Event Log: 8/12/14 - P.T.

I woke up early to watch Sony's Gamescom Press Conference. I liked what I saw. It reaffirms Sony's dedication to fresh, unique, and compelling content. I'll probably won't touch half the stuff though, unless it pops up on PS+ somehow. With my already extensive backlog, it's hard for me to look forward when I'm being dragged down by the past. I gotta increase my gameplaying production. On the other hand, I don't want to start up anything new until after my Vegas trip.

The most interesting thing to come out of the conference was an "interactive teaser" available for download that promised to redefine horror. The announcement came with cheesy reactions of random people hamming it up for the camera. Little did we know about the horrors that were about to be unleashed. The teaser turned out to be an obtuse, utterly baffling, and completely terrifying experience through an infinite corridor. The internet quickly jumped on it. Through multiple streams, people watched as players attempted to complete this demo.

As it turns out, the demo was a secret announcement of the next Silent Hill game, and not only that, it's a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, starring none other than Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead fame as the main character. Almost immediately, I thought of Reedus in John Carpenter's episode of "Cigarette Burns" in Masters of Horror, which is probably the closest role he's done to a Silent Hill protagonist. He was serviceable, but I'm not sure how he'll pan out in a full fledged game.

My entire day was basically following everyone's thoughts on this surprise reveal and the implications of those involved. Will it be a return to glory or a spectacular failure in the making? Kojima is one of my favorite game designers of all time and Del Toro's strengths lay in elements that would contribute heavily in a video game, namely set and creature design.

Honestly, I think it's going to be amazing. I've never held the original series in high regard, but I can't say I wasn't engrossed by the mythos. I've pretty much done everything with the originals except play them. I've read about them, I've watched them, but I've never done the thing that matters most. Okay, that's a small lie. I did play Silent Hill 1, but I got stuck in a particularly distressing sequence and didn't have the heart to figure out what I missed. I never played 2, but I did play 3, 4, Origins, and Homecoming.

The most perplexing element of the teaser is the ending. There's no surefire way to trigger it. In today's age, when solutions are disseminated instantly, the complexity of unlocking the ending is refreshing. It shows that mystery can still exist, and in terms of game announcements, doing it in such a roundabout way is vintage Kojima and mad genius.

Since I was exhausted from waking up so early, I went to sleep early. This was around ten. I haven't slept this early in months. It feels good.

/eventlog

Silent Hill Homecoming

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.