Silent Hill: Homecoming

Yes, I was excited when I found out Silent Hill would be coming to the next generation consoles and I bought it soon after its release. I have now finished it and have to say while overall I liked it, I was also a bit disappointed by it too. Let's just say I like Silent Hill 2, 3, and Origins more than this one. I liked it a bit more than Room and I have never played one so I can not really say if I thought it was better or worse than that game. Even though I thought it was overall better than Room, its story is not quite as good as that game either. It does boast the best graphics of the series to date, the monster look good, and the characters do too, the problem is the story is not up to par with the other Silent Hill entries I have played. Also, the combat is not as good as the last game of the series Origins, as in that one the character was a lot tougher than Alex in this game, beating enemies with his fists. Alex has the ability to dodge, but this becomes annoying as you have to dodge to hit certain enemies and if you screw up your timing you are, well screwed. The story has Alex returning to his hometown of Shepard's Glen after a dream sequence involving a hospital. He quickly discovers the town is not as he remembers as citizens are apparently going missing. He could care less though as his main goal is to find his younger brother Joshua in the town that is slowly going to hell. You meet many denizens of the town and at times are warped to a hellish world where monsters eat those who seem to have some piece of the puzzle. Of course, in the end it leads back to the town of Silent Hill. A couple of plot points just did not really work for me, the game featured members of the order like those seen in the movie, I am not sure if they appeared in the first game, but I know I never saw them in any of the other games I played. It seems this one focuses a bit on the religious cult more than previous games, but a lot of stuff presented here just did not add up. So for the best looking of the Silent Hills play this one, story wise though it is a bit weak.

Each entry in Konami's "Silent Hill" franchise has explored a deep and dark portion of the human psychological makeup. The original game was about a father, desperate to find his lost daughter. The second game focused upon a man in perpetual grief, who comes to the haunted town to find his missing (and deceased) wife. The fourth game had a number of layers. Each game has that sort-of Grimm's fairy tale quality- there is always a moral, no matter how hard the trials may be, and "Homecoming" is no exception. It tells a tale about loyalty and love within the family unit, set within a hellish facade of horror and mayhem.

Being that this is my first review of a video-game, I'm going to do things differently- I'm going to give a brief, spoiler-free plot synopsis, and follow it up with an analysis of each major aspect of the game. (Graphics, sound, etc.)

The game follows Alex Shepherd, a soldier who returns home from battle to the small town of Shepherd's Glen. He has had a troubled relationship with his family- he cares deeply for his younger brother Joshua, but has grown distant from his mother and especially from his strict and seemingly emotionally abusive father, Adam, also an army man, who lives by the strictest of rules.

Alex notices that something is wrong the second he arrives. His town is covered in a thick fog, and everyone seems to be missing. Running into his childhood friend (and token hot female character) Elle, he learns that people have slowly been disappearing from the town, and that fiendish and otherworldly creatures have arrived, making travel dangerous. He also learns that his father and Joshua have gone missing. Feeling a special bond with his brother, he decides to go look for him, starting a quest that will take him to the bowls of hell and back, and eventually to the dark town of Silent Hill itself, on a mission to save the one family member that truly seems to appreciate him.

That's the basic plot, now here's a breakdown of actual game mechanics and facets, rated on a 1-10 scale:

Graphics... 7 out of 10 The Graphics in this game are, for the most part, superb. Characters almost look real, especially when viewed on a high-deff TV, and the creatures (more on those later) are incredibly designed. That being said, I have some complaints. For one, it seems to be a trend that no matter how good a character looks, their teeth are always... unnatural. This holds true for Alex, who looks like an animal with bared teeth during conversations. Also, some of the graphics become a little redundant, and there are some cheaply and quickly designed areas. And some cliché design. But overall, good, presentable graphics.

Sound... 6 out of 10 The voice acting is what kills the sound category. I know voice over work has never been a highlight of the series, but "Homecoming" boasts some of the worst the series has had to offer. The actors really seem to be just reading their lines, and not actually, well, acting. Thankfully, the rest of the sound work is great, and makes up for it. And as always, Akira Yamaoka's score is haunting and poignant. Sound effects are great for the most part, as well, although some of the creature sounds are a bit lame. Overall, average sound work that could have been perfect with slightly better performances.

Controls... 4 out of 10 Here we go. "Silent Hill: Homecoming" controls beautifully when your exploring areas and searching for clues. But the second combat begins, prepare for frustration. The combat controls dropped this category from a solid 8 down to a 4. I've never seen a system so clunky... so unresponsive... so- - - WRONG, in my life. The developers tried to make this a more action oriented game than previous entries, and therefore beefed up the combat system, adding new attacks, new weapons, a new "evade" button, and more. And nothing works. I can't tell you how many times I used the evade button and it failed, or how many times I just flat-out missed my target due to bad controls. Prepare to be killed... a lot, due to the poor combat system.

General Gameplay... 7 out of 10 The general gameplay is similar to other entries in the series. Explore an area, look for clues, proceed to the next area and do the same. Fight some monsters and get some new ammo and health, and continue the cycle, occasionally encountering a cut-scene or two. It's a very "true to formula" entry, although that's what I wanted, hence, I can't complain. Basic gameplay is solid.

Story... 6 out of 10 Everyone in a "Silent Hill" game seems to be looking for something on the outside, and something on the inside. This game is no exception. While the story is essentially a watered-down retread of the first two entries, it is enjoyable enough, although the characters are underdeveloped. But it works, and works well. Some of the twists and turns are predictable, but I didn't mind. Also, you can tell this game is from an American developer as opposed to the Japanese developers who worked on previous entries, because despite similar styles and themes, the game does feel more "American", and as with American cinema, the game just isn't a subtle as the first few entries. But for their first "Silent Hill" game, they did a great job, and stayed true to the spirit of the game.

Overall, I give this game a 7 out of 10. It's very enjoyable, and fans of the series should like it, I know I did, and I've been playing the series since its debut. Get ready to get your mind messed with once again!

Positives:

• A few interesting ideas
• Some of the creatures designs
• Musical score

Negatives:

• Lack of horror
• Gameplay
• Graphics
• Story
• Poorly done psychological elements

Review of the PC version. When Alex comes out of a military hospital and returns to where he grew up(after having been gone for years), he finds his mother catatonic, his younger brother missing(is there going to be a creepy kid in every installment of this series?) and his father(John Locke) seemingly having gone in search of the aforementioned sibling. You can never return home, a theme explored in this. Of course, usually that's done without Hellraiser going on. The characters aren't bad(if everyone looks the age of 30 tops, including the ones who have adult offspring), and the voice acting is above average, and yet this does not have the impact of the others(it is around the same as The Room in that area). Yes, the plot is going to let some people down, if the twist is pretty good. I don't think that's it... no, it's that there are hardly any puzzles in this. Well, they're there... I just wouldn't dignify them by referring to them as that. I'd call them "tasks". Go into a room, find an object, place it in another one, that's it. There are two or three that take in excess of a minute or two and aren't your first guess, the rest, you're almost going through the motions. You don't have trouble finding your way, either. This is as linear(and the levels as nicely done, with an infested hotel and a police station under attack; you go back to some of the same spots as earlier on in this) as the rest, and tense enough for you to not notice. The challenge all comes from the more action-oriented tone of this. It does still build atmosphere, effectively with the excellent sound-side, the grotesque creature designs(there's a four-legged man-sized spider with blades for legs, a tight-clothes-wearing psychotic nurse with bouncy cleavage(...why?) and a knife with your name on it, and the second-hand-smoker's worst nightmare that you'll want to keep away from you; then again, this does have the worst dogs(it's the only bad case, really), they're essentially skinless with a head that's the cross of a newt and a leopard... no, really, I swear, this makes them seem superior to how they actually are), the Hellish Otherworld and the abandoned, fog-covered(and it's done better than any of the earlier ones, and you can "lose yourself" in it and suddenly be running in the direction you came from... you know, like Neo trapped in Limbo early in The Matrix Revolutions; that's not a spoiler), should be quaint yet *isn't*, isolated suburbia. You have environment interaction(in addition to the realistic Havok physics engine, as also seen in Max Payne 2), where you can squeeze yourself through, duck under or hop over if there's a partial entrance to another place(note that some of your foes can follow you, including opening doors! And you'll want to sometimes up and run away from them), as the guy is a soldier... and this does make the tough fights seem greater(how nasty must these things be if a trained army guy has trouble?). When you enter combat, you can do fast attacks(and combo) or powerful ones, and dodge/block(the enemies will do that as well; AI is marvelous, except for when the bugs hit it... there are a bunch in this, that can really frustrate you, though I never had to start this over), and you have to learn their style to get past them. It works fine enough, if the timing can really be bothersome, and it is highly exciting. You get a knife(that can also cut through fabric), a pipe(that can pry open doors), an axe(that can hack through boards), a pistol and a shotgun. Ammo is extremely sparse similar to #4, so make the bullets count. You can do a short-range blow with any firearm in this, if they get too close(and aiming is first-person... thank you, Konami). There is a lot of inspiration drawn from the lousy movie... they do kinda pull it off. This requires fast-clicking(and in general it's fairly immersive) in certain situations, like in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. It's quite cinematic. The cut-scenes are all in-engine or pre-rendered. Graphics are nice, with a real dynamic look to some of the things where it makes sense(you see a sort of vein running across the metal-plated floor, and it seems to be flowing, or like something fluid is running through it) and fantastic filters, like "old film", creating a genuinely unsettling mood. It's like the first in ways, but when you reach somewhere where the road is gone, it looks like it slid down. There are fancy features that you don't need, like the ability to turn around items(it's not like you can catch subtle details on them that help you... it's already giving you too many hints). I do love that we get complete control over a 360 degree camera when we want... you gotta stand still, that's all. The light even follows it. That really should have made it into these sooner. Faces and hands look "off", I can't put my finger on why... it's not unlike Robert Zemeckis' CGI flicks, his A Christmas Carol(the one with Jim Carrey), Beowulf and the rest, you know, soulless eyes, they're like really close to human yet *not*... the movements are strange at times, and they seem incapable of displaying three emotions... also, our protagonist always looks confounded, as well as like he doesn't know what that word means. Animation is excellent. If we define Silent Hill as what we got in the original three and what the fourth was a different artist's take on(not the same, yet interesting in its own right), then this, well, ain't it. That's not to say that it isn't a cool and fun game. The psychology holds up, and it makes you think, like the rest of them. There is bloody, gory, brutal violence, sensuality and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to fans of survival horror, and not to purists. 8/10

The game itself is a huge leap as it changes the combat system entirely from 1 and 2 (I didn't play 3 or 4 I'm assuming they're the same). For starters the game is more combat oriented with the introduction of using various combos and finishing moves to kill your enemies, you can also aim the gun yourself giving you the freedom to place a few pellets in certain monsters critical zones which can be really handy when your conserving those last 4 bullets that you 'wasted' 2 minutes ago fighting another creature.

The horror factor stands up to the silent hill name, really gory, really twisted and leaves you feeling cold due to the attention paid to certain details. The characters are likable and are great to interact with due to the new speech system allowing you to take complete control over certain dialogues. It's also great how you can have a combat buddy fighting alongside you, blasting monsters back to back.

My only complaint is the fact that the game is really anti-climatic towards the end, in many cases it feels that the designers just got bored and didn't bother with some greater in depth story line unlike in SH2 where you get two bosses and a scene explaining more of the story.

Overall the game is good and I give it 8 stars for the reason that the ending wasn't as good as it could have been, but it is definitely worth the look.