It's the black sheep of the Silent Hill family, but for what it does poorly, it does a fair amount exceptionally well.
So why did I give this game a 7.5? Well, Homecoming does a few things really well. The most noticeable is its monster design. There are a few monsters that have been recycled like nurses and dogs, but for the most part, the monsters and bosses are original and creative. The bosses stand out as some of the most bizarre and creative conjurations I've ever seen in a horror game, and that makes them exciting to fight. Their designs are so unique and grotesque.
The graphics in Homecoming are very good, especially for an earlier PS3 game. Homecoming is probably the best looking Silent Hill game available. I would consider it a better looking game than the recent Downpour, though not nearly as detailed or visually interesting. The whole game feels bland and empty. There really isn't a whole lot of detail or texture-work in Homecoming. It's also not as dark as other Silent Hill games, so the blandness is more noticeable.
It should also be noted that if you've seen the Silent Hill movie, you'll pick up on a few things in the game. For example the change from the normal world to the hell world is in real time and is copied directly from the movie. Also, the nurses are modeled after the ones in the movie as well. There are a few more slight similarities, but Homecoming still manages to feel like a series game and not simply ripped from the movie, though both share similar stories too.
You begin the game as Alex Shepard, a soldier returning home in search of his missing brother Joshua, after being hospitalized for battle wounds. Homecoming's story is probably its weakest element. It's not terrible, but the story itself is pretty shallow, and although it may seem deep and complex at times, the story is surprisingly simple once it's explained at the end of the game. The characters add some much needed depth to the story and thankfully all of them are well-voiced and likable, and when Alex is faced with a dialogue decision to make, it can be rather tough based on how connected you've become to that particular character. In dialogue, Alex has a few options, all of which essentially lead to the same outcome with the exception of a few conversations later in the game. But even so, the characters, in particular a police officer named Wheeler, are so likable that you'll want to be friendly to them at every opportunity. In many situations characters will follow you around and even fight with you and help you open certain doors.
Combat is Homecoming's focus. Your feelings about the combat system will likely determine whether you enjoy or despise the game. The combat system will seem dauntingly difficult at first because it takes trial and error to really figure it out, but once you figure it out the game becomes pretty easy. Alex can lock on to an enemy, and dodge almost any attack if timed right. Enemies will often give a signal or make a sudden movement that lets you know they're about to strike. Getting the timing down is pretty tough, and must be learned for all enemies, as no two are the same. The boss battles are all about timing so if you don't figure it out soon, you'll likely become frustrated with the game pretty quickly. The good thing is that on the normal difficulty setting, enemies don't do a whole lot of damage, and there are more than enough health items available to you. Dodging in combat is helpful, but not really required except on bosses. On the hard difficulty, however, an understanding of the combat system is essential. The monsters hit harder and have much more health.
Puzzles are another weak aspect of Homecoming. There aren't that many puzzles but the ones Alex comes across are either number codes he must find and enter on keypads, or sliding picture puzzles which can be maddeningly difficult if you miss the clues required to solve them. The game doesn't hand you the solutions to the puzzles, but once you find the clues pertaining to each puzzle, they're not very hard to solve. The puzzles do seem a bit thrown together and they don't really fit well with the games atmosphere or story. It seems like the developers realized they needed puzzles and tried to remember the puzzles they enjoyed most when they were in elementary school and threw them in the game.
I should also note that there are many sections of Homecoming that are reportedly buggy. I'm almost certain that these issues had been addressed before the time of this writing, but in the event that they have not I would recommend always keeping at least two save files. The bugs have to do with certain puzzles in the game that can be permanently screwed up if you don't do them right because they do not reset themselves. Also, there's been word of puzzle items in Alex's inventory that erase or duplicate themselves, and become invisible. I did not have these issues on my play-through, but other players have.
Homecoming's last misstep lies in its ability to be suspenseful and frighten. Because Alex is such a powerhouse, the enemies are simply more of an annoyance than a real scare. Sure, some of them are really creepy, but because they can be taken down so easily with something like a puny knife as Alex swings and jumps and dodges all around them like an acrobat, they become merely cosmetic. The choice to focus on combat really takes away from what made other Silent Hill games so memorable. Combat is also almost always forced because enemies will re-spawn on the streets of Silent Hill as well as occupy areas that Alex needs to spend time in, making the option to run from them almost impossible.
But for all it falters on, which really isn't that much, Homecoming still retains that Silent Hill feel, much more so that this year's Silent Hill: Downpour. If Homecoming had left the combat like it was in Silent Hill 2 and 3, added a bit more detail to its environments, and had a deeper story, we'd be looking at a superb entry in the series. But don't let all those negative reviews stop you from at least trying the game. It took me a few hours to accept it, but once I got past the combat mechanics I honestly had a good time with the game. If you love Silent Hill, there is no reason you should pass on this game. If you're looking for a survival horror game, or to get into the series, I would recommend Silent Hill 2 or 3 instead.