Though I walk on the hill of silence, I shall fear no monsters.
Silent Hill: Homecoming is the sixth title in the Silent Hill franchise, immediately following Silent Hill: Origins' release and occurring somewhere around Silent Hill: The Room in the chronology. Homecoming tells the story of a young soldier, Alex, who returns to his hometown from the war, only to find his once familiar neighborhood transformed by the malign influence of Silent Hill's occult power. As he slowly uncovers the mystery of what is happening in town, Alex is also trying to find his younger brother, who disappeared some time ago.
The plot of Homecoming is typical fare for the Silent Hill genre: A troubled individual becomes trapped in a hellish world where he is forced to grapple with his own inner demons. This, unfortunately, is one of the game's major flaws. Homecoming seems to have awkwardly grifted its plot from Silent Hill 2 (generally considered the best game in the series) and Christophe Gans' film adaptation, Silent Hill while paying lip service to the disconcertingly growing genre of torture porn in films such as Hostel. The supporting cast is servicable but unmemorable and the ending was a bit predictable.
The worst thing I could say for Homecoming was that I was never really scared by it, largely due in fact to the revised combat system. The gameplay seemed to be emulating the progression of the Resident Evil franchise by giving the player more tenacity in combat and switching to an action-based camera control scheme with a much more visible surrounding world. I felt like the sheer amount of control that I had in the game was too much to invoke the frightened barely-contained panic that I love from the horror game genre while, at the same time, when the controls did become a point of contention (such as in the monster grindfest that occurrs when you wake up in the police station), it was more frustrating than scary: I felt like Homecoming was trying to present itself as an action game and a horror game but the revised combat system failed to support either type satisfactorially.
Additionally, the monsters and bosses in Homecoming feel like one-off copies of all the things we've seen before. Instead of pushing the boundaries of the uncanny valley, the enemies in Homecoming look like they were reassembled helter skelter from the basic shapes and parts present in the franchise with little consideration given to the overall visual impact of the creatures. "A lumpy shape here, a pointy shape there, and we're done." The faceless giggling children wielding knives and the brutal lunging gorilla-like monsters in the original Silent Hill are still among the scariest monsters I've ever seen. Indeed, the eeriest visual aspect of the game was the human characters' teeth. Those damn shiny teeth. I think the visual director should dock his pay for letting pass the bizarre dynamic lighting that makes the main character's chompers glow like he just used a glowstick for mouthwash. There were a few genuinely creepy moments, but they were so few and far inbetween that the encapsulating sense of menace that I've grown to love is simply not there.
The puzzles were all a bit muddling--nothing too challenging to speak of--though I thought the bosses captured the "you have to figure out how to take them down before they kill you" vibe that the horror game genre uses so well.
Overall, I felt as though Homecoming was another disappointment in a sinking franchise that desperately needs some innovation and inspiration to keep itself afloat. Looking to the future, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Wii might provide just the breath of fresh air that I'm looking for, but I'm not holding my breath.
The plot of Homecoming is typical fare for the Silent Hill genre: A troubled individual becomes trapped in a hellish world where he is forced to grapple with his own inner demons. This, unfortunately, is one of the game's major flaws. Homecoming seems to have awkwardly grifted its plot from Silent Hill 2 (generally considered the best game in the series) and Christophe Gans' film adaptation, Silent Hill while paying lip service to the disconcertingly growing genre of torture porn in films such as Hostel. The supporting cast is servicable but unmemorable and the ending was a bit predictable.
The worst thing I could say for Homecoming was that I was never really scared by it, largely due in fact to the revised combat system. The gameplay seemed to be emulating the progression of the Resident Evil franchise by giving the player more tenacity in combat and switching to an action-based camera control scheme with a much more visible surrounding world. I felt like the sheer amount of control that I had in the game was too much to invoke the frightened barely-contained panic that I love from the horror game genre while, at the same time, when the controls did become a point of contention (such as in the monster grindfest that occurrs when you wake up in the police station), it was more frustrating than scary: I felt like Homecoming was trying to present itself as an action game and a horror game but the revised combat system failed to support either type satisfactorially.
Additionally, the monsters and bosses in Homecoming feel like one-off copies of all the things we've seen before. Instead of pushing the boundaries of the uncanny valley, the enemies in Homecoming look like they were reassembled helter skelter from the basic shapes and parts present in the franchise with little consideration given to the overall visual impact of the creatures. "A lumpy shape here, a pointy shape there, and we're done." The faceless giggling children wielding knives and the brutal lunging gorilla-like monsters in the original Silent Hill are still among the scariest monsters I've ever seen. Indeed, the eeriest visual aspect of the game was the human characters' teeth. Those damn shiny teeth. I think the visual director should dock his pay for letting pass the bizarre dynamic lighting that makes the main character's chompers glow like he just used a glowstick for mouthwash. There were a few genuinely creepy moments, but they were so few and far inbetween that the encapsulating sense of menace that I've grown to love is simply not there.
The puzzles were all a bit muddling--nothing too challenging to speak of--though I thought the bosses captured the "you have to figure out how to take them down before they kill you" vibe that the horror game genre uses so well.
Overall, I felt as though Homecoming was another disappointment in a sinking franchise that desperately needs some innovation and inspiration to keep itself afloat. Looking to the future, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Wii might provide just the breath of fresh air that I'm looking for, but I'm not holding my breath.
