Silent Hill 3

Silent Hill 3: Pyramid Head launched yesterday and has been met with glowing reviews from reviewers and the like.The graphics, the scares, the scares, and the story have all been given a pretty amazing 3D treatment.

Konami have said that the game will be released this fall for the PlayStation, PC, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. This is a bit of a surprise. It's not the first time that Konami have given us such a hefty release date, but they've always been shy about it. After all, many gamers wait for a good third game in the Silent Hill series. You can look forward to the next Silent Hill game in the fall.

In the meantime, GameSpot has teamed up with Capcom to offer readers a chance to get the first look at Silent Hill 3: Pyramid Head at next week's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. We're having a blast fighting our way through the many environments that are set in a disturbing night vision of the town below. And you won't want to miss this feature in our new hands-on with Silent Hill 3.

For more on the game, check out our previous coverage.

GameSpot: Can you tell us about the characters, costumes, and other items in Silent Hill 3?

JL: The characters of Silent Hill 3 are based on classic characters from the series. From walking deadites to creepy nurses and whatnot, we used every resource available in the world to create some very stylish looking ones. We try to get them to look right, and also that this is what they look like as a whole.

GS: Does the Silent Hill series ever feel as though it's all-out action, the kind of weapon-based combat that's common in the series?

JL: The weapons in the game are extremely varied. From a flesh wound to a chainsaw to a pistol and chain, the weapons in the game are extremely varied. The same is true for the weapons in the game.

The basic story of Silent Hill 3 follows Heather Mason as she continues her search for her father, who disappeared earlier in the game. She soon discovers that a man named Dahlia had made a deal with the legendary archeologist and is attempting to bring her home. Not only is she seeking revenge on her father, but she also discovers that the man has been attacked and has infected and is being held at gunpoint by a mysterious religious cult.

The gameplay in Silent Hill 3 is almost identical to that of Silent Hill 2. You're still fighting monsters, solving puzzles, searching for clues, fighting deadly enemies, and getting to the end of the game without having to go through the entire storyline. You can expect to use a lot of the traditional third-person gunplay, as well as a plethora of items that allow you to modify the weapon you're using. This gives you some crazy weaponry to use, like the MP3 grenade launcher that you can use to cause disorientation, or the devastating dynamite.

There are also some sequences that will require you to make use of the environment, including the fighting in a room filled with them and the boss fight against Pyramid Head. The combat in Silent Hill 3 is different from the previous games in the series, as you are able to run and gun, run, jump, and perform quick rolls, which can be used in conjunction with the environment to dodge bullets. The QTEs are also fully interactive, so if you fall in battle, you can either use it to wake up or use it to flee. Some puzzles are difficult to solve, because you have to hit switches and switches to activate them. However, these aren't optional, and they're often challenging and rewarding.

One of the cool things that you're able to do in Silent Hill 3 is to peer around corners to locate items, which have a small animation to them that shows you what it is you need to do to pick them up. You can also scan objects in the environment to get clues on how to progress. To use the camera, you have to take a shot at the desk, then press the Y button to view the current state of the room, which switches between the foreground and background. It's a clever way of building up suspense, as you have to monitor your surroundings to avoid the attention of patrolling guards.

The graphics are very detailed and have a very stylized look to them. In one scene, you see enemies in the foreground, while the background carries them around. In another, the camera pans back, and the old-fashioned appearance of the enemy now makes them look a lot like enemies from the movie Tenet. The animation is very smooth, and while you don't get to see any of the many distinct weapons in the game, they all look very good. There are quite a few attacks that you can perform with the Y button, and they have the effect of creating tension.