Silent Hill: Homecoming

"A Loyal Sequel That is Unable to Distinguish Itself"

INTRODUCTION
The Silent Hill series stands out as one of the pillars of the horror genre, offering an alternative to the more action oriented Biohazard or the camera-centric Fatal Frame games. Silent Hill 2 & 3 are widely regarded as some of the best horror games ever made, so Silent Hill Homecoming has a lot to live up to. The good news is that the game is quite faithful to the series in many ways, and fans of the series will undoubtedly find the environs and overall tone quite familiar. The bad news is that the game does little to make itself stand out, with the characters and story being some of the least interesting in the series so far. Few risks are taken, so it feels more like we are treading over familiar, safe territory rather than witnessing any actual attempt to move the series forward in a meaningful way. This review will go into detail about these aspects, with any eye towards informing fans of the series (of which this reviewer is one).

GAMEPLAY – 6/10
Silent Hill Homecoming does try to bring some innovation to the series' gameplay, but many other aspects feel incredibly stale, reminiscent of a game from the past console generation rather than a more recent title. For example, obstacles in the main characters path bring up the option to press the A button, which initiates a cutscene that shows him maneuvering over, under or through said obstacle. It would have been so much easier to automate these movements (a la Assassin's Creed), having the character take the actions in-game simply by pressing forward on the control stick. Doing so would not decrease the tension (you still lose control of your character as he does them, and it could be done slowly or with a forced camera angle), and it decreases from the overall feeling of immersion by taking the player out of the game momentarily. Save points are also highly irregularly spaced, for example three in a row over a ten minute period and then none for another 45 minutes or missing after a major boss fight.

Previous Silent Hill games saw a fairly weak main character with little or no combat ability, often forcing the player to flee from encounters or even stop to catch their breath. Homecoming gives the player significantly more combat prowess (see story & characters section for a discussion of the value of this change). One can dodge incoming blows and attack with a variety of melee attacks (slash left or right, jab or overhead swing). While it's nice to have a bit more of a fighting repertoire, the combat feels clunky and basically boils down to 1) dodge 2) counter. Once a player has mastered the use of the dodge button, the game loses nearly all difficulty. The game also features some firearms, which are fairly easy to use although also uninteresting and somewhat overpowered.

One of the pillars of the Silent Hill series has been the enemies. Twisted creatures that stay in the player's head long after the game is done, with some truly unique monsters and bosses. Homecoming scores relatively well with its three or four boss fights, which are suitably original-yet-faithful Silent Hill monstrosities. But the regular enemies really aren't that great. The nurses have been brought back from previous games, while the other creatures fit the part but aren't really memorable, at least not in the way earlier games in the series' baddies have been.

Puzzles have never been a strong suit of the Silent Hill games, although the series has always had them. Homecoming continues this tradition with several puzzles that either require players to find a few items scattered about and put them in various slots, or perhaps to find some code written down somewhere else. All the puzzles are tedious and add little to gameplay, basically acting as an excuse to send the player running around the area a little bit more.

The game itself is quite linear, usually railroading you to the next spot. There is occasionally a bit of exploring to be done, but it is usually just a few rooms or dead ends with an ammo or health items…maybe one optional puzzle that yields a weapon. It's a shame that the developers couldn't have turned to experience of wandering around a foggy, haunted town a little more open-ended, with perhaps some buildings to explore for sidequests that would extend gameplay and flesh out the overall experience.

Silent Hill Homecoming has implemented a dialogue system vaguely reminiscent of something you might find in a Bioware RPG, although significantly more simple. This might have been an interesting addition if not for the fact that only three of the actual conversations in game have any impact on gameplay whatsoever (all of which take place near the very end). It's hard to understand the value of allowing the player to choose their words when it makes no difference.

At release time, the developers bragged of “real time transitions” between the infamous normal and dark worlds of Silent Hill. This seemed to suggest that all these transitions throughout the game would take place in-game, with complete control of the character. Instead, this happens only once, with the rest of the transitions taking place in a cutscene. The particular factor is not only disappointing, but borders on deceptive.

STORY & CHARACTERS – 6/10
Silent Hill Homecoming follows the story of Alex Shepard, a solider returning home from war to find his hometown nearly abandoned and his family in ruins. Needless to say this soon connects back to Silent Hill, and features a few predictable twists before the final confrontation. The story is highly reminiscent of earlier entries in the series, but feels derivative rather than original and the few twists it contains are highly predictable. The game is also full of references to earlier Silent Hill games, which is great. Unfortunately there are also many references to the movie, which was a pretty disappointing decision in this reviewer's opinion.

The Silent Hill series has always been character driven, examining the flaws of the main character and usually containing a small cast of other lost souls. Homecoming sticks to this formula, but none of the characters really stick out and once again it feel derivative, like parts of the earlier games were just mixed-and-matched to create new yet somehow very familiar individuals to populate the game.

Alex himself fits adequately into the standard self-tortured hero with a murky past archetype established by earlier games, though this reviewer found it hard to care about his feelings or his ultimate fate. One feature of previous Silent Hill games was that the main character was always just a “regular guy” (or girl). In addition to providing a nice contrast to the heroes of other survival horror games that often featured a special agent or something similar, this meant that players were more likely to identify with the protagonist. I'll never forget the surprise I felt the first time James in Silent Hill 2 stopped to catch his breath. Homecoming's departure from this series standard may improve the combat, but it's somewhat disappointing that they let this essential element slip from the game.

Overall, the game retains the overall feel of the series. All the environments, characters and story elements feel very at home in the Silent Hill universe. But it does not contain that indescribable “X-factor” that made previous games so disturbing. It doesn't have that extra edge that puts the player him/herself just a little out of their own mind, that twisted aspect that helped make Silent Hill 2 & 3 such classics.

GRAPHICS & SOUND – 9/10
Silent Hill looks good overall. The graphics are clean and most textures are well-detailed, including the darker sections of the game. The lighting (always essential in any horror game) works very well, adding an eerie flavor to the game's environments. Character models are good overall, though something about the faces seemed ever-so-slightly stretched, like a membrane over a frame. It's a nitpick, but it is noticeable, especially when characters are speaking.

Many elements from previous Silent Hill games have made a return, and are actually implemented quite effectively. The developers were sure to use the same text font and even sound effects as earlier games (e.g. the noise when an item is picked up or used was instantly familiar). The fog and radio static are also back and look just right, along with many other little things like streets that end in sudden cliffs or the look and style of the map.

All the locals look like they belong in Silent Hill, although some are rehashed (e.g. a hospital). The dilapidated walls and furnishings, discarded equipment and other details fit in. The “dark” versions are also reasonably well done and look right. It's disappointing though that these sections didn't contain a little more going on in the background (a la Silent Hill 3).

The sound stands out, with the original composer from the earlier games making a comeback and working his trade as effectively as ever. The music is pure Silent Hill, and goes a long way into making this entry fit into the series. All sound effects and voices are excellently done, with a lot of the ambient noises in the background working very well, especially if you have a 5.1 set-up.

REPLAYABILITY – 6/10
Silent Hill Homecoming's length is relatively standard of recent singleplayer experiences (that is to say, a bit short). Completing the game on the normal difficulty will probably take six or seven hours, and there is a harder difficulty setting as well (though as stated above, the game is relatively easy once you've mastered the dodge function). There are multiple endings based on a small number of major choices made by the player, and most of them are fairly interesting. A couple collectibles are also featured in the game, which add just a little to the story if found. The game also encourages multiple playthroughs by rewarding the player with bonus costumes and even a couple of additional weapons, one of which is ridiculously overpowered. Nonetheless, it's hard to imagine anyone but the most dedicated fan getting more than two runs through the game.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION
Silent Hill Homecoming cannot really be recommended outright. The game is fun to play and it does have its moments, but it lacks innovation and some of the gameplay feels like something from a game that came out five years ago. Big fans of the series (or of the horror genre in general) will probably be able to get enough of the out the game to feel satisfied, but other games would probably do best to skip this one, or perhaps pick it up somewhere down the road at a cheaper price and during a lull in releases.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/08/08

Game Release: Silent Hill: Homecoming (US, 09/30/08)