Dissenting Opinion: Silent Hill: Homecoming

A fighting chance in Homecoming.
10/9/2008 1:35 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 2

For a game with "Silent" in the title, there's definitely a lot of noise being generated around Silent Hill: Homecoming. It seems like no one can agree on what to think about this latest entry in Konami's survival horror franchise. Feedback on the game covers the spectrum, ranging from outright dismissal and rejection to praise for being the best and most terrifying Silent Hill game ever. Even here at Crispy Gamer, opinions are heavily divided, with Scott Jones' review earning the game the dreaded "Fry It!" rating, while others, myself included, just can't get enough of the psychologically scarring experience.

It's true that some of the Silent Hill sequels have been stronger than others. So how does Homecoming stack up? Well, based on my own experiences with the game, it may not take the top spot from Silent Hill 2, but it comes in at a pretty close second.

The Silent Hill series has focused more on your "fight or flight" response, as opposed to the usual "blast anything that moves" gameplay of most survival horror games. Combat usually plays second fiddle to advancing the plot in Silent Hill. This time around, though, the developers took a step forward and put a little more focus on the combat system. It's not as well rounded as the combat controls in Resident Evil 4, as Scott points out -- but then again, this isn't Resident Evil ... it's Silent Hill. You don't fight wave after wave of the shambling undead. Instead, you spend a lot of time wondering just when and where something out of your nightmares will jump out at you.

While the combat system in Homecoming isn't perfect, it makes you feel like you've got a fighting chance now. It's not just about learning the timing of the enemies, either. It's also about learning the nuances of the different weapons available to Alex, and knowing what to use against which creatures. Take on a Nurse with a lead pipe, and you'll likely get carved to pieces before you get off a good swing. Try using a knife against a Needler, and you'll get impaled before you can get close enough to cause any damage. There's a lot more strategy involved here than Scott's giving it credit for.

Speaking of Needlers: In his review, Scott takes issue with the "cutesy nicknames" given to the freakishly terrifying creatures in Silent Hill: Homecoming, saying that the names make them "quaint and relatable." But at no point in the actual gameplay are the creatures referenced by these names. Instead, they're used to identify the enemies during the tips that show up during load screens.

If I see a fleshy spider-like thing skittering on the ceiling and taking a swing at me with huge bladed appendages, I really don't care that someone calls it a "Needler." And while the Silent Hill mainstay, Pyramid Head, may have a goofy sounding name, he's still one of the most frightening and imposing figures in gaming to date, and someone I wouldn't want to meet in a dark (or even well-lit) alley.