Silent Hill: Homecoming

Developer: Double Helix
Publisher: Konami
Released (UK): Feb '09
Released (US): Sep '08

May contain spoilers.Homecoming is the latest Silent Hill game and it finally hit the UK shores in February '09 after hitting the states in September '08.

The game had been in production (which started in 2004) for quite a while before being released with trailers and screenshots show up here and there. The release date was due to be in September for the US and the UK but Konami doesn't like the UK it seems as we always have to wait longer for the Silent Hill games (the only exception being Silent Hill 3 which we got first).
It all started when Germany refused to classify it due to a scene in the game where a character is shot. It is unknown whether this was the reason for the European delay or whether it was own to translation issue - Konami never confirmed. The UK could have been given the completed US version but we also had to wait seeing we are part of the "European Market".
The game was also made to go through a big change for the Australian market before being classified.


In Homecoming we play as Alex Shepherd (above), a Soldier injured in combat who has come home to the town of Shepherds Glen. On arrival her finds the town completely deserted with only a few residents still living there. His brother Joshua (also above) has gone missing, his father Adam has gone to find him an his Mother Lillian is all alone in a catatonic state.
Alex also finds that Elle Holloway (below, left), his friend from childhood and her Mother Judge Holloway are still here. Elle who you can has been modelled off of Scarlett Johansson, is trying to find out what has happened to the town by sticking up wanted posters for the numerous people that have gone missing.
She is also in close communication with Deputy Wheeler who is also trying to find out what has been happening. With Elle's and Wheelers help, Alex sets off to find out what has happened to Shepherds Glen and his Brother.
During his rounds Alex meets three other characters. Mayor Bartlett who can be seen digging graves in the cemetery, Dr. Fitch who has gone crazy since the death of his daughter and Curtis Ackers, the junkyard owner who we meet near the games beginning and then again at the end.
Travis Grady from Silent Hill Origins and Pyramid Head (or Bogeyman) from Silent Hill 2 both give cameo appearances in the game.

The game isn't only just set in Shepherds glen however, it is called Silent Hill after all. Alex has several dream sequences that take place in Silent Hill involving the Hospital and the Hotel located in the town.
Halfway through the game Alex, Wheeler and Elle decide to go to Silent Hill for real after Lillian is kidnapped by strange men in Miner's clothes. However, Wheeler and Elle are both kidnapped by the same guys that took Lillian leaving Alex alone, again.

I've already mentioned the Hotel and the Hospital but other areas to investigate are the Penitentiary, Church, a place called Hell's Descent, the Sewers, Shepherds Glen Police Station, Shepherd's House, the Town Hall and the Cemetery (there's two in this game - one is in Shepherds Glen and one in Silent Hill).
Some areas are more interesting than the others whilst some consist mostly of battles. The Police Station for example is taken over by several Monsters that are too much to take on so you mostly have to run to get out as soon as you can. The Sewers are also full of Monsters you have to defeat with not much else to pay attention to.
The level where you're at Alex's house within the "Other World" is a very interesting one because it consists of four puzzles you need to solve in order to unlock the door to get out of there. I got pretty creeped out in this particular part of the game because Alex is not alone here, not one but a total of five Schisms are in the house with him.

The Monsters in Silent Hill Homecoming are some of the best in the whole series with a few star Monsters definitely worth noting.
Siam is a very good looking Monster which is primarily a large Man with giant clubs for arms. However, he also has the body of a female on his back who just lies helplessly with it's masculine side kicks ass. Whilst the game was in development it was Siam that interested me the most but you hardly come across him in the game and only shows up during crucial points in the game. E.g. When you have to save Elle from one and when one bashes down the Penitentiary gate.
You have the Needlers, who attack with their blade-like legs. Lurkers, who crawl along the ground laying into you with their hook-like claws. Smogs who spray toxic gasses and what's a Silent Hill game without a Dog or a Nurse Monster?

It was Schism (above, right) who was the star of the game for me though. They are very quick and can catch up with you quite easily. You will only come across them in enclosed spaces too which means you can't sneak past them. I mentioned earlier that one of the levels has five of them all under one roof which is unpleasant for those scared of this particular Monster who can be deadly in small spaces because they use their scissor-like heads which can cut Alex in half.
I once watched one for a while whilst it couldn't see me, I was on the steps in Shepherd's house and I really didn't want to deal with it and I did stop to compose myself before killing it. I hadn't felt this way since the Doublehead in Silent Hill 4, the first Silent Hill I played.

The game also had a variety of very difficult bosses to overcome, Sepulcher, Scarlett, Asphyxia (my favourite boss) and the final boss Amnion. They were all very difficult to beat even on Normal setting because it wasn't just a case of hitting them, you needed a different strategy for each one. It takes several attempts until Alex finally manages to bring them down, it did for me anyway.

Silent Hill Homecoming has had mixed reactions from fans and critics. Critics have been quite fussy with this and general reviews have not been favourable. Metacritic.com gives an average score from the various critics in the biz which is 72/100. The average score from gamers however is 8.5/10 so Double Helix have done enough to please Silent Hill fans.

The game definitely isn't flawless:

• Music: Akira Yamaoka only composed 70 minutes of music for the game which isn't a lot saying that game play is about 5 hours long.


• Puzzles: There were never any options to reset the puzzles when you really needed it. One puzzle in the attic was one which got harder to solve the more you moved the sliding tiles. I had to leave the house then leave the garden then re-enter before the puzzle reset.


• Action Level: Silent Hill fans like to explore the various locations to find clues in the story, any freaky going ons designed for scares or to find as many health items as possible. In most cases, the Police station for example where you were being chased by 7 monsters.


• Inverted Aim: There wasn't an option to use Inverted Aim. This wasn't a problem for me but many have expressed disappointment in this.

I played the PS3 version of Silent Hill Homecoming which had some additional problems:

• Sixaxis: When an item was found you could use the sixaxis controller to turn the item round to look it over which was unnecessary. Puzzle pieces could also be moved using sixaxis but it was very sensitive meaning that you hardly had to move the controller to do it.


• Trophy's: Even though the 360 version of the game did have un-lockable achievements for it's gamers the developers failed to have Trophy's for its PS3 gamer which is unfortunate.

The game had a lot of good points though:

• Alex Shepherd: I really liked Alex as a Protagonist. I think they did a good job of making the player sympathise with him because I definitely did. I think Alex is my favourite off all Protagonists - easy on the eye too.


• Monsters: I've mentioned these already but the Monsters were a really good point. They look amazing and provide you with a challenge, especially Siam who is very strong and the bosses were the hardest of all Silent Hill bosses.


• Locations: The locations in Homecoming were very good graphically. Hells Descent was uneventful and you couldn't explore the Police station but the towns of Shepherds Glen and Silent Hill were designed well and the fog from Silent Hill 2 had returned which I liked. The Penitentiary was a nice place because you could explore it without getting ambushed.

In Silent Hill games you will sometimes come across some references to previous Silent Hill games and you did in Homecoming too, though not as much as you would do in previous games:

Silent Hill 1:

• Wheeler mentions a female police officer who went missing in Silent Hill. Cybil Bennett from SH1?


• Finding a Serum will get you the "Dr Kaufmann's Handiwork" achievement.

Silent Hill 2:

• Some of the achievements in the 360 version reference Silent Hill 2 characters. Killing a Feral will get you "Eddie's Legacy", "Angela's Choice" is given to you if you don't forgive your father and killing a Siam will get you "Shades of James".

Silent Hill 3:

• Josh owns a doll of Robbie the Rabbit who was first seen in Silent Hill 3


• Douglas Cartland is mentioned as a detective who had exposed the Cult for what it was.

There were some differences in Homecoming that set it apart from other games of the series. A star rating isn't given at the end of the game which is bugbear of mine. The star rating was a way of showing the player how well they've played.
Memo's that Alex come across are not stored for you to read another time but any clues these memo's give are stored in Alex's journal.
Speaking of which, the journal could have been used better. In Project Zero 2, Mio would write things of interest as she went around the Lost Village. It would have been interesting if Alex did the same.

The game, despite some problems with game play that I've already mentioned was definitely not as bad as the critics have said - not at all. I think it's one of the best. OK, Team Silent (Silent Hill 1,2,3 and 4) did a better job with atmosphere but Homecoming had a good storyline nonetheless. Alex was extremely like-able and the scene when Deputy Wheeler was attacked by Asphyxia had me gripped.
There's no doubt in my mind that this game was highly influenced by Silent Hill 2 but I did prefer Alex to James and the Monsters in Homecoming were much better than those in SH2.
It didn't have as much atmosphere as Silent Hill 3 but it had better story, better Monsters and a more like-able Protagonist.

9/10

Better than Silent Hill 2 for me but it wasn't on par with Silent Hill 4: The Room.


9/10...Too Nice?
Alex Shepherd...One for the Ladies?
Was anyone else disturbed by Schism or just me?