Silent Hill 2 was one of the best-looking PS2 titles of its day, sporting excellent character models, environments, textures and special effects. Silent Hill 3 retains those features and adds a host of subtle visual enhancements that result in some of the most impressive realtime graphics I've ever seen. The detail on the human characters has received a substantial boost, thanks to increased polygon counts, high-resolution textures on skin and clothing and vastly improved facial animation. Minute details like mouths that accurately distort to form words, specular highlights on the eyes and furrows and creases on the face all add up to some very convincing human characters. Emotions such as fear, sadness and anger are all conveyed through these expertly-animated facial expressions and mannerisms, resulting in characters that closely resemble real actors performing their parts.

You'll get to enjoy the superb level of detail in the game quite frequently, as the many cutscenes in Silent Hill 3 feature a host of excellent close-up shots. All of the incredible cinematics are rendered with the game engine (Konami has thankfully done away with the pre-rendered movies), resulting in a title that has a much better sense of visual continuity and consistency than the past games in the series. Monster design, while perhaps not as closely tied to the story as the demons James faced, is nonetheless top-notch. Nearly all of the monsters in the game are menacing, gruesome and brimming with gory details, like the Closer: a lanky, faceless character that shambles about with gigantic sandbag-like arms; or the Insane Cancer: a hulking brute that resembles a bleeding, festering, cancerous marshmallow. Modeling, texture detail and animation are all uniformly excellent on just about everything that moves in Silent Hill 3.

The environments that Heather must traverse are also well-conceived and rife with photo-realistic details. Ordinary locations like a subway station or hospital basement take on an air of menace and dread in Silent Hill 3, as the artists at Konami have gone to painstaking lengths to create a world that is as believable as possible. The Otherworld versions of these locales are more disturbing than ever, thanks to unsettling scenery like rusted metal grates, empty wheelchairs, blood-soaked stretchers, charred corpses and even the dangling bodies of little girls hanging from a ceiling. Even more impressive are the animated texture effects that occur at various points. Floors will roil with dark brown liquid, bloody streaks will crawl across walls and rooms will pulsate as if they are made of living flesh. Many of these effects occur at transition points between the normal and nightmare worlds and are truly a treat to watch every time they happen.

The visuals in Silent Hill 3 are highlighted by the same excellent lighting effects that characterized the previous game. The light from Heather's pocket-mounted flashlight casts realistic shadows that shift and distort as she moves around, giving the game a sense of depth and realism that makes the experience very immediate and visceral. The much-discussed grain filter returns to give the game the unique appearance of dated filmstock, but the effect is more refined and less intrusive than it was in Silent Hill 2. You can turn it off from the outset of the game this time, and you can also adjust the overall sharpness of the display to enhance some of the visual detail (though this also results in more noticeable jagged edges). All told Silent Hill 3 is a sumptuous visual feast that undoubtedly stands near the top of this generation of console games.

Konami has established a reputation for outstanding audio in this series as well, and Silent Hill 3 might just be their best work to date. The sound effects, music and voice acting all come together in what is a consistently fantastic-sounding game. Akira Yamaoka and company once again imbue the world of Silent Hill with a cacophony of other-worldly and unsettling noises that border on panic-inducing at times. Sound effects like squeaking wheelchairs, clanging pipes and the ghostly sounds of a woman sobbing all add to an experience that can be quite harrowing at times. Monsters are fleshed out by a wide range of chilling sounds, from the blood-curdling howl of Double Heads to the horrific shrieking of Pendulums. The foley work accompanying cutscenes is also noticeably more developed than previous efforts, and Konami has even seen fit to freshen up replay games with an extra set of unexpected noises.

The soundtrack is also excellent, as Akira Yamaoka's musical compositions are possibly even more accomplished than even his wonderful score for Silent Hill 2. Many tracks are characterized by trance-like rhythms reminiscent of trip-hop acts like Portishead; the dream-like soundtrack perfectly underscores the other-worldly themes of the game. A handful of tracks are even accompanied by full vocalization, and while I was initially skeptical I must say that these songs add an extra dimension of emotional involvement to the experience. The soundtrack is highlighted by a number of outstanding works that are a joy to listen to, even outside of the game. Konami has graciously included a full-length soundtrack CD with the game so that you don't have to plunk down $30 for an import CD. Not only does this save you some cash, but you get to listen to songs that don't get a chance to play for very long in the game.

Silent Hill 3 is definitely an industry leader in the audio department, and the only thing I could possibly find fault with is some of the acting performances. Heather Morris is very good as the snarky teenager Heather, while Richard Grosse brings a subtle dignity to the grizzled detective Douglas. Donna Burke, who voiced Angela Orosco in Silent Hill 2, returns to the series in fine form as the deluded religious zealot Claudia. Most of the regular conversations are interesting and performed convincingly enough, but extremes of emotion, such as anger and sadness, are still not conveyed nearly as well as you would see in a film or television program. The actors generally do a fine job with their respective parts (despite a few cringe-worthy lines), and overall the acting is at least comparable to Silent Hill 2 and similar games.

The quality of the individual elements in Silent Hill 3 is superlative, but the larger issue is whether these things work together to provide a compelling horror experience. I think the answer is a resounding yes, and I expect that fans of horror games are going to be quite content. Konami has definitely set a new benchmark for disturbing imagery and hellish sound, and though I didn't find the game to be quite as scary as Silent Hill 2, I still found it comforting to turn on the lights after playing. Silent Hill 3 will likely prove to be quite scary for newcomers to the genre. Completing the game will unlock loads of goodies for you to play with, such as heavy weapons, stylish new outfits and even an item that transforms Heather into something out of Space Channel 5. Additionally there are several endings to see, so there is plenty of incentive to play through the game more than once.

The only aspect of the game that I can honestly express serious disdain for is the story itself, which I found to be less engaging than the one told in Silent Hill 2. The tale is well-conceived and well-implemented, but I found it harder to identify with Heather, Vincent and Claudia than with the plight of James Sunderland and company. Silent Hill 3 delves into metaphysical themes and extended philosophical ramblings about divinity and paradise that are much harder to digest than the internal struggle against personal hell that James faced in Silent Hill 2. (Many major themes and ideas from the original Silent Hill are revisited here, so re-playing it beforehand is recommended.) Remember that these are personal preferences, so your mileage will probably vary. Just be aware that Silent Hill 3 offers a very different experience than what you might be expecting.

But overall, Silent Hill 3 is an excellent game whose outstanding production values propel it to the top of its genre. Superlative graphics and visual effects, coupled with superb sound design and an incredible score, make this game a real treat to witness. Add in very workable play mechanics, fantastic characters and loads of replay incentive, and you've got what is certainly one of the best games of 2003. Horror afficianados and Silent Hill fans should be busy playing this game right now without question. You can find the game at some retailers for as little as $39.99 - a steal considering that you get a free $30 soundtrack with your purchase. Konami may not have exceeded the artistic precedent that they set with their last outing, but Silent Hill 3 is still a great experience that comes highly recommended.

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