If you like slow, deliberate survival-horror games, Silent Hill 3 should be relevant to your interests.
Unlike previous Silent Hills, Silent Hill 3 doesn't start at the quaint, demonic town. You do start the game in it in a sense, in a nightmare, but the game physically starts in an undisclosed mall. Here, you assume the role of Heather -- a 17-year-old teenager that's like any other teenager. It's quite refreshing to see a female lead, compared to the middle-aged men from previous Silent Hills. She starts off as a very fragile character, but by the end of the game, she turns out to be the quite the badass, handing out smug looks to anything that tries to kill her. This is handled very well throughout the game, it never seems forced, she gradually grows into a person that can support herself. As far as Silent Hill characters go, Heather is simply the most developed out of all the previous leads.
The story's also well-developed and surprisingly coherent, compared to past Silent Hills. In essence, a woman named Claudia wants her god to be reborn, and she needs Heather to do it. Heather doesn't like that idea one bit, so she's thrust into a conflict that ultimately winds her up in the infamous town of Silent Hill. Unlike the weird, psychological roots of Silent Hill 2's story, Silent Hill 3 takes a much more straight-forward form of storytelling. You'll run into a lot of journals and documents throughout the game, giving you information that clarifies the story. The cutscenes are usually long and unlike, Silent Hill 2, usually informative. Silent Hill 3's story also directly links to Silent Hill 1, but saying anything more would certainly spoil some key moments. However, if you liked Silent Hill 2's story and the way it told it, you might not like what Silent Hill 3 offers in terms of narrative, but at the very least, things will be less incomprehensible. Still be prepared to be confused though, as some scenes seem to be surreal and weird just for the sake of weirding you out.
On the other hand, the gameplay continues to age terribly. Acceptable 4 years ago, it's hard to like what Silent Hill 3 has to offer in terms of gameplay. The controls for the PC version initially makes it nearly unplayable, but serious remapping will make it tolerable. If you've played any survivor-horror game in the past 5 years, you should know what to expect. Lots of wandering around, finding keys in the most obscure locations, solving obscure puzzles and clunky fighting. Silent Hill games are much more about getting sucked into the world rather than presenting you with phenomenal gameplay, but it's still hard to overlook its problems. Combat is still just bad, none of the hits carry any impact and it's just pathetic to see a bunch of stilted and awkward animations on the screen. The camera's good about presenting cinematic angles, but it almost never presents a smart one. Enemies are almost always out of the screen, forcing you to manually take control of the camera, which doesn't respond well, almost all the time. Puzzles are slightly easier this time around and backtracking is much less of a common occurrence, so the pacing is better. Still, the gameplay's never satisfying and it's never been Silent Hill's strong point.
What it has succeeded in is presenting you with a atmospheric and genuinely creepy world. Nearly all the places you'll explore are genuinely unsettling and creepy. Every once in awhile, the game presents you with a straight-forward shock scare, but for the most part, Silent Hill 3 leaves it to your imagination as to what that distant groan was. The environments are grimy, creepy, gross and disturbing. Piles of stacked bodies, ominous wheelchairs and grotesque imagery are a constant, keeping you on the edge for the most part. The new monster designs are are up to par with previous monster designs, but they're disturbing looks will wear off quickly, just like from past Silent Hills. However, Silent Hill 3's biggest improvement atmospheric-wise comes from the sound. Unlike Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3 takes advantage of long stretches of total silence. Sometimes it's a woman's whimper and sometimes it's footsteps you hear from the floor above. Whatever it is, it's always unsettling and gets your blood pumping. The creepiness starts to fade out during the middle-portion of the game, when you've gotten used to it all, but it gets right back on track towards the last third of the game.
What won't disappoint in any measure however, are the graphics. The game looks outstanding and rivals Resident Evil 4 in some occasions. Textures aren't quite as sharp by today's standards, but the lighting, shadows and level design impresses almost all the time. Character models have received the biggest face lift compared to Silent Hill 2; they're incredibly detailed with every single freckle, wrinkle and pore presented in exquisite detail. Their lip-synching does look a bit goofy during the cutscenes, but on the whole, this is one fantastic-looking game. On the other hand, the sound remains inconsistent. The music still continues to uphold the standards set by previous games. The industrial clings and clangs can evoke moments of panic and the sound effects are sharp and distinct. The voice-acting is still hit-and-miss. While Heather sounds natural, most of the side characters sound too hokey and not genuine, which really does sap much of the dramatic impact in a lot of cutscenes.
Silent Hill 3 isn't going to last long. Playing on normal difficulty should take around 5-6 hours. There are multiple endings, costumes and weird collectibles, but it's tough to go back to play for a second time even with all the extras. Silent Hill 3 represents some of the best the survival-horror genre has to offer. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it presents an atmosphere and feel like no other survival-horror game before it; other than the other Silent Hill games, of course. If you've never liked the genre or the Silent Hill series, you won't find much to like here, but for the rest of you who enjoy this type of game, Silent Hill 3's right up your alley.