The PlayStation 2 era will be remembered, at least in my mind, as the generation when video games took some important strides towards becoming more than just entertainment properties. Konami's psychological thriller Silent Hill 2 is one of the few games in any genre that tackles complex themes like rape, incest and euthanasia and presents them in a mature, non-exploitative manner. Its slow pacing, thorough character development and a host of cerebral scares make it a game that is not just about shooting things and solving puzzles. It was more a horror experience than a horror game, and still stands as a landmark in interactive entertainment. Video games as a whole are still not the artistic equal of film, but games like Silent Hill 2 undeniably show that there are developers who are committed to elevating their products to a higher level of artistic achievement.

Konami raised the bar for themselves considerably with their last horror outing, and any future sequels would have some very big shoes to fill. Released earlier this year in Europe and just now making its debut in North America, Silent Hill 3 continues the series' legacy of terror and tension with superb visuals, excellent audio elements and some of the most refined play mechanics in the horror genre. After three complete trips through the game I can safely say that it is easily one of the best games of its type. It is a uniformly excellent game, and falls short of its predecessor only in the complexity of its storyline and major themes. That it fails to surpass Silent Hill 2 in such key areas is quite disappointing for players like myself, but its outstanding technical and artistic qualities still make it a very worthwhile experience.

Players of just about any horror game will find themselves in familiar territory with Silent Hill 3. You'll be required to navigate a series of unsettling and horrific environments, all the while fighting off hideous demons and solving puzzles that only occasionally make any sense. The game adheres very closely to the basic formula established by games like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil, but it executes them better than most titles could ever hope to do. In this latest trip through the world of Silent Hill, you will be assuming the role of a teenaged girl named Heather. Like the protagonists from previous games, Harry Mason and James Sunderland, Heather is quite unremarkable. She is not particularly attractive, fashionable or intelligent, and as you might suspect, her skill with firearms is questionable. Like all of the characters in the series, Heather firmly reinforces Konami's philosophy that there are no glamorous people in Silent Hill.

Heather's story begins with a nightmarish sequence in which she finds herself in the rusted ruins of the Lakeside Amusement Park. (This segment of the game, which appeared in the Summer Jampack 2003 demo, serves mainly to allow you to familiarize yourself with the controls.) After killing some very strange monsters, she finds herself walking along the rickety tracks of a roller coaster, and is suddenly killed when the coaster unexpectedly roars out of the darkness. Of course this is all just a dream, and Heather wakes up safe and sound inside a fast food restaurant in a shopping mall. After a brief phone call to her father, she runs across a detective named Douglas Cartland who has some rather cryptic things to say about her birth. She ducks into a restroom to avoid him and discovers a vaguely familiar marking on a mirror. This is where you take control.

Controlling Heather should feel familiar for horror game veterans, as the play mechanics remain relatively unchanged from Silent Hill 2. You move Heather forward by pressing up on the directional pad and change her direction by pressing left or right. This method of character control, popularized by Resident Evil, is often referred to as "tank" control based on how stiffly your character moves. Just like Silent Hill 2, Konami offers players the option to switch from the default "3D" style to the more intuitive "2D" method. With this setup, Heather will move in the direction you press on the directional pad or analog stick; pressing left will move her towards the left instead of just rotating her to face left. Most players will find this method more workable, but I find that 2D control simply does not work well in a 3D game that uses shifting camera angles.

Using the 3D scheme, Heather will always move forward even if the camera angle changes. Movement in the 2D method is relative to the current camera angle, so when it changes you'll often find yourself moving in a direction you didn't intend. Like its predecessors, Silent Hill 3 uses a mix of static and over-the-shoulder camera angles that alternate depending on the situation. Open areas will usually make use of a following angle, while a more restrictive camera type is often used in cramped interiors. Most of the time the camera orients itself automatically, but you can regain some measure of control over the camera by pressing the L2 button. This will often swing the camera around to face the direction you want. Doing so will sometimes be necessary, as you might enter a hallway crowded with enemies only to find the camera pointing at your face instead of showing you the action.

Combat makes up a larger portion of the game than it did in Silent Hill 2, and you'll need to find some level of comfort with the controls in order to battle the increased number of enemies. Holding R2 puts Heather into Caution Mode and will cause her to automatically aim at the nearest enemy. In addition to walking more slowly and quietly, this stance allows you to fire your weapon and sidestep to avoid enemy attacks. Heather can move forwards and backwards while using the handgun or knife, a fantastic feature that enables you to keep your distance from oncoming enemies. Some of the heavier weapons, like the steel pipe, shotgun and SMG, require you to remain stationary while you attack. Additionally, the SMG can be aimed in various directions while you fire, so you don't have to be aiming directly at an enemy initially to hit them.

Many of the weapons in Silent Hill 3, like the handgun, shotgun and steel pipe, have been seen in previous games. There are some fun new ones to find though, like the Maul, Sub Machine Gun and the Stun Gun, the latter of which gives enemies a satisfying jolt before they slump to the ground. Heather's offensive arsenal is a lot of fun to use (especially the unlockable bonus weapons), but you'll also be allowed to play a little "D" in Silent Hill 3. Konami has answered my personal prayers and implemented a long-overdue blocking feature. Pressing the square button while in Caution Mode will allow Heather to defend herself from an attack by putting her arms in front of her face. You must have proper timing to block effectively, as Heather can only defend for a short while. You'll also take a small amount of damage by blocking an attack, but this is still vastly preferable to getting hit by an enemy.

Many players will still likely complain about the cumbersome controls, but I find them to be quite workable for this type of action-adventure game. The new blocking feature takes a lot of the frustration out of combat, as you never have to stand in place and take unnecessary damage. Of course, this is partially offset by the fact that Heather can be knocked down rather easily by some enemies, especially when she is running. And groups of enemies are still tough to take, even with a dispersal weapon like the shotgun. The camera system, while less than ideal, still works well enough most of the time and is not too much of a burden if you've played through Silent Hill 2. After playing a dozen similar horror games, I don't think it's too much of a stretch for me to say that Silent Hill 3 has some of the best controls to date in the genre, despite their quirks.

The core gameplay is very similar to most other horror games, in that killing demons and solving arcane riddles will occupy much of your time. The basic structure of Silent Hill 3 differs from its predecessors however, as the pacing and direction have been streamlined to create a much more linear experience. You won't be exploring the mysterious town of Silent Hill as much as in previous games, as most of the game takes place inside various buildings like the shopping mall and office complex. In fact, only the latter half of the adventure actually takes place in Silent Hill; the events at the beginning only serve to get you there. Even when you do get outside, barriers and invisible walls prevent you from straying too far off the main path. This restriction of freedom comes as a bit of a disappointment, even if it does save you from some aimless wandering.

The pacing in this latest installment is quite different as well. Instead of the series' trademark slow buildup of terror, Silent Hill 3 starts off at a relatively brisk pace that rarely relents. The nightmarish "Otherworld" for which the series is famous appears far more often than it did in either of the first two games, and many of the environments are also repeated from various parts of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2. This gives the game a strong sense of continuity, though some players might not be too keen on trudging through such familiar territory. Far fewer of the enemies can be avoided in Silent Hill 3, and enemies now appear in mixed groups, making for combat that is a lot more involving than it was in Silent Hill 2. Moments of high tension are still punctuated by stretches of calm and silence, so the core elements of the Silent Hill experience are thankfully still presented and accounted for. But it must be said that some of the changes that Konami has implemented might turn off some long-time fans.

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