Customer Reviews
Made for theaters than for consoles. 
2008-11-26
I am a die hard fan of the silent hill series, i wish they wld come out with the first one again with better graphics, it was such an amazing game. the thing about homecoming is the plot is too straight forward, not the typical silent hill way. and why the hell does the game feel a little like Eli Roths HOSTEL and other movies like SAW. too much of an influence there, stick with the jacobs latter guys. next the combat was a clever addition to the game but it was very frustrating at first, needs to be tweaked for silent hill 6. the graphics were very well done, the fog was good as ever, next they shld re-visit the school from the original silent hill, that was one of my fav. locations and the ghost children were creepy as hell. and it was nice to see pyramid head but it was a shame that he was only a guest appearance, why not fight him or have some more interaction with him, over all for a western company to make the game it was like seeing a B rated horror movie had its moments but in the end keeps you waiting to the next great thing comes, that being Dead Space.
Not the Silent Hill I remember 
2008-11-19
Homecoming is a good horror game, just not a good Silent Hill game. This little jewel does not stand out from the plethora of other horror titles like Resident Evil or The Suffering. In fact, in many places I felt like I was playing The Suffering instead of Silent Hill. It pains me to say, but there will never be another Silent Hill 1 or 2 again. I think the old school Silent Hill fans like me will just have to wait until some genius dreams up another physiological horror title that will be more powerful than the fear the original Silent Hills instilled in us.
Rest assured, though, that this is in no way a bad game. With an American team building upon a Japanese horror concept, this game plays like a toned down version of The Suffering. You have extremely violent creatures coming after you in this game, and Alex Shepard, the man you control, to dispose of them acts just as violently. A simple combo system of three fast attacks and one slow strong attack is what you will be doing throughout the whole game. In addition to this easy system, you must dodge the attacks of your enemies, especially if they are bigger than you, until you are able to attack them from the side or from behind. I always thought that if the other Silent Hills were lacking something in their combat, it was this. I'm actually glad of it.
Other than that, there is really nothing new about this game. Shepard's Glen, a town neighboring Silent Hill, is being swallowed up by fog and the streets are infested with creatures as the evil of Silent Hill spreads. An idea borrowed from Silent Hill 3 and The Room. Alex Shepard returns home to visit his family in Shepard's Glen to find only his mother in a catatonic state and his father and brother missing. The story that unravels as he searches for them in both Shepard's Glen and Silent Hill is rather disturbing. The other characters you meet, especially the four founders of Shepard's Glen, are completely insane, having all broken a sacred vow with certain demonic deities. Their actions and behavior remain completely inexplicable to the player probably up until you play through the game a second time and have a better idea of what's going on. This is good, since I don't like answers being spelled out for you. It's a good story, but it is not as emotional as in other Silent Hill games. You want to know what's going on, but you are not as intimately involved with the character as players were with James Sunderland or Harry.
Atmosphere is important in a Silent Hill game and the lack of creativity as you explore this world is disappointing. Much like Origins, the world of Silent Hill just seems so bland. What I mean is that whenever you walked into a building in the first games, you saw many personal belongings of the people who once inhabited the town. Each apartment left behind the personality of the person who had lived there, the bar you had to walk through still had an unfinished game of cards on the table or empty beer bottles lying around. In this game, it's like the people just packed their things and left instead of mysteriously vanishing and what we explore is empty rooms. Boring, right? Even the prison cells of Silent Hill 2 had articles of its previous inhabitants lying around. Learning a little something about the lives of all these missing people in a town now overrun by monstrosities did not just have a haunting effect, but it brought the town to life and gave it a personality.
I don't remember so many big open areas to explore in Silent Hill. Call me claustrophobic, but narrow alleyways and hallways creates a real sense of helplessness, having little space to run or move when you know something will be coming out of the darkness soon.
And the flashlight in this game is so weak it's almost not worth having. I like to turn down the brightness of a horror game. So it's nice to have a flashlight that illuminates things nicely, whether it be a bed, a wall, the floor in front of you or that creature standing in the corner. That was a huge highlight in the first few games.
Still, Homecoming delivers a worthy experience for anybody who is into the horror genre, especially at the beginning of the game that somebody at Team Silent did a good job with.
I loved the music.
And the alternate realities that Alex transverses through can be mind bending.
Best Silent Hill since Silent Hill 2 2008-11-18
This game really redeemed the Silent Hill series after the disappointment that was Silent HIll 4: The Room. Check it out!
Do not buy if you use inverted controls. 
2008-11-01
This game is totally unplayable for me, because it does not support inverted camera controls. I tried to like it, and I played for a few hours, but I became so frustrated by always looking at the ground, that I had to stop playing. And Konami refuses to patch the game! I want my money back.
Not for the impatient gamer 2008-10-30
I love the Silent Hill games, always have and probably always will. I have enjoyed the creepy atmosphere in this current game, and am interested in finding out what ending I will get. I like how you can change the game by responding to conversations in different ways.
My complaint is that they have made the game a little too hard for the casual, impatient gamer. I hate that you can no longer save up ammo for the hard creatures - you are limited to a certain amount per gun. Yes, that makes it more realistic, but it makes it very hard as well. Without the extra ammo I find myself running out and dying far more often, which frustrates me and makes me want to stop playing. I was so frustrated the last time I played I haven't played again for almost 2 weeks, when I used to get so into the game I played every day until I finished it.
Overall, I would recommend the game, but would warn the buyer that they will need a lot of patience as they play.
The triumphant return to Silent Hill 
2008-10-17
Follow the story of Alex Shepherd, who is returning to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his brother. From Shepherd's Glen to the foggy streets of Silent Hill, Alex must face the darkest of horrors in order to find his brother. Struggling with his own grip on reality, Alex must unravel the mystery behind his nightmares, discover the truth behind his brother's and father's disappearances, and confront the evil that has taken hold of his own flesh and blood.
Walking through a Nightmare with Purpose 2008-10-16
Something is happening to your little brother and, for the life of you, you cannot figure out what. Perhaps it has something to do with you, perhaps not. you simply can't remember. What you can recall is that Shepard's Glenn has always been a place of tranquility for you, a place of rest, a place that earned the word "home. Residing quaintly on the borders of Silent Hill, it has been a place where you've seen your mother and your father go through their lives with a smile, and it has been a place where you have always felt at peace.
Until now.
Now something is wrong in Shepard's Glenn and you, wheeled in on a stretcher in your army regalia, wonder what it could be. You've seen your brother - behind bars and drawing pictures - and you've seen shadows of other things. And, of course, you have to know "why."
Before I begin, I have to say that I am somewhat bias when it comes to the series. Excluding "The Room" because of its nefarious past, I have enjoyed the development of this place beyond places. I also have to say that the critics are, well, critics and it is easier to yell about problems than to see the overall beauty of something like this. Besides, having a next generation console power my trip into the horrific is, well, wonderful. I have been waiting for it for what seems like forever.
As far as homecoming goes, I liked so many portions of Silent Hill V. As the monsters grow bigger the game takes on a new life, becoming a entry like what we saw from Silent Hill 2. Aiming is also better, switching weapons is a breeze with the assignment of the D-pad, and the map is easily utilized. Some of the weapons are sexy as well: you have firepower in some parts (albeit less than in most of your previous games), crowbars, pipes, knives, and so on. You also have the ability to land combo hits that allow you to bring more pain to your enemy, and you have a set of dodge commands that allow you to use your weapon or not. You also run on your own - no more compressing a button just to get faster movement. This is not to say that you have a lot of frilly stuff to play with. Silent Hill is Silent Hill - you get just enough to keep you progressing and that is good.
That added, There is also a downside in the start-up of the game - namely thast it was slow. I played it on Normal at first and then went to hard, thinking perhaps the level would make a difference and it didn't. It simply brings what it brings: it makes you run through a lot of areas that do not compete with what the back 3/4ths of the game brings, not really easing you into the melee but instead suddenly "bringing it on." Health becomes a factor in the onset of the game as well: I had a big boss and a little health at one point, getting me a tad on the blah side of the game. Still, the game quickly makes up for that, bringing on a montage of horrors to tell a story with 6 lovely little endings. Along the way you meet up with a lot of older enemies, some newer fiends, and bosses that are - Silent Hill is the best title I can come up with for the things I found myself fighting. The landmarks are noticeable, too, which is good because another downside - fetching - sometimes comes into play as well as running down long hallways while music grates on your already tense nerves just to set the mood for a little too long. Surprisingly, this helped make the game better, and I needed better from a series I love and have loved for years.
If you don't know Silent hill, the game is intense in some places, scary in others, and short when you sit down and relive it. The landmarks are horrific, getting it banned here and there for the graphic take it has, but that is the pleasure of owning a portal to something like Hell. Fans - buy it and hit it running. Curious people - rent it and see how much you like it, then buy it and hit the ground running. Regardless, it has enough stuff to keep you coming back for more.
Recommended highly.
They say you can never really go back home again... 2008-10-14
Silent Hill 2 is on my short list of favorite games, as it is, I'm sure, on most Silent Hill fans' lists. It, and the first game, are shining examples of why this series is spectacular. Unfortunately, they are the only two games that I feel are great in the series. The third one felt more like a coda to the first (and was way too short), while the foruth one had more than a few design flaws that made me lose interest.
So, now the torch has been passed to Double Helix, an American developer, and the result is Silent Hill: Homecoming. Even with its flaws (and boy does it have some), Homecoming has become my second/third favorite game of the series and bodes very well for Silent Hill's future.
The story begins with you, as Alex Shepherd, tied to a gurney and being pushed down dilapidated halls of some hellish hospital. Looking to your right and left, you see even more disturbing sights as doctors drill into a patient or drop a body down a large and presumably deep hole. Eventually, you're led into an observation room and left alone. The doctor that left you is murdered, you break free of your bonds and have to make sense of where you're at.
Right away, the game had its hooks in me. This first level terrifically set up the rest of the game, but also presented some genuine frights and more than a few disturbing sections. From here, you'll go back home and try to figure out why Shepherd's Glen is cloaked in fog, where your brother left, why your mother seems catatonic and what exactly lurks in your flooded basement...
From a story perspective, Homecoming feels like a mix of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 (with a splash of Saw thrown in the mix), which is definitely a good combination. Unfortunately, the story is also the most straight forward of the series (it's a Western game now) and while they try to mimic the essence of Silent Hill, they lose the ambiguous feel that tasks you with putting everything together. By the end of the game, you pretty much know all there is to know. Some might like that, but it was a sore spot for me.
The combat system, which was supposed to push Silent Hill into this new realm, isn't very good. In fact, I found myself trying to avoid enemies more in Homecoming than in any of the previous titles. On paper, it sounds good: light attack, strong attack and dodge. But the problem is that you absolutely have to dodge attacks or even the lowly dogs will eat your face. The problem is further amplified by the small, claustrophic areas you are in. A lot of battles take place in very tight corners, making dodging very difficult. And even when you successfully dodge in the small rooms, eventually you'll run into a corner, the camera will go wacky and you won't be able to see what you're fighting or, more importantly, see when to dodge.
Then, when you're in the big rooms, Double Helix is kind enough to throw two or three (or five) enemies at you at once. Dodging one is a pain in the butt as it is, but trying to juggle three enemies is...well, it's hell. Add to this some enemies with their gaseous breath that I could never seem to dodge and halfway through the game I never wanted to see another monster again. And don't get me started on the boss fights...
So, why the four star review? Because of what happens halfway through the game. At the halfway point, the game ratchets up the tension, brings the story into new light and really made me want to play more. In fact, I played the last half of the game in one sitting because I had to see how it was going to end. The last half really makes up for any of the deficiencies in the game. And the story, while not as great as it could have been, was still incredibly engrossing and moving. It made me want to continue, even after the fifth time of dying from a cheap shot.
Graphically, Homecoming is obviously the best in the series. The new sheen of gloss mostly works, though some of the monsters with the more colorful highlights (the gaseous monsters, for instance, with their red chests) look fake and break the color scheme. Taking a page from the movie, the transitions to the other world are real time, with the paint flaking off and floating into nothingness. It's cool but it's not as terrifying as waking up or just finding yourself in the other world.
And, of course, the music is phenominal. Akira Yamaoka, series music/sound effects creator and producer, returns to craft a haunting score that mixes industrial with noises, rock and some heart-pumping effects. Very awesome, some of the best of his music in my opinion.
In the end, Silent Hill: Homecoming is a great addition to the series that retains some of the best of what the series has to offer, while simultaneously trying new things. Some things work, some don't. But it is a step forward, in the right direction. It feels like the most cohesive Silent Hill story since the second game and tries to branch into new territories. Having a new developer really helped the series avoid becoming stagnant. And even with some faulting moments, it really is an involving and engrossing trip into hell. And I can't wait to see what they do next.
Definitely recommend giving it a chance.
A must-buy for SH fans. 2008-10-14
Don't listen to all the GARBAGE "official" reviews floating around the net. I've read them all. They are all n00b reviewers. Nuff said.
This game is AWESOME! It's the best SH game yet. Period. If you are a fan of SH or the genre, you simply cannot miss this game. It destroys all the past SH games in every way possible. It's a survival horror masterpiece.
DON'T THINK TWICE. BUY IT NOW! YOU WON'T REGRET IT (unless you are a n00b with bad tastes in games like most of the official reviewers tend to be).
A definitive milestone in the SH Series 2008-10-13
Honestly this is a fantastic next-gen Silent Hill. The new development team was able to maintain the freshness of the dark and twisted environment. What I really enjoy about this game is that it has done the best job to date in creating a truly immersing experience.
The camera under user control, ability to look through Alex' eyes, and over-the-shoulder shooting POV remind me of the fluidity of resident evil 4. As well, FINALLY, combat is enjoyable in this game. Formerly my biggest complaint about the series and I would avoid combat like the plague. It isn't over the top devil may cry moves, so don't expect that. It is a very basic engine that allows you to actually DODGE and pull off combos. Additionally you can pull off mini man-hunt style enemy finishing moves. The different weapons are useful for different monsters and have different finishing moves.
The boss fights are manageable and again, the re-vamped combat system makes the challenge fun. If you're concerned about thrill factor, SH:H has nods towards all of our favorite SH moments (even some visual effects appear inspired by the movie) along with an outstanding soundtrack, both ambient and musically. Prior to SH:H, SH 2 and 3 were my favorites in the series for different reasons. This game seems like a brand new beast. I feel like it has the darkness and despair you could feel in SH 2 combined with the dynamic and more interactive environment in SH3.
Additionally, you can still feel the strong influence from such horror movies as Session 9 and Jacob's ladder. These have been cited in the past as being strong influences upon the original horror elements of the game (esp. SH3). I recommend watching these movies as a great supplement for any die-hard SH fan.
I do enjoy a good puzzle here and there, however my one complaint would be the ho-hum "find the key", "slide the pictures", or "did you see that atom on the wall? search that!" puzzles. These are nice to break up the monster mashing and scaryness, but I feel that the approach is dated.
Overall, if you enjoyed SH 1-3 (I didn't really enjoy 4 that much, sorry) this game is a fine piece of work by an American team and preserves well the original vision of team Silent.
