[Skinny Minnie]

Is anybody playing Silent Hill 3 for PC, or have you played the PS2 version already?

Just curious to get some opinions on it (and the series)...

[RemiO]

I still think SH2 is the best one in the series, mainly because it has a better story, and you notice something new in the game/story every time you play it. SH3 might be a bit scarier on face value, but doesn't get under your skin like SH2 does. Also, I don't like that its story is so straightforward, and that it explains SH1 - not knowing exactely what's going on is something that make everything more unsetteling.

Not a bad game by any means though, and it'll have your nerves on edge while playing, but it's not something I'd play through more than twice to get the two "real" endings. I've played through SH2 six or seven times.

[Igor]

I was playing SH3 on PS2. Great, great game.

Good:
-pure graphic candy. The best character models i ever saw in a game.
-interesting and well placed puzzles (as opposite to SH2, where puzzles felt forced)
-scarry
-good flow of story. It keeps you interested and it doesn't confuse you too much.
-good acting (compared to previous game, that is)
-Heather has much more personality than James (she's cuter too ). Also, good character development.

Bad:
-too much occult mumbo-jumbo (i like more psychological story in SH2 better)
-you need to die a few times to unlock "beginners" action level (don't know why they didn't include it from start, as in previous games)

All in all, i found SH2 a bit scarrier, but overally it would be hard to decide which one was better. They both have their pluses and minuses.. and they are both great

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Haven't played it yet 'cause haven't ordered it yet 'cause I'm broke til Friday. However, I am still in the middle of BS3 and am holding off a bit on Uru, so I'm not in a rush for SH3. Minnie, have you at least done the [PC] demo of the game?

[Skinny Minnie]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Haven't played it yet 'cause haven't ordered it yet 'cause I'm broke til Friday. However, I am still in the middle of BS3 and am holding off a bit on Uru, so I'm not in a rush for SH3. Minnie, have you at least done the [PC] demo of the game?

Nope, no demo, but I just got the full boxed version of SH3 for PC yesterday. No DVD in there, just 5 PC CDs and 1 CD soundtrack...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Minnie, you may be interested in this thread about playing SH2 as an adventure game. I also did a feature page on my personal site about it, focusing more on the powerful narrative qualities of the game, how characters, events, locations, and even objects contribute to the overall weight, depth, and ultimate resonance of the story.

[zarathustrian]

Originally Posted by Skinny Minnie

Nope, no demo, but I just got the full boxed version of SH3 for PC yesterday. No DVD in there, just 5 PC CDs and 1 CD soundtrack...

Hm, I thought the game was DVD-exclusive?

[ligsy]

I played the PS2 verson, back when it was released in Europe. I have to agree with others that my favourite of the series is 2. As a follow up to the first game, it lacks the strong story and sense of depth the original had. The number of endings is very poor compared to the previous games, as well as the way you achieve the endings.

What I did like was the way you shared the puzzlement with Heather in the early part of the game. Much stronger supporting characters than in 2. Well worth playing, and a great game in its on right. Just a shame that it didn't live up to the amazing standards of its predecessors.

As for the PC version, I downloaded the demo. Looks fantastic, but runs like a dog on my machine. A regular dog, not a two headed one.

[Henke]

I haven't bought it yet but I will. First I must play The Black Mirror. But after that...

[Skinny Minnie]

Originally Posted by zarathustrian

Hm, I thought the game was DVD-exclusive?

Apparently not. As a matter of fact, it appears CD exclusive instead.

[Henke]

I got SH3 (the DVD version) for christmas!!! Hurray! I am playing BM at the moment so I have only installed it and checked that it worked properly.

But does it really start the exact same way as the demo??? You surely don't get much of a backstory.

[Igor]

Don't worry, it will make sense very soon

[Skinny Minnie]

Originally Posted by Igor

Don't worry, it will make sense very soon

...Or at least at the end of the game (although I guessed the basic link to the first SH game right away)...

[Henke]

Originally Posted by Igor

Don't worry, it will make sense very soon

So you really get to see a trailer of the game you are about to play in the beginning instead of a backstory that explains why you are standing in a thempark with bunnies covered in blood? Oh my god. :eek: If you read the manual, you get a little climse of a backstory. So the manual covers what the introduction movie should have shown, or what?

Anyway, I will start playing the game now.

EDIT: Oh, it was only a dream. Now I get it.

[Henke]

Wow, SH3 is really great. It doesn't seem as good as the second game though (but I haven't got very far yet). I have heard that the next installment in the serie will be called Silent Hill: The Room. Hopefully they will come up with something new. Otherwise the SH game will turn into greedy moneyhungry Hollywood products (that gets worse with every sequel).

I'm now really looking forward to learn more about SH3s plot as I progress through the game.

[SamandMax]

I found SH3 to be very disappointing. Insanely short, with a lot less endings. A lot less scares, the emphasis seems to have been placed on grossing you out. The sound still is really good, but it's not as creepy as it was in SH2. But like I said, the game's waaaaay too short. I finished it in about 5 hours, probably about 1/3 the time it took me to finish SH2. This almost seems like a spin-off of SH1, they could've called this game Silent Hill 1 and a 1/2, it's really not a true sequel.

But it is worth playing to enter the haunted mansion at the amusement park. I love that part.

[Henke]

Originally Posted by SamandMax

But like I said, the game's waaaaay too short. I finished it in about 5 hours, probably about 1/3 the time it took me to finish SH2.

Then can you help me kill this big worm? All I got is a wooden toothpick, a drain pipe and I am as near dead as you can possibly be (if he as much as breaths on me, I die). Help?

[Skinny Minnie]

Henke,

If you're talking about the first boss in the beginning at the mall once you go down that ladder and it breaks, I mean the huge purple worm down there, here we go:

Spoiler:

Use the pistol only. When its mouth is open, pump a few bullets into its mouth and then retreat because it will move and come out a different hole in the wall. Lather, rinse, repeat. I think you have to do this about four times, maybe five to kill it. Don't get too close to its head and it won't be able to reach you to hit you. (If you don't have that pistol, you will have to go back to an earlier save to before you went down to that boss/purple worm area because you can't get back up the ladder to leave again once you're in the boss room.) By the way, you should have gotten the pistol in the mall early on, I think in that store with the dress(es) and the hanger and the dead person on the floor. After that first tall, shlumpy thing that slowly tries to bump you with its arms shows up in there and you find the pistol there, a cut scene ensues where Heather downs the monster. Then you've got the pistol, and just have to keep trying to open 1000 locked doors in 1000 similar hallways to find the few enterable store rooms with ammo and health lying around in them... Save gun ammo for boss fights. There's not enough lying around to do much else with.

[Henke]

Originally Posted by Skinny Minnie

Henke,

If you're talking about the first boss in the beginning at the mall once you go down that ladder and it breaks, I mean the huge purple worm down there, here we go:

Spoiler:

Use the pistol only. When its mouth is open, pump a few bullets into its mouth and then retreat because it will move and come out a different hole in the wall. Lather, rinse, repeat. I think you have to do this about four times, maybe five to kill it. Don't get too close to its head and it won't be able to reach you to hit you. (If you don't have that pistol, you will have to go back to an earlier save to before you went down to that boss/purple worm area because you can't get back up the ladder to leave again once you're in the boss room.) By the way, you should have gotten the pistol in the mall early on, I think in that store with the dress(es) and the hanger and the dead person on the floor. After that first tall, shlumpy thing that slowly tries to bump you with its arms shows up in there and you find the pistol there, a cut scene ensues where Heather downs the monster. Then you've got the pistol, and just have to keep trying to open 1000 locked doors in 1000 similar hallways to find the few enterable store rooms with ammo and health lying around in them... Save gun ammo for boss fights. There's not enough lying around to do much else with.

Thanks Skinny Minnie. I better go back and save some ammo then.

[SamandMax]

Originally Posted by Henke

Thanks Skinny Minnie. I better go back and save some ammo then.

Try to save all guns for boss fights. You can usually avoid all enemies in the game, so try not to fight unless absolutely necessary. I only killed 10 monsters when I played.