Survival horror is a strange genre. Whereas most games try to make the player feel like a superhuman capable of feats unheard of in real life, most horror games make you feel pathetically normal, capable only of running away.
The idea of re-capturing that feeling of fear on a game played with a mobile phone sounds absurd, but if any title could pull it off it would have to be one of the true classics of the genre, Silent Hill.
Plot is thicker than bloodSilent Hill Mobile 3 puts you once again in the shoes of Vincent, one of the main characters from SHM2, as he attempts to escape from a ‘mansion’ that looks suspiciously like a hotel.
During his escape, though, there’s at least one death, multiple viewpoints to control and a dark secret that links right back to the first game.
Fans of the previous two titles will be pleased by the extra plot and character development in this latest entry, but the flipside of this is that newcomers will be left thoroughly confused for the most part of the game.
At least the location manages to remain interesting long enough for the plot to start making sense. Signs of the house’s troubled history are everywhere - from the creepy barred windows to bloodstains on a bed - and everything is brought to life by some very nicely drawn, gloomy graphics.
In fact, the first half of the game is pretty much entirely spent admiring the graphics because SHM3 deliberately paces itself very slowly, with the first real enemy taking a good hour to encounter. This long period of not-much-happening helps edge up the tension considerably, especially if played in one session, but also highlights the less-than satisfactory puzzle element of the game
While there are a number of decent puzzles to be solved before the conclusion (tips for getting past them are at the bottom of the page) for the most part you’ll be randomly attempting to pick up objects that your cursor highlights without really knowing why.
Hit weak point for Massive DamageOnce you finally take the step into the nightmarish other world, SHM3 becomes more combat-oriented - like everything else in the game, this is handled well and successfully capture the mood of the original series.
On top of wrestling with the cursor to aim from earlier titles, there’s now a special ‘weak point’ on each monster that, when activated, require you to press ‘5’ when two moving crosshairs match up.
It’s a simple addition to the system, but it works well and encourages a more measured approach to combat on top of merely conserving bullets, making encounters suitably tense.
So despite the poor object hunt portions of the game, Silent Hill Mobile 3 continues to capture the creepy atmosphere of its console cousins exceptionally well.