Return home to Silent Hill and face the horrors that await.
The story is about Alex Sheppard, a soldier returning home after being injured in battle. He returns home to find that it's seen better days; the streets are broken, people are missing and the remaining people are acting strange. Alex's mind leaps to his little brother, Josh, and he heads to his house to see if he is alright. Turns out he's missing as well and Alex heads out to find him. The story is similar to Silent Hill 2 and, while this is not a bad thing at all, it wouldn't have hurt to see a completely new idea. It's still a great story, filled with subtle hints and symbolism that you'll really appreciate on your second run. It's definitely a memorable one with a decent twist at the end of the game, not to mention there are multiple endings to discover. Open-minded Silent Hill fans will enjoy the story here.
The gameplay is entirely different than the previous games. It plays more like Resident Evil 4 than Silent Hill 3 for example. You play in a third-person, over-the-shoulder view and explore the environment with more control. You still go from area to area, following your map much like the previous games, and encounter monsters. The combat is vastly overdone and it's the best combat the series has seen. You fight enemies with a lock-on that is activated by pulling the left shoulder button and hack at whatever you targeted with either cross or square. You can dodge attacks and counter after a dodge. This makes you feel too powerful sometimes, seeing as you can defeat any enemy without threat but it's much better than the previous games. There are a few guns in the game and ammo is in plenty supply. The only real issue I found with how the guns handle is that the pistol seems to be picky about when it wants to fire. I ran into this issue in both the PS3 and Xbox 360 version.
The camera in the game is not bad but it moves way too slow. It takes longer than it should to turn around and there is no way to alter the sensitivity. The level design in the game is more linear than that of the other games and this is a disappointment. This game has the best bosses in the series, especially from a story standpoint. There are a few puzzles in the game and most are simple, though some are infuriating due to lack of instruction, but what's there is interesting. Overall, it's not the best to play; it's too focused on combat and more linear than a survival horror fan would like, but it's a fine attempt at making the combat more interesting in a Silent Hill game.
The audio is fantastic though seeing as series trademark Akira Yamaoka is still on the music, it makes sense. The tracks are industrial, creepy, haunting, sad and angry all in one and the vocal tracks by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn are amazing. The voice work is better than the other Silent Hill games, especially Alex, and the sound effects are creepy. The music is used in the most fitting way possible and it makes everything that much more memorable.
The visuals in the game are usually great, but you run into some real rough spots. The overall look is pure Silent Hill however the otherworld is taken straight from the Silent Hill movie. The character models look alright, Alex looks excellent and you can tell they spent the most time on his model, especially his face. Some of the facial models are downright terrible, the Mayor for example, though Alex's face looks great. The monsters also look great, showing signs of damage as you fight them and the monster design is great with the boss design being fantastic. Even with the next-gen shine, it's only barely the best looking Silent Hill, though it is easily when Alex is concerned. The psychological scares are fewer than in the other games, it tries to scare with more violence, there is almost more violence in this game than in all the others put together. The game still has some scares, some monster encounters are in tight corners and the enemies walk in from off-screen causing some mild panic. There are some framerate dips here and there, but it usually runs well. Overall, the game looks good.
PROs
- Traditional Silent Hill look
- Emotional, dark story
- Monster design is excellent
- Best bosses in the series
- Music is some of the best in the series
- Alex's character model looks great
- Combat is improved
- Story is a lot like Silent Hill 2
- Some cool puzzles
CONs
- Very linear
- Combat makes you feel too invincible
- A lot of the faces look terrible
- Some pacing issues
- Story is a lot like Silent Hill 2
- Camera is way too slow
- More locked doors than ever before
- Too focused on action over puzzles
- Gameplay can be dull
- Not as scary
Overall, Silent Hill: Homecoming is a decent attempt by a new developer. It's not nearly as good as Silent Hill 2 or 3 but it's not a bad game. It'll definitely turn a lot of fans away and it strays from the Silent Hill path but it's still an enjoyable horror game. It has a great story and some cool boss fights. While it may have some control and visual issues, but if you are open to a new, more old-style horror game, give Homecoming a go.
Story: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 7.0/10
Audio: 9.5/10
Presentation: 7.5/10