Amazon.com: Silent Hill: Homecoming: Playstation 3: Video Games

43 Reviews

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

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3.7 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)

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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They say you can never really go back home, October 14, 2008

By	Terry Mesnard (Bellevue, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

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.

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. 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. Definitely recommend giving it a chance.

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28 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good....., October 1, 2008

By	Jason Bean (Iowa City, IA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

I have to admit, I was a little wary of this game after hearing alot of not so positive reviews. I will say that most of the criticism this game has received is pretty on the money. The atmosphere is creepy, but not very scary. The controls are a little uneven in alot of points (you have to be standing just right to open doors and examine objects). And the stroy is very straight forward compared to Silent HIll's 1&2 (they're the only one's I've played lol).
Now that that stuff is out of the way, let me tell you why this game is actually worth owning (or at least maybe a weekend rental). The soundtrack is excellent. Alot of reviews. even the one's disfavoring the game are pointing out Akira Yamaoka's musical selection and it's some of the most eerie and rousing I've heard in a video game. It almost seems intune to what you have your character doing. The sound effects are perfectly tuned as well, from footsteps, to creaky metal sounds.
The story in this game comes across as a bit typical at first (the nightmare intro is VERY slow), you're a war veteran coming home to find your hometown empty of people and your brother and father missing. What I didn't expect was to be swept into the story and I actually wanting to keep playing to find out what happened next.
Another big criticism of this game was the fact you are playing a combat heavy character making alot of enemy encounters no where near as scary as they were in the previous titles. This is true. However I personally find this approach a bit refreshing. It took some getting used to, but once I tried out all the combos I actually had fun in fights. Again, not everyone's cup of tea but it's different.
The graphics aside from some clipping errors (and the sandy cam filter and lame water animation) are VERY good. You can actually look off in the distance and pick out locations in the game you've been to or are going to. The cemetary's, playgrounds and other outdoor locations really bring you into the world. It's no GTAIV, but you can pratically BREATH the fog and stale air.
Anyway, I hope this helps you decide on this purchase of the game. It's not perfect, but it's fun and unique enough that it kept me glued to the TV.

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18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely not worth playing, October 19, 2008

By	Ragingbear - See all my reviews

Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars

As a fan of Silent Hill since the beginning, believe me when I say that this title undoes everything that made the series unique and enjoyable. The strong points of the series have always been atmosphere, design, and sheer compelling mystery. Homecoming fails on all of these points. I think you should know about the game's overwhelming flaws in some concrete detail before you decide whether or not to buy it.

Firstly, the story, unlike those in previous games, is utterly predictable and tedious. It's straight out of the worst horror movies; every spoken line will seem familiar, and you can predict half the scenes and 'twists' before they happen (Yes, the villain coolly explains everything to the hero at the end. Yes, every time you see the main character's kid brother, he'll run away just before you get to him, over and over and over again in nearly every section). The stories in the previous games weren't always perfectly written, but they were never this insultingly clich�. There's no mystery, no creeping fear, no unresolved questions.

The graphics are, in many details, far worse than in every PS2 installment, even when running at 720p. Textures are dull, facial models for some characters are incredibly unnatural, many 'organic' shapes are distinctly low polygon count. Some graphical elements, especially paintings on the walls and the child's drawings you frequently pick up, are so pixellated they wouldn't look out of place in the PS1 original. Water doesn't move as you wade through it. The noise filter even makes the fog look pixellated. Random gory bodies are similarly badly textured, and frequently show up in the exact same pose. Consider these concrete examples, and bear them in mind whenever people say 'the graphics look amazing!' without offering any further explanation.

As for the monsters, they nearly look right for the series, but their behavior is worlds apart. Instead of being willful and mysterious, they're just like the posturing, aggressive beasts you'll find in any other game. That's more a matter of taste, but fighting them is definitely more simplistic than before. When you engage an enemy, you can practically feel the scripting pop into gear; the whole process is nothing but a timing game. Block, button mash, the end. Or, if the monster gets a hit in, enjoy being hit again and again and again as you try to either get back up or get out of the way. It's cheap and nothing but cheap, and not remotely enjoyable. Compounding this fact is that you have only 3 melee weapons that differ in speed and attack pattern, and these qualities stay the same even when you get 'new' weapons (which just replace one of these 3, and play exactly the same).

The puzzles are shockingly simple. The solutions are frequently completely obvious, sometimes even without reading the 'hint' (which is usually posted immediately near the puzzle, and barely obscures the solution if at all). In two cases, object interaction puzzles are actually repeated; one is only slightly different the second time around, but the other one is literally the exact same puzzle with the exact same method of solution! Overall, the puzzles come off like an afterthought, and add nothing to the experience.

The environments are some of the worst designed I've ever seen, let alone in the SH series. All they are is a series of run-down, gray buildings (look at the screenshots on any gaming site to see just how overwhelmingly, monochromatically gray they really are). They're frequently small and always completely linear, allowing for no substantive exploration whatsoever, and occasionally feature completely baffling design choices (one section, clearly meant to be a maze, nevertheless has the dead ends easily in view from every junction). The Otherworld segments are (visually, at least) more engaging, but rare; only a tiny, tiny fraction of game play takes place there. It usually only comes into play in the room where a boss fight takes place. With one or two exceptions, the longer Otherworld segments involve virtually no combat, puzzles, or even fetch quests: they're simply runs to the exit. Even in the last section of the game, you don't see it until you face the boss. The Otherworld has always been the trademark of the series, and arguably its most distinct and compelling aspect. In Homecoming, it's effectively been stripped away.

You don't have the option of reversing the Y axis except when aiming a gun. In my play through at least, there was a glitch that frequently jumbled the controls during a load, requiring me to repeatedly reset them to the defaults.

Everything about this title exhibits an astonishing lack of attention to detail, not to mention a lack of competent design. It's not good by any reasonable standard, let alone as the latest in a well-established and unique series like Silent Hill. It would be a rip-off at $5, and it's not worth your time.