Review: Silent Hill:Homecoming

Don't be fooled. Silent Hill:Homecoming is not a Silent Hill game.

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A spot on review, Sam.
Homecoming pretty much followed the behavior of the Silent Hill movie by scaling back on the psychological horror aspects and brought the visceral violence to the forefront (the game's "Saw" inspired final act was lame).
I found the combat to be annoying, the relatively low number of ammo pick-ups made things unnecessarily frustrating (I ended up having to fight the end boss with the axe). Oh, and QTEs don't really belong in an SH title...
Despite my feelings for the title, I will say that Homecoming's environments are fantastic, my favorite being the outside of the church and the hotel.

I'm hoping that Team Silent will come back and deliver a true SH experience for the 360/PS3.

Play it again, Sam!

Edit: My opinions of Silent Hill games are slowly coalescing into something coherent, because I definitely wish to play the good ones (that's right, I haven't).

KillerMidget:
Play it again, Sam!

Edit: My opinions of Silent Hill games are slowly coalescing into something coherent, because I definitely wish to play the good ones (that's right, I haven't).

Oohh! You really should! I believe Silent Hill 1 was made available for PSN not too long ago (that is, if you've got a PS3). :)

SithLibrarian:

KillerMidget:
Play it again, Sam!

Edit: My opinions of Silent Hill games are slowly coalescing into something coherent, because I definitely wish to play the good ones (that's right, I haven't).

Oohh! You really should! I believe Silent Hill 1 was made available for PSN not too long ago (that is, if you've got a PS3). :)

Sorry, 360-goer, and my PS2 was wrecked by my shitty brother. It's a shame, because I still had some awesome games for the PS2 which are exclusive. :(

It should be noted that, unlike prior Silent Hill titles (disregarding the poor PSP title), this one was developed in North America rather than Japan.

Couple that with the simple appearance of Pyramid Head, a character completely and utterly tied in its very foundation to a character not present in this game, and you've heard all that needs to be said.

I didn't think Origins was that bad, but then again I was blind to everything since I was so deeply in love with Yamaoka's soundtrack (best in the series).

SithLibrarian:
I didn't think Origins was that bad, but then again I was blind to everything since I was so deeply in love with Yamaoka's soundtrack (best in the series).

Thanks for the kind words above!

Have you heard all of the Yamaoka soundtracks (SH 1-4)? Every successive release adds more J-Pop to it so that SH4 is laden with it (if you like J-Pop it works, can't stand it m'self). The first one is a noise/industrial wet dream and I still listen to it.

Had to drop coin on the imports though. Yeesh!

The dodge button made this game unplayable... occassionally working, but mostly just rolling you right into the monsters. The only monster I could consistantly dodge was schism...

Samoftherocks:

SithLibrarian:
I didn't think Origins was that bad, but then again I was blind to everything since I was so deeply in love with Yamaoka's soundtrack (best in the series).

Thanks for the kind words above!

Have you heard all of the Yamaoka soundtracks (SH 1-4)? Every successive release adds more J-Pop to it so that SH4 is laden with it (if you like J-Pop it works, can't stand it m'self). The first one is a noise/industrial wet dream and I still listen to it.

Had to drop coin on the imports though. Yeesh!

I have soundtracks for all of the games (include some "Complete" fan made ones) and you're totally right. There are a couple songs sung by Mary Elizabeth that are okay, others not so much. The biggest disgrace, by far, is Silent Hill 3's "Hometown" sung by a David Bowie impersonator.

SithLibrarian:
I have soundtracks for all of the games (include some "Complete" fan made ones (Fungo, right?)) and you're totally right. There are a couple songs sung by Mary Elizabeth that are okay, others not so much. The biggest disgrace, by far, is Silent Hill 3's "Hometown" sung by a David Bowie impersonator.

Whoa, whoa, I like Mr. Romersa! He's got a similar voice to the Bowie, that's true. My favourite soundtrack is the one to Silent Hill 2... it's so haunting and beautiful. It made the difference between a very good game and an amazing game. My favourite song, though, is from Silent Hill 3, and in the cutscene you couldn't even hear it- Sickness Unto Foolish Death. Glorious!

And yeah, Origins has a great soundtrack. That opening song was another one of my favourites. O.R.T., I believe it is called. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn kind of crystalized her voice for that one. Transcendent!

Wow, do I ever sound like a fanboy. Sit, fanboy, sit!

Johnny Xtreme:
The dodge button made this game unplayable... occassionally working, but mostly just rolling you right into the monsters. The only monster I could consistantly dodge was schism...

I agree here. especially when against 2+ opponents. it made it very hard to win the fights for me... targeting the closest one to you... usually that was the one that had finished its charge and had stopped, the other one, the one id dodge INTO would still be charging....

But i still like the overall concept... the levels were rich with atmosphere, and parts made me jump out of my skin, but it wasnt as forboding as the first SH, even though the monsters looked like lego blocks in it xD

Good Review

****

PrototypeC:

Whoa, whoa, I like Mr. Romersa! He's got a similar voice to the Bowie, that's true. My favourite soundtrack is the one to Silent Hill 2... it's so haunting and beautiful. It made the difference between a very good game and an amazing game. My favourite song, though, is from Silent Hill 3, and in the cutscene you couldn't even hear it- Sickness Unto Foolish Death. Glorious!

And yeah, Origins has a great soundtrack. That opening song was another one of my favourites. O.R.T., I believe it is called. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn kind of crystalized her voice for that one. Transcendent!

Wow, do I ever sound like a fanboy. Sit, fanboy, sit!

Yeah, I got the complete albums from Fungo :)
The problem with "Hometown" was that it seemed to be a bit much. Maybe that's Romersa's style and that's fine, but in the end it made it seem like it was an alternate theme to "Thunderball." Just not my style, I suppose :(

I love how Yamaoka has been putting in some Spanish-style guitar bits into some of his tracks. Apart from Origins, he did it for Silent Hill 4 ("The Last Mariachi" I think it's called?)

SH2: Why won't he DIE? ...ooooh, that explains most things!
SHH:Why is he even here?...still waiting for an explanation...

Aptspire:
SH2: Why won't he DIE? ...ooooh, that explains most things!
SHH:Why is he even here?...still waiting for an explanation...

He's the custodian. In the next one, he'll be pushing a mop and bucket...