Template:Building Hilltop Center is an office building explored in Silent Hill 3. Heather Mason enters the building following the subway station and underpass in order to reach her home on Bergen Street. Shortly before entering the office building, Heather must also pass through an adjacent construction site.
Within Hilltop Center, Heather encounters more creatures of the Otherworld and meets Vincent Smith, a member of the Order who insinuates that he knows Heather and is on her side. Hilltop Center is also one of the locations in the game where Heather fully experiences the shift to the Otherworld.
Design
The office building is, with the exception of a roof floor, comprised of five floors, three of which are explored in the fog world and four explored in the Otherworld. Heather enters Hilltop Center from an opening on the third floor, and must reach the entrance on the ground floor in order to access the streets outside.
While exploring within the fog world, Heather is unable to access the building's first and fourth floors; however, following the shift into the Otherworld, only the third is unexplored. Though the layout of the rooms and corridors remain somewhat constant in all the floors, the building houses various businesses in different wings and sections. Those identified in-game include:
- Store Front Poseables
- Monica's Dance Studio
- Prindle & Enos Law Firm
- Gallery of Fine Arts
- Green Ridge Mental Health Clinic
- KMN Auto Parts
- ECHO Interiors and Floor Fashions
- Last Drop Cafe
- Elberton Life Insurance
- One Stop Imports
Otherworld Hilltop Center
Heather screaming in agony as the room transitions to the Otherworld.
While exploring the Hilltop Center for an exit, Heather comes across a bathtub in ECHO Interiors and Floor Fashions. The bathtub is seemingly ordinary; however, after shortly examining it, Heather is taken by surprise and taken into the Otherworld version of Hilltop Center. During the shift, Harry Mason's voice is heard saying a line from the original Silent Hill that explains the "invasion" of the real world by the Otherworld. In this version, certain floors and areas become inaccessible, and monsters roam virtually every corridor. Much of the businesses have also been changed, becoming decrepit, bloody and infested with monsters.
Before exiting the Otherworld Hilltop Center, Heather must eliminate a monster known as the Glutton, which blocks access to outside through the front door. Although the monster is impervious to any sort of physical attacks, it is also benign and only causes the radio to emit static. In order to remove the monster, Heather must find the missing pages of a fairytale related to the Glutton. Upon finding the last page, Heather utters the words "Tu Fui, Ego Eris" which banish the monster from the entrance.
Trivia
The lone wheelchair.
- Within the Otherworld version of Hilltop Center is a wheelchair isolated in a dark corridor. This is a recognizable reference to the movie Session 9, which game designers have cited as one of their inspirations for creating the game.
- Every single directory indicated bathroom in the Hilltop Center is inaccessible. The bathrooms are recognizable as two doors facing each other.
- Once Heather recites "Tu Fui, Ego Eris", the Slurpers in the hallway (if there are any) also disappear. This suggests that the phrase not only works on the Glutton, but also other monsters.
Gallery
