Probably the biggest misconception surrounding the Silent Hill trilogy is that if you don’t like the Resident Evil series, then you won’t like Silent Hill either – and this is as far from the truth as possible. For while the Resident Evil games are purposely cheesy and rely heavily on killing hoards of mindless zombies they are more closely related to movies in the vein of Dawn of the Dead, while Silent Hill’s grotesque oddities are more in tune with the psychological terror of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser universe. Not to mention that each Silent Hill outing is enshrouded by a mysterious ‘this is really happening’ posture that is reminiscent of some of the most memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone.

This is not to say that Silent Hill 3 doesn’t have its share of problems, but I would still anytime rather play the least effective installment of the Silent Hill series than the best that Resident Evil has to offer. Creators Akira Yamaoka and Masahiro Ito are to be commended for providing the gaming community with the only survival horror series in the marketplace that does not insult the intelligence of the adult gamer.

The Silent Hill games are great for establishing fresh lead characters and letting us delve into their confused psyches and the protagonist this time around is 17-year old Heather Morris (btw, many console gamers seem to think it a matter of great importance that Silent Hill 3 features a female lead character – it seems, unfortunately, that they have never heard of or played classics like The Longest Journey or Syberia). Still, unlike most stilted console characters, Heather is very likable thanks to some excellent voice acting by a professional actress - who has also lent her voice to numerous anime films such as Cowboy Bebop - and you do find yourself become emotionally involved in her nightmare.

If there are nagging problems with Silent Hill 3, they fortunately are not related to the games controls which are excellent. Instead, there is the obnoxious console save-point system which only serves to create an artificial sense of impending danger (Konami ensures JA that the pc version will have a save anywhere feature) and a system that rewards gamers who finish the game in record time or use the fewest amount of saves possible. I swear though that I will never understand this console fetish of wanting to replay a game just to be able to wear different clothing or wield a more powerful weapon.

The biggest shortcoming is that far too much of the game is played in almost total darkness and you can only see what is illuminated by your amazingly powerful and resilient pocket flashlight (seriously, this flashlight should be sold on a Ron Popeil infomercial). This would be fine for, as we all know, the best goose bumps arise when the unexpected occurs in dark nooks and crannies, but when almost the entire game is shrouded in darkness, much of its effectiveness as a scare tactic is diluted.

There are also far too many instances in which Heather will enter a room that is either slathered in blood or full of often indistinguishable objects (due to the darkness) and exclaim, “This room is scary” or “This place makes me nervous.” This is a video game, not a Stephen King book. Show us why she is scared or nervous, we don’t need to be told like children and if we do need to be told how to feel, then the writers and developers have not done a very good job of creating a suspension of disbelief.

Color me jaded from playing too many horror themed games, but there is never a moment of drop your controller terror or shock in Silent Hill 3. There is though a building tension that creates an adrenaline rush to continue playing and solve the mystery. But even this comes at a price as the first half of the game contains very few clues to the mysterious goings on and the game is almost half over before there is any major attempt to present the plot. You literally spend the first half of the game merrily exploring a deserted shopping mall, sewer, subway system and apartment building before you even have a substantial clue as to why Heather’s simple task to return home to her father has become so convoluted. Is she embroiled in some alternate reality or has the world really been taken over by twisted and evil monstrosities? Why is Heather never paralyzed with fear by some of the horrors she witnesses? If it was me, I would be dumping a load in my drawers. It bothers me that she always seems more inquisitive than she does scared. This would have been a great game to borrow one of the few good innovations from Clock Tower 3 – the fear index. But in all fairness, once she does return home, the game kicks into high gear and never looks back and a lot of these ‘problems’ are easily forgiven once more of the backstory is revealed and more interesting locations are unveiled. Sure the eventual denouement is mildly confusing, but it also invites you to incorporate all you have learned before into a coherent whole.

If you have never played any of the Silent Hill games, fear not, for even though this third entry is closely related to the events of the first Silent Hill, it is still a wonderful stand-alone game. But there are also many seemingly obscure references and occurrences that will enhance the enjoyment of those who have completed the first two games.

The best, and probably most overlooked aspect of the Silent Hill series and SH3 in particular, is that they can be played as an almost pure adventure game simply by setting the action option to easy and the puzzle option to hard. Throughout the entire game I believe I killed less than twenty monsters and most often either side-stepped the more slow-moving creatures or fled from the more persistent. And not once did this hinder my enjoyment of the game, but rather added to it as I would be inclined to do the same thing in real life. This also allowed me to save ammo for the inevitable ‘boss’ monsters that must be defeated in order to progress.

The puzzles, when set to the hard level, are an excellent combination of logic and inventory based puzzles. There are surprisingly few ‘find a key to open a door’ puzzles in the entire game and kudos to the developers for not succumbing to this time honored survival horror standby. In fact, not only are there at least a half-a-dozen puzzles that would do any adventure gamer proud, but also numerous notes, journal entries and fairy tales that must be scrutinized for important information.

The audio also never fails to deliver and actually plays a key role in keeping the gamer on edge. A chilling scream will emanate from a dark corner of an unoccupied room just as you prepare to leave through the door. A search for a deep thunk noise reveals a mannequin whose head has fallen to the floor and now has blood oozing from the decapitated, plastic neck. This is gaming at its best as you squirm uncomfortably in your seat.

Finally, the Silent Hill series desperately needed to manifest a recurring character readily identifiable with the series and the town much like Clive Barker has done with Pinhead and the Cenobites. Too many of Silent Hill’s oddities are misshapen blobs of pulsating flesh with no purpose other than to gross out the player. Now I don’t want to give away any of the plot, but if there is another entry, there are finally some memorable monstrosities whose return would be most welcome and provide the series an evil focal point around which to rally.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to don my blue chiffon and strap-on my plasma gun as I once again wend my way through the fog-enveloped streets of Silent Hill.

Final Grade: A-