Monster of the Week

Welcome to Monster of the Week, a Monday feature that looks at a monster from a game we really love. Whether you have to shoot at it, knock it out of the park, punch it in the face or RUN AWAY!, it'll be in this column if it impressed us. There might be spoilers in here, so if you haven't played the game, you have been warned.

Week 1: Closer, Silent Hill 3

Ah, Silent Hill 3. You were so short, and even on Hard, you were at least doable. I plan to talk about all the Silent Hill games at some point in this blog, but I thought I'd give the special honor of our first Monster of the Week to this ...thing.


Location: Around the mall, amusement park, anywhere they can fit.



Audio: It sounds like someone slurping ramen while fighting a rabid lion...IN HELL!

Kill?: There's one cutscene in the game where Heather kills one of these things; it's feasting on the remains of Harry Mason, I believe (poor guy). Heather uses her newly-found handgun on it but honestly, it looks like a toy against it with its two meaty appendages and tall, tall frame. At least Closers are no match for the Heather Beam! Every other time you encounter this thing holding a melee weapon, you're in for a losing fight. Considering that killing every enemy in the game results in losing points, and puts you in a defenseless position, it's best to run past these things. They're in the game to serve as blockades that can kill you, so it behooves you to simply run past. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't derive pleasure from killing one now and then.

Other: Few games can boast having personalized, intimate and terrifying monsters that are more than the requisite baddies that pop out of pipes. You can bet I'll cover other Silent Hill monsters in this space but what I'll really love about it is that the meaning/design will change every time.

One of the possible interpretations I have for the design and meaning of this monster (shh--let's not pretend it was in Silent Hill 2!) is from the child Alessa's memory: adults in the hospital tending to her incredibly burned body must have seemed very tall. As this thing has no face or even a mouth, I'm guessing it could stand for the internalized shame and helplessness (maybe the desire to disappear or be faceless) Alessa felt while dependent on machines and nurses. (It explains the skirt!) As the monster's name implies, these things tend to move (FAST) towards where you are, and do their brand of damage. There must be a warped sense of intimacy feeding the design: the care and attention paid to a small child demands closeness, yet the feeling of self-hatred and disgust twists even the best of intentions into something horrible and inescapable.

Your thoughts?

Li'l T out.