After 4 years of no actual sequel, Silent Hill makes a return to drive us straight to a personal Hell.
Now, 4 years from the release Silent Hill 4, Team Silent (The original master minds behind Silent Hill 1-4) has disbanded and Konami faced the task of finding a developer that understood the personal hell of Silent Hill at heart, and thus settled on what is now Double Helix. Definitely causing an uproar among fans, they faced a daunting challenge.
Did they succeed? In short, Hell Yes.
Homecoming starts out in a series landmark, The Alchemilla Hospital. Our game's protagonist turns out to be a soldier who was wounded in combat named Alex Shepard. The story then takes us back to the town of Shepard's Glenn (Notice the name?) and later on Silent Hill. With almost everyone missing, your Mother is now in a catatonic state, Joshua (Your little brother) is missing along with your father, things are definitely screwed up.
Many would believe that the story is simple and a little unoriginal, and I thought that too just by reading the cover, but it turns out to be a stellar story that grabs you by the jugular and throws you into this bloody world. As true to past Silent Hill games, the characters draw you in and will make you hate some and love others. Thanks to better dialogue, damn good voice acting, and cinematic cut scenes, improving on some of the flat points in past Silent Hill games (Disagree? Remember Henry ask "Are you ok?" to a girl laying in a pool of blood? Nothing like that here).
Probably one of the biggest changes here is the revamped combat system. Now this is a love it or hate it thing. With the inclusion of a dodge attack, Power and light attacks, plus actually having to think of a strategy to defeat monsters, this is definitely a right step for the series. Don't worry. Alex's combat experience means nothing to an AI system that will literally destroy you. This is probably one of the best AI I have seen in a video game. But there is also the option to sneak past some monsters, which can really provide some tense moments.
There is now a faster inventory menu system in the shape of an over lay wheel that is divided into Weapons and Items, each assigned to there own buttons. Thankfully, it pauses the game when you access them. There is less ammo in this game so you really have to manage your use of guns over melee weapons.
As true to Silent Hill fashion, Homecoming creates tons of new mythos while solving some old ones. Monsters are based on subconscious demons, although some of them are really not that apparent as to what they represent. The sociological and psychological elements and horror is here. This game IS scary, definitely on the level of Silent Hill 3.
With the inclusion of epic and creative boss battles, real time other-world shifts and beautiful graphics, the atmosphere is always tense and you will be on edge the entire bloody ride through.
But every game is not a game without faults. The game does borrow a little to many references to the Movie, Yahtzee sure is right on that, but thankfully they are well placed. The combat is unforgiving, you will have to learn, or else you can't progress through the story. While the Other-world is bloody and gritty and amazing, it really lacks some of the horrendous feeling and things from Silent Hill 3's other-world, if that makes any sense. Puzzles are easier this time around, and without a difficulty level for puzzles, it really does lack so replay value.
Akira Yamaoka, the Composer for the Silent Hill series and producer on the last few games, returns with a stunning soundtrack that goes further to suck you into the game's bloody world. With Dolby Digital sound work, the sound is so damn realistic that you will be asking "What the hell was that?!" quite a few times.
Bottom Line: Homecoming is a solid, welcome and adding addition to the Silent Hill series that fans will surely remember. An unforgettable adventure that proves that Double Helix has what it takes to continue the series.
The Good: Tense Atmosphere, Retains the Silent Hill atmosphere, Epic Boss Battles, Beautiful graphics, enticing story and characters, improved combat system, amazing sound.
The Bad: To many movie references, no puzzle difficulty levels, unforgiving combat.
9 steel pipes out of 10