It has been a long time since we’ve
entered the town of Silent Hill – too long. In fact, if you remember that the
last game, Silent Hill 4: The Room (released in 2004) took place outside the
eerie town, we technically haven’t been there since the 2003 release of Silent
Hill 3. Spiritually, however, it seems we have never left. This is the franchise
that sticks with gamers – the kind that gets in our heads and becomes a
permanent memory.
Silent Hill Homecoming, the fifth
chapter (the sixth if you count Origins) in Konami’s survival/horror franchise,
is another such game. It won’t blow your mind or impress the world with new-gen
greatness – sadly, Homecoming isn’t the most beautiful game of its time (a title
Silent Hill 2 held when it was released). But fans of the formula will not be
too disappointed, so long as more of the same is what they were craving.
Returning Home
By now you’ve likely heard that
Homecoming revolves around the tale of Alex Shepherd, a young man who left home
to join the military. Details are sketchy during the first portion of the game
but it appears that he spent some time in a military hospital. After
experiencing a vision (or was it just a nightmare?) where his younger brother,
Joshua, appears in a jail cell that’s surrounded by monsters, Alex starts to
worry and decides to head home.
Leading up to this point, players
will get a solid feel for what the entire game is going to be like. In a
nutshell, it’s a Silent Hill 2 and 3 clone. The controls are nearly identical
with the addition of a dodge function that enables you to evade enemy attack.
It’s a little clunky, but that’s the norm for survival/horror games – a slower,
less stable kind of gameplay that entertains in ways other games cannot.
Harry (Silent Hill 1’s protagonist)
may have liked using a big rusty pipe to attack monsters, but Alex is content
using a finely sharpened, flesh-cutting knife. Get comfortable with the idea of
close weapon-to-monster combat, as weapons are still a rare delicacy in the
first portion of Homecoming. To defend himself, Alex can perform a few combo
assaults using a combination of strong and weak attacks. While not a bad
addition, it barely changes things.
And with a lousy dodge-and-attack
implementation (most enemies counterattack, so you’ll have to press the dodge
button to duck or roll away), Homecoming’s battles can be a bit of a nightmare.
It is not uncommon to find yourself pinned to a wall; if the opposite occurs
(and your enemy is pinned), expect your weapon to hit the wall – not the monster
– and bounce right off, giving your enemy the perfect opportunity to retaliate.
Following the Path
In trying to make the game more
mainstream (or merely trying to avoid any complaints), the Silent Hill series
has grown easier with each sequel. The first game was so challenging it was
painful at times. You won’t experience any such pain in Homecoming. While it’s
not exactly a cakewalk, it is fairly straightforward. The map system isn’t
perfect – though similar to the previous Silent Hill games, not every area
you’ve accessed earns a marking on the map.
Maps cannot be edited manually, so
you might need a good memory to avoid exploring areas you’ve already been
through. Many environments tend to be similar, as the buildings and other
structures contain multiple rooms and hallways. The dim lighting adds to the
repetition, as it is very easy to think you’ve explored an area that you haven’t
and vice versa. However, given that the game basically tells you what needs to
be done next (objectives can be viewed at any time via the map screen, and most
paths are very linear), you aren’t likely to get confused.
New Town, Old Town
Alex isn’t from Silent Hill, but
rather a nearby town called Shepherd’s Glen. Upon returning home, he winds up in
the same situation that trapped previous visitors. The town is foggy and covered
in a white, dusty substance, just like Silent Hill. Alex can’t find more than a
neighbor or two on the street. All the homes appear to be abandoned. There are
hints along the way, with the town’s mystery (and connection to Silent Hill)
unraveling after a meeting with Alex’s mother, Lillian.
Given that Alex hasn’t been home in
a while and doesn’t know that the monsters he saw in his vision really exist, he
should have been surprised and severely horrified when a mutated dog attacked
him. Yet, for some reason or other, his response is strangely calm.
After searching his empty home, he
finds his mother, who is all but lifeless. She seems frightened by something,
almost in a trance, and is unable to communicate. Alex is concerned with the
town’s appearance, his inability to leave (the roads are completely torn apart –
beyond them, only a steep drop and dense fog are visible), and the fact that he
can’t find his brother. But he doesn’t show much emotion. The voice acting is
pretty good, but when Alex discovers that his brother is really missing (along
with several others from Shepherd’s Glen), he still fails to show the kind of
emotion you’d expect. This was somewhat acceptable in the PSone days, but it’s
really disappointing on today’s high-end game machines. Though the eye movement
is worth noting (it’s more realistic than most game characters), the other
facial expressions are not very good.
This confines the player to a rather
odd place, as you will now be intrigued by the mystery but have little to no
attachment to the main character. Certain events conspire that may partially
change your view of things, but in the beginning, Homecoming is less of a
storytelling powerhouse than you’d anticipate from the newest Silent Hill.
That Not-So-Safe Feeling
Homecoming won’t have players
jumping out of their seats. It doesn’t produce any shocking, never-saw-it-coming
survival/horror moments that will change the way we look at the genre. But with
a grand selection of creepy creatures and backgrounds (many of which will be
familiar to Silent Hill fans), some of the most eerie sound effects around, and
another great soundtrack, Homecoming is still capable of giving players that
on-edge feeling. It’s not the most intense game but it is intensifying – you
won’t be able to play through the whole thing without looking over your
shoulder.
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Gameplay: 6.5
Silent Hill 2 and 3 all over again, with clunky dodge-and-attack combat.
Graphics: 8.0
Impressive but not jaw-dropping. If you can go into the game without any
expectations, the backgrounds and monster designs are quite a feast for the eye
candy-hungry gamer.
Sound: 8.7
Creepy, catchy and climactic, Homecoming delivers a great score and several
eerie and unsettling sound effects.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Some players might welcome the straightforward layout, but the same-old and
overly simplistic puzzles are nowhere near the quality of the original Silent
Hill.
Concept: 6.0
The story’s rough-around-the-edges presentation won’t prevent the intriguing
revelations from holding your interest. But as a "game," however, Homecoming is
a clone of its predecessors.
Overall: 6.5
Considering that Homecoming’s gameplay is a clone of its predecessors, this
isn’t the sequel that every Silent Hill fan will want to own. But you should
definitely play through it once, as the old gameplay style is still entertaining
(minus the clunky combat elements), the music and sound effects are great, and
the new story will keep everyone guessing.
