Video Game Review: Silent Hill – Homecoming
Posted on 14. Nov, 2008 by Demonalecks in Game Reviews
As we all know, the newest edition of Silent Hill has hit stores and the worry everyone has in their heads “Will it live up to Team Silent?” is on full steam! I will be getting into the nitty-gritty of what I liked about the game, what I didn’t like, and a view on the game in a whole after the jump.
Silent Hill has been one of my favorite Survival Horror games to exist since the flood of 72’. I’ve been following it since the first, until now, every single Silent Hill created, and the special editions, read the comics, you get the idea!! So now, does the latest iteration hold up to what was left behind by Team Silent?
Right from the start of the game, I already can tell this is a silent hill game. The ambience, music, and scenery so far have been done right in these fields. Walking through Shepherd’s Glen, surrounded by the endless fog, already sets the mood and I’m ready to get silent!
The Good the Bad the Ugly triangle
Plot
The game mostly takes place in Shepherd’s Glen, an adjacent town to Silent Hill in which it seems that the Evil in Silent Hill is starting to spill over, You take the role of Alex Shepherd, a war vet who was injured in battle and discharged from service. He goes home to find his younger brother and make amends with his family, only to find out that in fact his brother is missing. This sets a motion forward for the story as Alex Shepherd must now go in search for his brother while finding out what is happening to the town. While it seemed that the plot was very much trying to be silent hill 2, as things are not as they seem, A mystery in which I’ll not touch for those who have not played the game to solve, I still enjoyed it to the very end.
Game Play
I really liked the new roaming/combat system. It really adds for smooth game play, finally being able to strafe left and right made exploring a less of a chore and more of a fun! Where this operation falls short though is in actual combat, Most of the time I was on the receiving end of a nasty monster combo 
because my dodge did not dodge to the right direction of the attack, when in fact I was trying to dodge away from the monster completely. Another small gripe with the combat is that it definitely took the fear out of encountering the monsters, as when the combat did work, you know you’d win without a scratch most of the time. Other than that, exploring, solving clues and finding items were, in my opinion a breeze and has now paved the way for how the next Iteration of Silent Hill should play, and or any other Survival Horror.
Design
From start to finish, the design of the game has set the lights on dark, and the fog only adding more to feeling of being lost un-aware of your surroundings. The sound and ambience, the fade in mellow music, to the chaotic ambience, clean and unique, standing out as you walk through the darkness, particularly when you’re in silence, and hear the distant groan of a creature, then radio static!
The monsters definitely have a unique look, and very Silent Hill 2 style, in which they seem to represent more of a fear than a monster, what would scare one certain character has now come alive to give you the haunting you’ve had coming. Though they designed them well, they designed their combat to be OP; The monster Smog in particular seems un-beatable without a handgun, conserving ammo with this monster will cost you…dearly… 
!!
The characters you encounter were designed very well, minus the design on their character models, for some reason it seems the best looking character was the main character: Alex Shepherd. You encounter unique people who seem to be suffering from a case of the insanities, minus a few friends and the greatest ally (Wheeler!). The characters seem to know what’s going on but they don’t let on much more than their business, which adds a little more element to the mystery as you go on.
Pyramid Head makes an appearance, all I have to say.
It seems so far that from Origins, and now Homecoming, Foundation 9, Double Helix has a good idea of what they’re doing and hopefully we’ll see more from them. If I were to rate it on a scale from 1-10, I’ll say this game lands on a solid 4.
One definite thing I could ask for, if I had it my way, is they shoulda added mo’ Wheeler! He was the Roger Murtaugh to my Alex Shepherd. Although all has been written, I would still like to know what you, the reader, think. So what say you? Any critiques? Let me have it!
by: Alex Batista
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