Silent Hill 3 Secrets and Unlockables

These are the Secrets and Unlockables of Silent Hill 3.

Secrets

 * In the PS2 version, the player can make the camera zoom in by holding L2 and then pushing L3 (the analog stick) down during gameplay. Although it is noted in the PC version, it is not mentioned in the PS2 version. This is also possible to do in the HD Collection by pressing LT and pushing down the Left Stick for Xbox 360, and the PS3 controls being identical to the PS2 port.
 * In the very beginning of the game, when Heather Mason finds herself in Lakeside Amusement Park, rather than having to go through the park and activating the roller coaster scene, the player can simply fall down a hole and Heather will wake from her nightmare as if she was killed by the roller coaster car. Apparently, all that needs to be done is for Heather to die in her dream. This doesn't work in Easy mode because Heather can't fall down holes in this difficulty.
 * The corpse on the floor, which the Closer is feeding on, of the boutique in the shopping center is a re-used model of Angela Orosco.
 * Angela's head can also be seen at the edge of the frame for a short time in the cafe scene. The head model is also present in the game data.




 * In the ladies' toilet in the Central Square Shopping Center, there is a stall which is closed. If Heather enters the room before the shift to the Otherworld and knocks on the door, someone knocks back; upon further examination, Heather will say that someone is inside and that it would be rude to knock again. However, after the Otherworld shift, Heather can knock on the door, and once again someone will knock back. If she walks away from the stall, it will open to reveal nothing but a large amount of blood splattered in and all around the toilet.
 * After the fight with the Split Worm and the subsequent return to the Real World, Heather can find a store called News Boy with a design very similar to a red Pac-Man wearing a baseball cap. In the same area, down a side path, several posters of Silent Hill 2 can be found in a glass display case.




 * In the subway, inside the employee booth near the turnstiles are pictures which depict a Lying Figure scene from the second game.
 * Also in the subway, an event will occur if Heather reads a newspaper about a man being hit by a subway train and an occult magazine about how "spirits may still be in the area of their death, and being near these areas is dangerous". After reading the occult magazine, head down the stairs and walk alongside the tracks and wait. The ghost of the aforementioned deceased man will push Heather onto the tracks. Afterwards, Heather must immediately get back on the platform or she will die by a subway train.




 * In the construction site, there is a discolored wall in the same area as a mattress and a hole. If Heather uses a battering weapon to break the wall, she will find a silencer and a pair of legs.
 * Heather comments on how the legs remind her of "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe, where a man accidentally kills his wife and hides her corpse behind a wall: "I made no doubt that I could readily displace the bricks at this point, insert the corpse and wall the hole up as before."
 * According to the BradyGames strategy guide, the corpse behind the wall was supposed to be a cameo of Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series, hence the military fatigues the corpse wears, and the silencer belonging to him. The author of the strategy guide (Dan Birlew) is often supplied official information by Konami and Team Silent, but some fans still do believe it is unlikely to be a Metal Gear Solid reference as Heather already mentioned "The Black Cat", but it's not impossible for it to be a reference to both "The Black Cat" and Metal Gear Solid.




 * In Hilltop Center, there is a business called Store Front Poseables that sells mannequins. In one of the rooms is a storage room containing many female mannequins and mannequin parts. Most notable is a propped mannequin in one end of the room: should Heather walk away from it to the other side of the room, she will hear a scream, and upon returning, will see it decapitated and covered with blood. There are two screams Heather can hear: the first is a high-pitched woman's scream, and the second is Heather's own scream heard if she falls down a hole. It is not known what determines which scream the player hears.
 * Heather's scream (alternate HD Collection version)
 * High-pitched woman's scream




 * While wearing the Princess Heart costume, if Heather fights the Insane Cancer in the Otherworld Hilltop Center (in the room with the pork liver), it will speak Japanese in a robotic voice. Heather will respond in Japanese when attacked or killed, and if Heather swings the maul, she makes a comical war cry.
 * The Harry Mason model is re-used from Silent Hill 2's corpse in front of the television, which was also James Sunderland's model.
 * In the normal Brookhaven Hospital, the Stanley Coleman notes are an additional sidequest that the player can miss. If the player takes the time to read the diaries, the handmade doll seems to follow Heather throughout her exploration of the hospital.




 * On the cover of SH Times magazine in room S1, an image of Maria in the upper right corner can be seen.




 * In the 3F alternate Brookhaven Hospital, there is a storeroom containing a very large mirror. As soon as Heather enters the room, the door will lock, trapping her for a short period of time. The mirror shows the reflection of the room covered with black tendrils - the same seen coming out of the bathtub in the Hilltop Center. The tendrils in the reflection crawl into a sink, and then come out of the sink on Heather's side of the mirror. They take over the room, and the room will turn dark red. Heather's reflection will cease moving at this point. Eventually, the room will be covered completely by the tendrils which will take on a sickening red glow and spread over Heather's body. Should Heather remain within the room for a prolonged time during this, the effects will eventually overwhelm and kill her. It seems to be that Heather's spectrophobia (fear of mirrors) manifested itself here, or it could be a foreshadowing of the Memory of Alessa, seeing as the corrupted image of Heather in the mirror appears identical to her.




 * In room C1, there is a birthday card for Heather. However, the text is for Claudia. It is similar to the old birthday card.

Revenge ending

 * See UFO Ending

An alternative joke ending unlocked by killing at least 31 monsters with the "Heather Beam" and/or "Sexy Beam" attacks before entering Harry Mason's apartment. Heather must also not have any weapon equipped when she enters her apartment (i.e., the Heather Beam must be active).

Silent Hill 2 references
Douglas Cartland states that he went to Silent Hill on a missing persons case, but "he" was never found, which could possibly be James Sunderland.

If a memory card with a Silent Hill 2 save is being used, there will be references unlocked to Silent Hill 2. These references include a toilet scene in the alternate shopping mall, a non-existent letter from a dead wife in Heather's apartment mailbox, a poster of Maria in Heaven's Night, and an appropriate comment on a sturdy fence on Brookhaven Hospital's rooftop. These references can also be found on a first playthrough.



After exiting the clothing store where Heather first encounters a Closer, walk all the way down to the end of the hallway directly to the last locked door. Once there, turn to the left, and on the wall there should be a poster with a woman's eyes. At a closer look, the poster features Angela Orosco with Silent Hill 2 written across her mouth. If analyzed closely, at least three other faces can be made out, two in the bottom corners and one above where the poster says "Hill 2". These faces are Maria, James, and Laura from "Silent Hill 2 Navigation File". This reference does not require a Silent Hill 2 save file.

Extreme modes
If the player completes Hard mode, Extreme mode will be unlocked, the "ultimate" difficulty. There are 10 Extreme modes, and completing one Extreme mode will unlock a new, harder difficulty mode. For example, completing Extreme 6 will unlock Extreme 7.

Life bar
Beat the game on Hard mode and toggle it on in the Extra options.

Bullet multiplier
Beat the game once on any difficulty to unlock the Bullet Adjust in the Extra options, which multiplies bullets by x2. Subsequent game clears will allow this value to be raised up to x5.

Heather's costumes
After completing Silent Hill 3 at least once on any difficulty, alternative costumes for Heather become unlockable. There are many costumes available, and they are each unlocked by inputting a special code into the the new menu available from the start screen. The menu consists of a typewriter interface, where the specific code for a costume is input to receive the cosmetic. After typing the correct code, the costume will become available through the use of an item automatically placed in Heather's inventory when starting an extra new game.

Each costume is unlocked by a specific code. Some codes can be found in-game, some have been released by gaming websites and magazines, and some can only be found after fulfilling certain circumstances. It is possible to negate completion of said "certain circumstances" by simply already knowing the necessary code. For example, the player doesn't have to complete Extreme Level X difficulty to unlock the "God of Thunder" costume; instead, the player can just enter "GangsterGirl" and instantly obtain it.


 * Note: Costumes in green indicate that they are exclusive to the PS2 version of the game, and are not available in the PC version or in the Silent Hill HD Collection.

Douglas in boxers


This is an optional unlockable costume for Douglas. Like the other unlockables, the game must be beaten at least once. To attain it, highlight "Extra New Game" from the main menu and enter the following button sequence before choosing the difficulty:
 * ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → O X

In the PC version:


 * W W S S Q E Q E [Escape] [Enter]

Upon entering the code, Maria will sigh sensually once the player chooses the difficulty level. The code above is called the Konami Code.

Heather Beam and Sexy Beam


The Heather Beam is a special unlockable weapon only acquired after defeating at least 333 monsters. As there aren't as many monsters in one playthrough, this can only be achieved through multiple games. The Heather Beam is not a tangible weapon and can only be used when no other weapon is equipped. The Heather Beam has two attacks; the first is a polygonal projectile that ricochets against walls. This attack is done by holding R2 and pressing X, and it can be performed in quick succession. The second attack involves target-seeking lasers and is done by holding both R2 and X. Both beams are emitted from Heather's eyes and make distinct noises.

The Sexy Beam is essentially a powered-up version of the Heather Beam. It can only be performed when all the above circumstances apply and Heather is in her Princess Heart costume. The first attack consists of a fusion of the polygonal projectiles and target-seeking lasers. White hearts will also flutter from the source of the projectile. The second attack is a constant, straight beam coming from Heather's eyes.

Both beams use up Heather's stamina, another quality apart from health that can be seen with the health bar. The stamina also determines Heather's running speed, and it can be replenished by standing still or passing doors.

Unlimited Submachine Gun


The Unlimited Submachine Gun is an unlockable weapon only available after beating the game at least once while also defeating the final boss with a melee weapon. This does not necessarily mean that a melee weapon must be used throughout the entire fight; rather, the final blow struck must be from a melee weapon. Heather will find it on top of some of boxes at the end of the alleyway, after climbing out of the ladies' restroom window of the shopping mall. As the name implies, the gun does not run out of ammo, allowing the player to simply hold the buttons to fire continuously. As with the other extra weapons, using the Unlimited Submachine Gun decreases the player's final score.

Flamethrower


The Flamethrower is the counterpart of the Beam Saber. It can only be received after beating the game at least once and after defeating enemies mostly through the use of firearms. It works like the submachine gun and is initially weak; however, after achieving a "perfect" ranking, its attack power receives a boost.

Beam Saber


The Beam Saber is the counterpart of the flamethrower. Only after beating the game once and using mostly melee weapons to kill monsters will Heather unlock the Beam Saber. It works like other battery weapons and receives a length extension upon receiving a "perfect" ranking.

Gold and Silver Pipes


After beating the game at least once, Heather can receive the gold and silver pipes. To do this, Heather must kill the creature in the sewer with the hairdryer, examine the water, and throw the steel pipe into it. After doing so, the Sewer Fairy will appear and ask Heather questions. If the player should answer honestly, she will reward Heather with both the gold and silver pipes. Both have no redeeming value other than being Easter eggs, as they are no different from the steel pipe with the exception of color/paint.

If Heather examines the silver pipe, she will talk about it being useful against vampires and werewolves, and if she takes a closer look at the gold pipe, she will talk about selling it for some quick cash.

If the player answers honestly, the Sewer Fairy will refer to Heather as a "truly honest man", despite the fact that she is female. This is corrected in the Silent Hill HD Collection, where the Sewer Fairy will refer to Heather as a "truly honest person", but the subtitles still read "truly honest man".

This scene is a reference to an old Chinese folktale about a farmer who accidentally dropped his axe into a lake; when the lake's spirit offered him a silver or gold axe, he told the truth that his axe was simply a normal one, and the spirit rewarded him with all three for his honesty.

Deleted and unused content

 * The Closers have an unused climbing animation.
 * The Nurses have an unused animation in which they are hanging from the ceiling and still fighting. The dragging animation from Fukuro is also in the game's files.
 * One sound file omitted from the final version is the frightening noise of a baby crying in another room, meant to be heard on the third floor of Hilltop Center. Though it is unknown why exactly it would be removed from the game, it is possible that the developers found it too disturbing even by Silent Hill standards. In the Silent Hill HD Collection port of the game, a similar sound of a baby crying was used during Heather's first meeting with Claudia.




 * There is an unused photo of Heather and Harry on the game disc. It can also be seen in the apartment texture files, suggesting it was located in the apartment in a frame. The items images suggest that it could be placed in Heather's inventory. The text attached to the picture reads: "It's of dad and me at Christmas. Looking at this makes me want to try even harder. I have to... I can't lose. They killed my dad and they have to pay for it."
 * There is an unused model of a pair of batteries in game files. The item was located in the Underpass in the room next to sewer monster. Possibly, the item was meant to be used for the protagonist's flashlight like it was in the previous game in similar circumstances.




 * There is an unused track in the game data.