I really like the Silent Hill series, and I have been anticipating the PC release of SH3. I have played about 7 hours of the game so far and I feel its time to talk it up.

Graphics:
Sorry I cant tell you the differences between the PC version and the PS2 version. I dont own a PS2 so its kinda tuff. I can tell you that display options allow you to increase the resoultion, textures, & shadows. I cranked it up to the max of course. Well, not quite. I run it 1024x768 with all other options on highest settings. I really cant do better then that since im running 4X AA, 2X AF, & True Form. Im tellin you theres nothing like anti-aliasing. The game looks great.

Gameplay:

The game plays virtually the same as SH2. Most everything about the game is familiar in that sense. If you played the first 2, you will feel right at home. Now the actual control setting options are another story. The box recommends a gamepad, and I can see why. You cant change the mouse speed in game even if you up the sensitivity in windows. This alone makes playing a hassle. You just cant turn fast enough. On top of that, there is just too many commands that have to be programmed into the keyboard, and they are too important to not be at your fingertips.

After about 2 hours of frustration I went out and bought the nYko Airflow (which is too loud to use in a game like this). I pretty much just plugged it in and most of the controls were preset to exactly what I wanted. Without a game pad I dont think its wise to buy this game. You should buy one with it, or otherwise be prepared to suffer. The only real complaint I have is that the " search" camera is pretty much useless. You just cannot use it to search for anything. Most of the time the camera is limited to looking at a small area rather then being able to look all around the room. That said, you need the search mode camera so you can reposition your main camera behind Heather everytime the game changes the camera angle on you.

You can also save anywhere in the game now which is very very nice.

Sound:
Just as good and creepy as the previous 2. The sound creates the atmosphere of fear. It does what its supposed to do.

Story:
Hmm..its too hard to tell at this point..but it seems on par with SH2' s story quality. SH3 story does tie into SH1 though. They have made alot of refrences to SH1 in the story already! (Good thing I played it! Too bad I got the bad ending, the references obviously refer to a different ending that I didnt get:( oh well)

I am impressed overall. A worthwile purchase if you never played the PS2 version.

Wow, story on par with the old Silent Hills? My insomnia cure has arived.