Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

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Glenn
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Glenn »

[quote="Project_Night"]I don't like the level design For me:

]

I thought the levels were similar with what SH2 had. Same type of map, usually multiple floors at the main areas. The art design was much bloodier, more colorful, and more "showy" than what SH2 had though.
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Goggins
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Goggins »

It depends on how you look at it. On one hand, the story is terrible and it plays like an action game. Claudia is a boring villain, Vincent is useless(except for a couple of decent lines) and the final boss is just...Meh. Throw in some truly over the top moments and Silent Hill 3 starts getting a bit out of hand.

But, Heather is a decent Protagonist and the sound design, controls and graphics are still the best in the series.

So it depends on what you want out of a Silent Hill game. While I enjoyed Silent Hill 3 for what it was(a decent action/horror game), I feel it is the worst "Silent Hill" game.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Silent Fantasy »

Goggins wrote:It depends on how you look at it. On one hand, the story is terrible and it plays like an action game. Claudia is a boring villain, Vincent is useless(except for a couple of decent lines) and the final boss is just...Meh. Throw in some truly over the top moments and Silent Hill 3 starts getting a bit out of hand.
I would say, even with all of that, it is still not the worst in those aspects within the series. Silent Hill Origins and Homecoming beat it in all those departments.
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Goggins
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Goggins »

Silent Fantasy wrote:
Goggins wrote:It depends on how you look at it. On one hand, the story is terrible and it plays like an action game. Claudia is a boring villain, Vincent is useless(except for a couple of decent lines) and the final boss is just...Meh. Throw in some truly over the top moments and Silent Hill 3 starts getting a bit out of hand.
I would say, even with all of that, it is still not the worst in those aspects within the series. Silent Hill Origins and Homecoming beat it in all those departments.
I would take Homecoming and Origins story over Silent Hill 3 any day, plus Homecoming has some of the cooler Bosses in the entire series.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Esperandote »

Silent Hill 3 CAN'T be the worst because it has a lightsaber and a UFO song in it. :P
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Kenji »

SH3 is one of those situations where I'd say it's good... but all the bad stuff really started here, even though it was still good. That's often the case in a long-running series: The aspects for which later entries would be derided would find their first expression in installments that would continue to be considered classics.

For example, Ocarina of Time would introduce elements to Zelda (adventure game-esque fetch quests, dungeon puzzles, and NPC narratives) that would become bigger features in the declining later series. Of course, Ocarina of Time is still very good, but that's where the bullshit started.

Likewise, SH3 is the first thematic remake of the original game. Its visuals are, in many ways, updates to the aesthetic of the original game. It's self-referential to the point that only fans need apply. Didn't seem like much of a problem, in 2003, but the series would develop a quasi-Star Trek rule of every odd game in production order would be a remake of SH1 (Book of Memories broke that... for better or worse), the aesthetic stagnating and becoming strangely boring, and the series essentially becoming as "inbred" as comic books and Internet culture in terms of how gleefully self-referential it'd get.

Oh, and how "You're Not Here" would open the floodgates of Yamaoka clearly being more interested in producing songs and just phoning in the signature pots-and-pans banging that the series' horror actually relied on.

And yet, despite this, the game controls fluidly (perhaps the best expression of tank controls ever), its moments were quite effective, and it had some really interesting new locations. It also remains arguably the most visually well-designed entry in the series.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by mikefile »

SH3, to me, is an aesthetic perfection. Besides that, I can't argue that the events that took place in the game don't solidly autovalidate themselves. I mean, the manifestations, its triggerings, the symbolism, the depth of the characters- it's all there.

The apparently small issue lies within its core. As much as I strived, for me the sequel thing just didn't work out. To me, the 17 years gap, Claudia's psychic vision and Heather's dormant derivative power just didn't strike me as highly qualified as the actual logic of happenings that consequently took place. As I said, Heather's progressive pain and rage, the reasons of Claudia's actions, the symbolism of the Otherworld decoration.. it's all well done, even too well in contrast with the pith that created it.

It's as the reasons and the validation of its birth were extremely cheap and lazy, but its consequent growth and evolution are an uttermost improvement, which nevertheless, whenever I'd look back its basis, would seem as if born out of nothing.

That's why I could never adjust my personal title scale, always doubting which one should get the 3rd place: SH1 or 3? 1 is logically framed better while SH3 left such a preferable and personally more intensive impression with its atmosphere, sound and events.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Manic_Relapse »

Don't care what anyone says, SH3 is still my favorite. Most of the people hating on it probably haven't been around since the first game and played them in order like I did.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

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I would say that the year one started playing the series and order in which they played them doesn't matter when it comes to their opinion of SH3. There are legitimate reasons not to like the game or flaws within it that may or may not hinder a person's ability to enjoy it or take it seriously.
It's my favorite game in the series, but even I could point out quite a few issues the game has.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Tabris »

While I think Silent Hill 2 is the best overall in the series, the third game is probably my favorite one to play. The gameplay isn't the best, but the atmosphere is the most severe and disturbing. Which is basically what I want in a Silent Hill game.

Silent Hill 3 is also my girlfriends favorite game in the series and one of my best friends favorites by far. For me, that's enough of an argument to say the third game is not the worst. Especially since all three of us are pretty hardcore about the series.

I love all the games to death, but many of the later games are far more flawed as Silent Hill games.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Manic_Relapse »

Silent Fantasy wrote:I would say that the year one started playing the series and order in which they played them doesn't matter when it comes to their opinion of SH3. There are legitimate reasons not to like the game or flaws within it that may or may not hinder a person's ability to enjoy it or take it seriously.
It's my favorite game in the series, but even I could point out quite a few issues the game has.
I agree that the game has some issues, but I tend to care more about story and atmosphere when it comes to these games. The combat mechanics could definitely use some work, but as far as the sound track and environments go, it's perfect.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Silent Fantasy »

I agree. The plot needed some work, but at the same time I loved the characters in SH3. The combat was the best overall in comparison to the rest of the series in my opinion, and as you said, the soundtrack and environments are perfect. I loved the overall atmosphere of the game. That and the characters is what always brought me back to it countless times.

The plot in general may be weak, but compared to some of the newer games, even that shouldn't make it the worst game in the series when it done everything else right and still has a better plot than say, Homecoming or Origins.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Manic_Relapse »

Indeed. The newer games don't even begin to compare in terms of overall quality as far as I'm concerned.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by 911 »

Silent Hill 3 is maybe the worst in the first trilogy. (SH 1, 2 & 3) but it is still a great game. I only played SH 1, 2, 3, 4, Downpour and it is still my favorite. I love the personnality of Heather and all of the characters are truely mysterious ! I agree that the first part of the game is a little bit too ong and boring (like wtf, she is taking an underground way to get to her house) but when you get into Silent Hill, it's just amazing !
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Falen-writings »

I just started playing it and am not very far to be honest, but I really love the art style of it. The atmosphere is gorier than SH2 which I love but I personally feel like it's missing some of the eeriness.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Leo Ho Tep »

I love SH3 thanks to its atmosphere, its artistic direction, its protagonist, and some quite effective scene (Harry's discovery is incredible to me). That said, I consider its story the weakest of all the Silent Hill, and it doesn't have anything interesting to say imo.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Robot Ears »

Silent Hill 3 is one of my absolute favorites, if not my #1. I'll try to explain why, in my own opinion why I enjoy it so much.

There's just something about running for your life on hard mode, through the slums of SH3, wearing the unlockable zipper T-shirt, armed with the infinite machine-gun, - while a swarm of screeching pendulums all chase you by the dozen, - That just keeps me coming back to part 3 again, and again, and again. Part 3 is bad ass in that hybrid asian-american sort of way. I mean they all are (1,2 and 3) but you know what I mean.

The replay value to SH3 is very prominent for me. Don't get me wrong, the first and second games are unmistakenly brilliant works of art, and I love them just as much as I do part 3. They have awesome replay value as well. But I've respectively got to admit the second game's story is so heavy in content by the end, that it makes it a bit less frequent that I want to relive that kind of deep emotion brought out from it. SH2 is full of epic mood, and a heavy impact, and I love it, when I'm in the mood.- but - SH3 doesn't seem to take itself quite as seriously in contrast. and as a result it has a bit more fun, as in replay value, for me.

The graphics are mind-blowing for the console, and in general IMO. The paint job to the characters and scenery is outstanding. The game is bad ass, and full of style. You go from the slums to a world reminiscent of a twisted fairy tale. I just find SH3 incredibly bad ass. Heather as a character has so much detail and a well-rounded personality. The grungy trip hop music contrasts the ambient stuff so well. End of small sanctuary is such a breath of fresh air for me and it makes me feel at home when I play. The monsters are fierce and epic to either kill or escape from, the pendulum is one of my favorites. The list just goes on and on for me.

I can understand how the second game outshines. But the third game is farrr from the worst imo. I don't even really like any of the games that came after SH4 so I would consider one of those to be the series low point rather than SH3, imo.
Last edited by Robot Ears on 13 Mar 2014, edited 3 times in total.
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911
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by 911 »

I agree with robot ears. Such a great Silent Hill.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by Robot Ears »

911 wrote:I agree with robot ears. Such a great Silent Hill.
Thanks man!

Awesome game indeed. I tried to explain my best why I love it as a part of the series.
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Re: Is silent hill 3 the worst game in the series?

Post by punchdrunk »

this is by far my favorite in the series. i like how it is tied in with the first game(which happens to be my 2nd favorite). the characters, the creatures, environments, soundtrack, everything about this game is awesome to me. i dont see why anyone would call it the "worst" but oh well to each their own i guess.
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