Silent Hill: Homecoming

Oh my lord. I am possibly the biggest Silent Hill fan I know, I've managed to introduce several friends to the wonders of this series and many of them enjoy it too. I recently received an Xbox 360 for Christmas, and the main reason I wanted it was for this game. I waited months for this game to come out, and having adored all the previous titles (even 4!) I was eagerly anticipating this one's release. I always say that no matter how bad a Silent Hill game is I will always finish it. But I've decided not to finish this one. Honestly, this game is beyond terrible. The graphics were decent and the voice overs were pretty good but that's about all. Besides having a totally boring plot that hardly ties in with any of the previous games at all, the game is crawling with glitches. Just as I decided to give it another chance this morning I walked right into a glitch many others have been having problems with. Therefore I had to start over. Now I just can't be bothered to finish the game, having spent many frustrating hours screaming at the television screen because this game is so damn.. ugh, it basically takes the word frustration to a whole new goddamn level. What really sucks about this game is that they had the atmosphere just right; the town of Silent Hill, the fog, the whole atmosphere was pretty much perfect. Then they threw in the dumb ass combat and it all went to hell. What makes a Silent Hill game for me is not the constant fighting, but the wandering around in the fog, and that helpless feeling you get when you hear a strange noise in the distant. In this game they pretty much took out all of these things and threw in a bunch of extremely annoying enemies that take about fifty hits from the axe to actually kill, that is before they've already knocked you on your ass half a dozen times. Also, weapons and ammo are extremely limited. I'm not saying there was a bunch of ammo everywhere you looked in the previous games, but hell, this is like playing Resident Evil - only even goddamn harder, and you can imagine what that's like. I'm so disappointed at this game, it could have been amazing if the Japanese hadn't handed it to the Americans. That being said, Origins which was also made by the Americans was a lot better than this game, so maybe they just went wrong somewhere. It's a pity really, this could've been a really good game if they'd just fixed a few things. I'm sad that I wasted thirty eight pounds buying this game, but I don't really regret it. I would've bought it anyway at some point, so it's just bad luck really. I've never been so annoyed with a game in all my life, and this one is easily the most difficult SH game I've ever played. Anyone who enjoys action and combat should try this game, but if you're a true Silent Hill fan who still considers the second game the best of the bunch, I'd say rent it. It's certainly not worth wasting any of your hard earned money on. 1/5

After my game in Silent Hill 1999 at the age of 7, where I did not bother to go further than a dark alley, this part, about which I will write, is the first game in the series that I completed to the end already in my teens. I remember that my friend liked this game, and I only nodded in the hope of not losing him, so my opinion did not matter to me. It so happened that now all the previous games have been completed by me, and the gaming experience has disintegrated to give a personal opinion. And I would like to return those wonderful carefree youthful memories, long lost about those times, thereby finally understand for myself: "Was Silent Hill: Homecoming so good?" The developers are the American Double Helix Games, which, as I understand, has not played any part of Silent Hill. Not only do they use most of the monsters from previous parts, where they were projections of individual personalities created by their sick minds filled with grief and suffering, but also the main character in this game becomes a killing machine against enemies such as occultists. How does Alex Shepard react to the murder of several people? No way! The facial animation here is so lousy that sometimes you really cringe from what is happening, and those familiar with the series will be completely... The combat is clumsy and inconvenient. They wanted to follow in the footsteps of Resident Evil, providing third-person action, but ended up on the road to HELL! What I liked about this part is the bosses. Each of them has a story behind them, and each of them looks decent in design.

In general, the result is that I did not return the warm memories of my youth by replaying this game, but only spoiled my mood. There are games that you play as a child, and replay them as an adult, where this time you begin to see many interesting nuances that you are only able to understand as an adult. And these are called immortal classics, which will never bore you, but will only continue to expand your narrow horizons on many things that happen outside of our lives. And this, unfortunately, is not that game. It may be a good horror movie of the "B" category, but a pretty lousy Silent Hill.

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!

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.

Positives:

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

Negatives:

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