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Silent Hill: Homecoming
Publisher: Konami
Developer: The Collective/Konami
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: September 30, 2008
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Reviewer: Eric
 The
Silent Hill franchise has been done for messing with gamers minds. Fear is not
the only thing that is in a Silent Hill game and Konami has kept this up for
years. The fog from Silent Hill is back in the latest game in the franchise,
Silent Hill: Homecoming. Is it alright to go back or should you stay home this
time?
Alex Shepherd returns to his hometown of Shepherd Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his brother. Alex has to face his biggest fears as he adventures through the foggy streets of Silent Hill. As Alex struggles with his own mind, he starts to uncover a mystery that deals with more than his brother. Will Alex find his brother or will he get lost in Silent Hill?
The panic and fear that haunted players with past Silent Hill games seem to be missing in Homecoming. Silent Hill: Homecoming plays like other games from the series but you will not be scared at all. I found myself getting scared maybe once and that was because something feels in my closet, at the right moment where a dead body fell from the ceiling. Even before you come face to face with any creature in Homecoming, you will hear a different tune in the music. How am I supposed to be scared when a not so scary tune is heard from the game?
All of the characters in Homecoming are crazy looking though, something the Silent Hill series is known for. I can’t say that Silent Hill: Homecoming has the best looking creates though, but they at least look gorgeous in high definition. The graphics in this game are real good, to a point (I hate contradicting myself throughout this review). When the games cut scenes merge into the actual gameplay you can notice a huge difference, which is a real shame. I wish Konami tried to blend things better. I am glad to report that the Nurses look not-so-scary with their huge assists so lonely guys will rejoice.
Homecoming reminds me a lot of the phenomenal Silent Hill movie (yes I really enjoyed it a lot). A lot of aspects from the movie seemed to have made it inside of Homecoming. When Silent Hill: Homecoming starts to look like a complete rip off, you will actually see the story fall down to the floor, so far that you will think this is really one of the Obscure games. There is no need for the games story after a few short hours of gameplay. Thankfully if you pre-ordered this game you got a copy of the Silent Hill movie. Just put that DVD on and remind yourself that the name of the game you just bought is Silent Hill: Homecoming.
 Level designs are another part of the game that doesn’t seem to work out too well. There are too many points in the game where you know someone or something is going to jump out, it’s so predictable. Silent Hill was known for scaring people from left to right. Homecoming is giving gamers a new kind of Silent Hill game. There are even button mashing moments in this game, giving you that hack and slash feel. To make matters worse monsters will actually respawn in the game! If you want this feature to go away you better rush through certain parts in the game, that way the enemies won’t respawn again (in that location). It really feels like certain parts of the game were programmed as dead points, something we saw all the time in old video games. Take that bugs, I stepped in the room where you can’t come back.
The Silent Hill series has been known for having lead characters that can barely lift up a weapon when their lives are flashing before their eyes. Our hero Alex is an ex-army man that can kill anything with a knife. The battle system is way too easy and Alex always comes out on top. You can kill anything in this game (it felt this way to me) with your combat knife. The swarms of insects are a little more challenging, but when you get weapons you can easily take them out. All of the weapons can be upgraded too, which is a first to the series. Silent Hill: Homecoming is the perfect place to start for anyone that has never played the series, hardcore fans will be disappointed with the very last knife strike to a monsters body.
Battles are even easier if you don’t run right into your enemies. As long as you stay back a few steps you can pick off anyone without loosing any health. There are items later in the game that will increase your health, making the game almost too simple. Boss battles might look challenging at first but you can stand there and shoot your gun, before you know it you’ll still have all your health items and not a single scratch.
 The game also offers enough save points to be considered a role playing game. Every other turn in Homecoming has a save spot. Think you need to save before a puzzle or boss battle? I already talked about the boss battles and you know that isn’t a problem, but just in case there is a save point to your left and right. The same goes for the puzzles. A good amount of these puzzles will have you pushing Item A to Item B. Leave your brain at home when playing this game.
Homecoming’s music score is great. Akira Yamaoka has done it again with the entire game score, but here is the catch. His music is best, if used, in a game that is about messing with the gamers mind. Yamaoka’s music just seems out of place most of the time in Homecoming. The voice acting is good in the game, but just like everything else there is a problem. Most of the time the voices do not match the characters mouth movements. Maybe that is the real scare in Silent Hill: Homecoming?
The Silent Hill series has not adventured online in Homecoming (big shocker). Resident Evil tried this before with Outbreak and for the most part it was decent. If Konami added some sort of online features in Homecoming then it might have helped the game a little more.
Final Verdict
I have played all of the Silent Hill games and I have to say that Homecoming is
not a step forward for the franchise on next generation consoles. This game
takes everything that was good about Silent Hill and erased it. The game is a
real big letdown; fans will play this and start counting the days until the next
Silent Hill game. Stay out of the fog for now, Homecoming is not the Silent Hill
experience we’ve been waiting for.
Rating
6.50 out of 10
Silent Hill: Homecoming Trailer
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