Instead of just looking at items, Heather feels the need to look at doors as well, throwing the whole system off and making it confusing. The areas are smaller, basically forcing you to fight at times just to get through, which seemed like a big no no in previous games. There are many more set camera angles, making for some cool shots, but also making some areas extremely frustrating to fight in.
The worst is probably the inclusion of many "instant death" parts. I can only remember one instance from the original that you could suddenly die with little warning. Now there are mulitple such incidents that will cause you to load a game because of a split second, unavoidable "mistake" you had no idea you were commiting. This gets annoying after about the third time you get run over by a subway car.
Overall, this is a fine addition to the series. It still scared the shit out of me, despite a few design flaws and a more literal story. At the beggining of the game, the disclaimer read, "Some parts of this game may be considered violent and cruel". That's pretty fucking true. While it abandoned some of the more sophisticated horror of 1 and 2, it's got good splatterhouse value, and that's fine by me.
Score: 539
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Results
Ending Type- Normal
Action Level- Normal (3/5 stars)
Riddle Level- Normal (3/5 stars)
Clear Time- 6h 50m 38 s (2/10 stars)
Split Worm Kill Time- 1m 18s (2/2 stars)
Missionary Kill Time- 2m 26s (1/2 stars)
Leonard Kill Time- 3m 26s (1/2 stars)
Memory of Alessa Kill Time- 4m 20s (1/2 stars)
The God Kill Time- 6m 32s (2/2 stars)
Clear Number- 2 (3/5 stars)
Save and Continue Number- 66 (0/5 stars)
Item Number- 184 (20/20 stars)
Defeated Enemy by Shooting- 33 (6/15 stars)
Defeated Enemy by Fighting- 60 (12/15 stars)
Total Damage- 1993 (2/5 stars)
I have to admit I was a little skeptical going into this one. Despite enjoying the previous two games immensly, I'd heard quite a few negative things about the third installment, and with this being the only one I hadn't played yet, my expectations were rather low.
In this game you play as Heather. Yes, the series departs from the usual "average late twenties/early thirties guy vs. demons and monsters" to "average late teens/early twenties girl does the same". You start off in a mall, where you "wake up" from a dream and into a nightmare. A detective is following you, as is a mysterious woman who follows a freaky cult religion. As you try to make your way back home, you go through a distorted subway, the mall, sewers, the old hospital, a church, and a haunted house (which is short, but probably my favorite location in the games).
I hated Heather at the beginning of the game. I found it hard to identify with a teenage girl who thinks things like "these clothes aren't my style" and would rather find something to fetch a key beneath a pallet than move a few boxes. As the game went on, however, Heather rather grew on me and her personality turned out to be kind of appealing. I thought maybe playing as a somewhat helpless young girl might add to the tension of being hunted down, but in the end it really didn't make much difference; but it was somewhat refreshing.
Although the gameplay remains largely the same from the previous games, the atmosphere has changed rather dramatically. In 3, rather than the slow paced, cerebral scares of the first two, the horror is more graphic, immediate, and...vicious. This game seems to overstep more boundaries in terms of gore and violence than the prequels: more blood, gore, etc. There are deformed horses which you must slaughter in order to proceed, and a fetus which is vomited up by one character then eaten by another. Mmmmmm...
The monsters are larger, faster, harder to kill, more aggressive, and do more damage to you. Add to this the fact that ammo is very scarce as are health items, and this game is easily the most difficult (so far) in the series. I still can't figure out how to kill some of the monsters without getting seriously fucked up in the process, and by the time I killed the end boss I had three handgun bullets left. You are presented with the option of wearing a bulletproof vest early in the game, but this slows you down conciderably, making you take more damage anyway.
The graphics are a major upgrade from even Restless Dreams. Everything is much clearer and smoother, and the characters move much more realistically. The CGG are dramatically improved as well, which is amazing. While having cleaner graphics is nice, it also sacrifices some of the grittiness that makes the games eerie.
The sound is spot on terrifying. Once again you need a 5.1 system and be playing in pitch darkness to truly appreciate this game. From the dogs snarling behind you as they hunt Heather down to the cries of unseen little girls, the sound design is excellent.
The puzzles are simply brilliant as is expected. Departing just a small bit from the Myst or exploration style, this time you're given the information up front and explicitly. You just have to solve them using your head. As an example, there's a locked door in front of you with a number pad. You pick up five Shakespear books with what appears to be strange symbols on the bindings at first. You read a little saying on a note next to the locked door and realize the symbols are numbers, you just have to rearrange the books in an order make numbers out of them, then enter the correct code into the keypad. It's not rocket science, but it's difficult enough to be entertaining.
Some of the changes made to the game threw me off. Instead of getting a map to the area right from the get go, you have to search hard for some of them. Depending on how long it takes you to find it, the levels can be rather easy or much, much harder than is necessary. The head turning to look at items has returned, but now it's almost too prominent. Instead of just looking at items, Heather feels the need to look at doors as well, throwing the whole system off and making it confusing. The areas are smaller, basically forcing you to fight at times just to get through, which seemed like a big no no in previous games. There are many more set camera angles, making for some cool shots, but also making some areas extremely frustrating to fight in.
The worst is probably the inclusion of many "instant death" parts. I can only remember one instance from the original that you could suddenly die with little warning. Now there are mulitple such incidents that will cause you to load a game because of a split second, unavoidable "mistake" you had no idea you were commiting. This gets annoying after about the third time you get run over by a subway car.
Overall, this is a fine addition to the series. It still scared the shit out of me, despite a few design flaws and a more literal story. At the beggining of the game, the disclaimer read, "Some parts of this game may be considered violent and cruel". That's pretty fucking true. While it abandoned some of the more sophisticated horror of 1 and 2, it's got good splatterhouse value, and that's fine by me.
Score: 539
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Results
Ending Type- Normal
Action Level- Normal (3/5 stars)
Riddle Level- Normal (3/5 stars)
Clear Time- 6h 50m 38 s (2/10 stars)
Split Worm Kill Time- 1m 18s (2/2 stars)
Missionary Kill Time- 2m 26s (1/2 stars)
Leonard Kill Time- 3m 26s (1/2 stars)
Memory of Alessa Kill Time- 4m 20s (1/2 stars)
The God Kill Time- 6m 32s (2/2 stars)
Clear Number- 2 (3/5 stars)
Save and Continue Number- 66 (0/5 stars)
Item Number- 184 (20/20 stars)
Defeated Enemy by Shooting- 33 (6/15 stars)
Defeated Enemy by Fighting- 60 (12/15 stars)
Total Damage- 1993 (2/5 stars)
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satanisgreat
- Vault Veteran
- Posts: 300
- Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:12 am
- Location: Bridgewater, MA
They're no more or less logical than the other games, they're just more blatant and less complex. Instead of figuring out what cryptic poems mean in the first game, or finding keys and objects in the second, you're given everything up front you need to solve it. They're mostly mathmatical or visual puzzles.
-
satanisgreat
- Vault Veteran
- Posts: 300
- Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:12 am
- Location: Bridgewater, MA
