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Review: Silent Hill: Homecoming

Okay, let’s get one thing down pat before we get to the nitty-gritty: Silent Hill: Homecoming is not developed by the famed Team Silent, responsible for the first four titles of the terrifying Silent Hill series. Rather, Konami has outsourced the town’s latest venture to California based developer Double Helix Games and that’s where things start to go wrong — and not in the way that a Silent Hill title needs.

Silent Hill: Homecoming is the story of Alex Shepherd, a recently discharged military soldier who has returned home to the town of Shepherds Glen. Upon returning Alex finds the town in a dilapidated state, his brother and father missing, and his mother in a catatonic state.  Your goal? Go in search of your lost brother and mingle with the local community along the way.

Homecoming’s main issue is that it’s such a major departure from the series’ highly regarded roots. No more is Silent Hill about simply surviving a disturbingly psychological personal hell. Nor is it a barren town devoid of life. In fact in its latest iteration Silent Hill: Homecoming borders upon an action game where you charge in head first to face the monsters (or people), of which there are plenty, that wander the streets and buildings of Shepherds Glen and Silent Hill. It’s because of this that the normally attributed horror aspect of the game is now virtually non-existent; you know there’s always something coming.

Puzzles return, but are far less perplexing than the series’ early iterations, bar one towards the games conclusion. Monster designs are lacklustre, have no relevance to Alex’s emotional state and appear contextually out of place. During one of the games early levels, exploring a Hotel, numerous nurses were a common encounter. It’s the little realisations like this that further break the immersive nature that‘s normally associated with Silent Hill.

As a next generation title, Homecoming plays it safe; it doesn’t try to do anything radically new, nor is it particularly original. Anyone who has seen the Silent Hill movie will immediately notice an obvious correlation between it and the game’s artistic style and story elements, even down to some of the locations you explore.

Graphically, Silent Hill: Homecoming remains in line with the style established since the first title of the series. There are moments that make you sit back and take notice. Most notably the transition to the Otherworld, which takes a direct cue from the movie is visually impressive and fits well into the Silent Hill Universe. Unfortunately, it’s not without its issues. Blurred textures are a common sight especially on the PS3 version and lighting effects are frustrating with the trademark flashlight often struggling to light your path unless you are directly facing a wall.

Controlling Alex is easy and intuitive thanks to the removal of the traditional “hold to run” control method; a more streamlined joystick approach is favoured. In light of Alex’s military background, combat is now a more distinct feature. He can fight monsters with pinpoint accuracy using pistols, shotguns, and rifles — all with precision lock-on aiming. With combat also comes the ability to dodge. The inclusion of such a robust system may be a welcome addition to some players, it does however leave you feeling like you have too much control in a game where you should be dreading every encounter.

Returning sound director Akira Yamaoka redeems some of the title’s shortcomings. His disturbing use of silence is the catalyst for capturing your attention and delivering you through each location. Vocal tracks make a return with vocals veteran Mary Elizabeth McGlynn; dialogue — for the most part — is greatly improved from older titles.

Silent Hill: Homecoming had incredibly large shoes to fill in order to be successful, and unfortunately it’s very clear that Double Helix Games wasn’t quite ready for such an ambitious project. That being said if you’re a Silent Hill fan you’re still most likely going to purchase this. Like the series protagonists we’re unnaturally drawn to this troubled town, but you may want to leave Silent Hill as quickly as possible for all the wrong reasons.


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About the author

Trent Watherston

A Sydneysider with a penchant for gaming and trophy collecting. Known to strum the guitar in both plastic and wooden forms.