Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 8
Value: 9.5
Reviewer's Tilt: 9
Overall: 9.2
Silent Hill 3's plot is often confusing, and there are a good amount of twists in the game's plot to keep you interested. But right when you think that things couldn't be any better, they do. You'll be hooked to the game's scary moments in the story and all of a sudden it will shift to a higher gear and you'll be even more freaked out. It should be noted that Silent Hill 3's characters are the most human-like you've ever encountered, and the great voice acting and script make them even more realistic.
This game wouldn't be scary without realistic, frightening graphics. Thankfully, Silent Hill 3 delivers this. In fact, this is the best looking PlayStation 2 title I've ever seen. The shadows and lighting effects are better than Splinter Cell, the textures are gritty, detailed and dark, and the character models are up to par with Half-Life 2. This is the real deal here, folks. Console games just can't look any better than this, at least not for a while. The lip-synching isn't as good as the rest of the game simply because the lip movements were designed to be matched with Japanese dialogue, so naturally it was a pretty tough task delivering it to the U.S. intact. But if you're the type of person that would bash this game for that reason, you don't deserve to be playing console games.
I can't say that the monsters in this game will give you nightmares, or even remotely freak you out like they did in Silent Hill 2. The tree-stump arms guy you've been seeing in the previews just isn't creepy like Pyramid Head...in fact, these enemies can be bypassed altogther. Strangely enough, the larger enemies in this game are so slow that you can easily run past them, but you'll save up your ammo for the little guys who are fast and could potentially endanger you. This is why the gameplay can sometimes be unbalanced.
The controls are the same as they are for the previous games in this series, which will please veterans and survival horror buffs. If you disliked the controls before, you may like changing them to 2D so that the character will move in the direction you pressed, instead of the sometimes awkward default 3D setting. Melee weapons are completely difficult to use, but the kantana is one that is a little easier to use than other weapons. The guns control decently until you hit a point where Heather will aim at a dead corpse when she should be aiming at the enemy charging her. At any rate, the game handles decently, and even if it isn't comfortable right at the bat, you'll get used to it in time.
On the audio side of things, it's awfully hard not to be impressed here. The game is full of atmospheric sounds and sometimes a scream or a slamming noise is triggered at key moments. This game features a few good jump scenes, unlike the last two games, and this is where the audio really comes in to freak you out. A good example of this is the haunted mansion. Those of you who have made it that far know exactly what I'm talking about.
Does it surprise you that SH3 is two hours shorter than SH2? This is completely true for most people, and the first time through I was able to beat this in 6 hours. Yes, the game is short but unlike the first two games, there is NEVER a dull moment. There is no wandering around the town in fog, wondering what to do next. All of that is gone with this new title. It feels more linear than the last two games, but I'll take that over the "running around for the first hour" bit that we had to go through in Silent Hill 2.
This game is a great bargain! You will get a $40 game that will last you at least 6 hours and a free soundtrack comes with the game, filled with an hour of gameplay music. If you are a fan of gaming soundtracks, or if you just like listening to creepy music, this may please you. If you haven't played a survival horror game before, this isn't a good place to start. Silent Hill 3 has some frightening relations to the first game, so beat that before wandering into this one. To those who have beat the first game: I recommend playing through it again for a refresher before trying this one.