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Well, I did it. After about two months and with an un-stellar finishing time of over eight hours, I beat Silent Hill 3. Here are my thoughts on it.
First, I want to start off by saying this was my first Silent Hill experience. I've heard this is actually quite the bad game to start on, given how much it ties into Silent Hill 1. I could see that, but ... I don't really feel too bad starting where I did. Particularly because SH1 is typically $40+ on eBay and SH3 was 10 bucks. Also, the fact that it had one clear, defined "real" ending kind of made me a little less nerve-wracked that I was playing "correctly" if that makes any sense.
I've played a couple of the Resident Evil games before, so I know survival horror in a sense ... but SH3 takes it to a whole new level. I remember reading over conversations about how scary the game was. And ... they're pretty much correct. Usually after I played the game I'd be at least somewhat freaked out for the rest of the night.
Whoever thought of the idea that Silent Hill games would make the player a largely weak, normal human being was a genius. You can get freaked out in an RE game (when you're not laughing at the characters for being mind-boggingly stupid) but you get a real visceral scare by knowing you're up against shit that is AARGH! REALLY BAD AND WILL KILL YOU. And it remains that way, too. (At least it was on the Normal difficulty level. I did look at someone doing a speed run on easy and saw they had a lot less to face.) Since you're playing a video game, sometimes you get lulled in by the "LOL! I have a machine gun!" and then you do the equivalent of spending all your money on hookers and blow and then it's like, "CRAP, I'm up against three Closers and I have NOTHING!" It gave me a real appreciation for melee combat, though. I think I liked it better than shooting things. Makes me want to try out the Condemned games.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I really liked the feeling of being a normal person in a bad situation. It gave the first part of the game, where Heather is just going home, a real authentic feel. When Heather was going on her revenge mission ... not so much. I also feel like the stamina didn't become such a big deal as I went on, either, which was odd. Then again, I figure that she may have been tapping into some superpowers after all she went through.
So, atmosphere atmosphere ... was there anything else? Well, I liked all the characters. Maybe not Douglas, because his voice actor really sucked. Heather's was one of the best I've ever heard, though. Claudia and Vincent weren't bad either. And ... well, fuck it. For me, it's all about Heather. I love Heather. Heather, Heather, Heather. I love everything about Heather. I liked her personality. I liked her voice. I liked her backstory and the whole former victim/MacGuffin/villain becomes heroine deal. I liked her crazy-ass hair. Although I don't like the "sexy fanart" of her ... that's like seeing your little sister naked. :-(
The storyline itself? Mmm ... it was OK. I know one character death really pissed people off but I get why it happened. I ... don't really like the Cult. It seems like the backstory is more convoluted than it is interesting, and considering the idea behind the cult (combination of Christianity mixed with Native American religions and a female God) you would THINK it would be super-cool, but I wasn't very psyched about it.
Oh, and the game is fun, if you can handle scaring yourself. I was always somewhat tensed when I turned on the power button, and the idea of playing AT LEAST TWO MORE GAMES OF THIS, POSSIBLY THREE still kind of freaks me out.
It made me think of the whole "Can video games be [high?] art?" question. With this game, I do feel more convinced that they can. It's pretty rare where a game hits you on such a visceral level. At many points in the game I felt like I "was" Heather, which was a pretty powerful thing so long as you're not a total creepazoid about it.
Better save up money for SH1 now. Or SH2 ... but SH2 is supposed to be the best so why not save it for last?
Oh, and yeah, I watched the two alternate endings on YouTube. :-P
First, I want to start off by saying this was my first Silent Hill experience. I've heard this is actually quite the bad game to start on, given how much it ties into Silent Hill 1. I could see that, but ... I don't really feel too bad starting where I did. Particularly because SH1 is typically $40+ on eBay and SH3 was 10 bucks. Also, the fact that it had one clear, defined "real" ending kind of made me a little less nerve-wracked that I was playing "correctly" if that makes any sense.
I've played a couple of the Resident Evil games before, so I know survival horror in a sense ... but SH3 takes it to a whole new level. I remember reading over conversations about how scary the game was. And ... they're pretty much correct. Usually after I played the game I'd be at least somewhat freaked out for the rest of the night.
Whoever thought of the idea that Silent Hill games would make the player a largely weak, normal human being was a genius. You can get freaked out in an RE game (when you're not laughing at the characters for being mind-boggingly stupid) but you get a real visceral scare by knowing you're up against shit that is AARGH! REALLY BAD AND WILL KILL YOU. And it remains that way, too. (At least it was on the Normal difficulty level. I did look at someone doing a speed run on easy and saw they had a lot less to face.) Since you're playing a video game, sometimes you get lulled in by the "LOL! I have a machine gun!" and then you do the equivalent of spending all your money on hookers and blow and then it's like, "CRAP, I'm up against three Closers and I have NOTHING!" It gave me a real appreciation for melee combat, though. I think I liked it better than shooting things. Makes me want to try out the Condemned games.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I really liked the feeling of being a normal person in a bad situation. It gave the first part of the game, where Heather is just going home, a real authentic feel. When Heather was going on her revenge mission ... not so much. I also feel like the stamina didn't become such a big deal as I went on, either, which was odd. Then again, I figure that she may have been tapping into some superpowers after all she went through.
So, atmosphere atmosphere ... was there anything else? Well, I liked all the characters. Maybe not Douglas, because his voice actor really sucked. Heather's was one of the best I've ever heard, though. Claudia and Vincent weren't bad either. And ... well, fuck it. For me, it's all about Heather. I love Heather. Heather, Heather, Heather. I love everything about Heather. I liked her personality. I liked her voice. I liked her backstory and the whole former victim/MacGuffin/villain becomes heroine deal. I liked her crazy-ass hair. Although I don't like the "sexy fanart" of her ... that's like seeing your little sister naked. :-(
The storyline itself? Mmm ... it was OK. I know one character death really pissed people off but I get why it happened. I ... don't really like the Cult. It seems like the backstory is more convoluted than it is interesting, and considering the idea behind the cult (combination of Christianity mixed with Native American religions and a female God) you would THINK it would be super-cool, but I wasn't very psyched about it.
Oh, and the game is fun, if you can handle scaring yourself. I was always somewhat tensed when I turned on the power button, and the idea of playing AT LEAST TWO MORE GAMES OF THIS, POSSIBLY THREE still kind of freaks me out.
It made me think of the whole "Can video games be [high?] art?" question. With this game, I do feel more convinced that they can. It's pretty rare where a game hits you on such a visceral level. At many points in the game I felt like I "was" Heather, which was a pretty powerful thing so long as you're not a total creepazoid about it.
Better save up money for SH1 now. Or SH2 ... but SH2 is supposed to be the best so why not save it for last?
Oh, and yeah, I watched the two alternate endings on YouTube. :-P
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