...::: Silent Hill Heaven v2.1~php :::...

..::Feb 21st 2003

Silent Hill Heaven - Playtest SH3
What We Thought...

Enough about what happens in the game itself . . . Now to some of the changes made to the game play and set-up, as well as a summary of what we thought about the general playability, ambience and style of Silent Hill 3.

Fans of previous instalments will be disappointed if they expect to see significant changes to the mechanics of the game. On starting up, players are treated to the now expected opening movie, although this time - as you may already be aware - Team Silent Hill offer amazing cinematic sequences without using CGI. The opening movie itself holds no surprises if you've seen any of the movies previously released, although we can't emphasis enough how impressed we are at the quality of the graphics - particularly the motion capture (which run much more smoothly now), monster movement and facial expressions. Regarding the movie itself, we're unable to offer much more information than is already available - the scenes we saw were nothing new, barring a couple of interesting shots of Douglas Cartland lying on his side and looking decidedly worse for wear. If nothing else, this implies that Douglas is some kind of major player in the game - although how or why, we simply can't say.

Being sad as we are, one of the first things we did after kicking off the game was to check out the Option Screen. Again, it'll be a familiar system for all players of SH2 - you get the usual Silent Hill Options, although alongside the standard Grainy or Noise Effect Option, we were delighted to see the addition of a Blur Option too. These options are available from the off-set, which means that from the very first game, players have the chance to remove these options and bask in the detailed graphics in their non-filtered glory. And as for the Menu Screen? No change here, either. Game status window is in the upper-left hand corner, the items are thumb-nailed in centre of screen and along the top of the screen are the Items, Memos and Options buttons. The only major difference to note is that for this game, your inventory is separated into three separate categories - Weapons, Energy Items and Items . . . which should make searching for keys that much easier for our heroine.

Another worthy addition is that of the Defence Action. Seemingly more sensible that her predecessors, Heather is able not only to mount an attack on her enemies, but she's also able to defend herself against them, too. While we perhaps didn't get the chance to use this feature to its full advantage, we were nevertheless happy to see this interesting addition.

Where previous Previews talked about SH3 "going back to it's roots", we hope you didn't underestimate them. The "alternate" world of this third game seems to have incorporated all the finest elements of the previous two, looking darker and grittier and stranger than ever. The rust and decay are back, as are the metallic floors, and the alternate world is so twisted, you'd be forgiven for thinking that you'd stumbled back into Harry Mason's world. Hospital gurneys litter the mall, bloodied bodies lie draped in decaying sheets . . . Heather even stops to comment on how unusual a place this is for a hospital gurney to be. Rooms are smeared and splattered with foul-looking blood, Doubleheads feast on unrecognisable body parts, and everywhere Heather ventures in the alternate world, we're greeted with grime and guts and gore. It's everything good about the first game and more.

What's most impressive perhaps is the game's incredible, inherent sense of dread. While, inevitably, the game employs some of the cheap scares that we associate with the previous titles (remember the locker in SH 3?), it's the underlying, almost subconscious fear that gets to you most - it's that fear that not only makes you dread what's around the next corner, but also what's creeping up to the one you've just passed . . .

Alas, there remains so much unknown. Why is Heather in Silent Hill and how the hell did she get there? What connection does she have - if any - to the peculiarly insistent Detective? Upon inspection, the pendant Heather wears seems to have a small, red gem within, but what could possibly be its purpose?

We'll leave you with this one final, intriguing insight . . . Creeping through the deserted Mall, Heather stops, intrigued by a TV running nothing but static in a shop window. Curious, she steps up to it. A sequence follows, and incredibly, it's one we've seen before . . . Cheryl, writhing in pain, cries out for her father. Could this be the link that connects the games? Is this evidence that the two stories are running parallel with each other? Or is it merely a delightful homage to the original SH3? Words can't stress how badly we want to complete this game.