Silent Hill Homecoming is the latest console release in the long-standing Silent Hill franchise. The series is known for its psychological horror, protagonists with horrible pasts, foggy towns, and bizarre fleshy monsters. The horror genre is one of the few that works especially well in a video game format since it involves the player directly. Other than going to Knott's Scary Farm or Six Flag's Fright Fest, horror games are about as close as you can get to experiencing hell.With the original "Team Silent" no longer in existence, Homecoming was developed with the help of western development studio Double Helix Games. Their influence is immediately recognizable with the new third-person over-the-shoulder camera. The stilted fixed camera angles of the past are gone and in its place is a more user-friendly one. In addition, the main character, Alex, has some nifty moves in his arsenal. Unlike past SH protagonists, Alex can dodge attacks and roll. He can wield a variety of weapons like a knife (which is the best), an axe, or a sledgehammer.
Over course of the game, you'll encounter obstacles that require the use of a specific weapon to get through. Wood planks go down with an axe chop and chains break with a trusty crowbar. A lot of the meandering has been taken out of the game for a more straightforward experience. The puzzles aren't as obtuse as its predecessors, but they still require a fair amount of brain scratching to solve.
The game has an uneven pace. The beginning is rife with healing items but a stretch in the middle is completely barren and artificially hard because of it. The knife, because of its quickness and speed, is the best weapon and renders others tools pretty much useless.
Silent Hill has always been one of the best-looking games, its nightmarish settings are packed with detail, dried blood, and rust. Homecoming, sadly, does not live up to the series' reputation. Aside from some creepy environments, the graphics are just plain bad. Character models are laughable, facial animation has no animation, and the water looks like concrete. The game runs at a steady framerate, but the animation is janky, awkward, and missing a few frames anyways. The noise filter returns but manages to make the game looks distractingly messy rather than add to the ambiance. Fortunately the sound design is still superb, forcing you to jump at the slightest sounds and the music is still vintage Yamaoka. The voice-acting is serviceable.
If you haven't tired of the Silent Hill formula, Homecoming will satisfy your survival horror needs. It's a shame that its a mediocre entry in an otherwise stellar series. Decent and nothing more.
