So I've dumped several hours into the new Silent Hill game so far.  I'd say I'm about a bit more than half way through the game.  Probably a lot more than half, actually.  I enjoy the new combat, but I'm really not very good at the regular Press-Dodge-At-The-Right-Time-Then-Counter mechanics.  I can't fault the game for my over-indulgence in healing items.  I'm just not good.  Strangely enough, however, I excel at fumbling around with an inexperienced dude waving around a steel pipe like he's trying to break open a pinata.  There's something about the poor combat mechanics in the original Silent Hill games that made them oddly alluring.  It's not to say that the combat in Homecoming isn't welcome.  I think it is, but it's only one of the few things that make this game feel like the little cousin of Silent Hill games.

The scares are out of a slasher rather than the deep, psychological thrills in Silent Hill 2 and 3.  Every now and then something will jump out with an orchestral crash to make sure that you know you're supposed to be playing a "horror" game.  The art is your standard Silent Hill fare.  They seem to have created and reintroduced several enemies in order for the game to feel more Silent Hill-ish.  When we're revisiting "Bogeyman", however, we're delving deep into the realm of fan service.  Sure, Pyramid Head is awesome.  But he's only so much awesome.  Can't we move on and try something scarier than a dude with a two-hundred pound machete and an IKEA coffee table on his head?

So far, I'm enjoying Homecoming, but time will tell once I reach the end.  It seems to have similar themes and locations as your standard Silent Hill, but it doesn't -feel- like Silent Hill.  It may as well be broken into levels and stages.  This is the Silent Hill you can safely air on public broadcasting.  This is the Silent Hill that you order if you can't handle the "FIRE" sauce at Taco Bell.  It's good, but the spirit of the franchise may have very well been swept under the western rug.