Game Reviews for Silent Hill: Homecoming (360)
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The first Silent Hill was scary but lately the series seems to have stopped going for scary and going towards weird.· Like · Go to review -
I wanted to enjoy it... I really did! The graphics are eerie, the story is actually good. But the game itself is linear as can be and revolves around the old SH formula; open door, explore probably empty room, move on. All enemies are introduced in a fast but creepy cutscene, then you fight them over and over again. Just didn't do it for me. Play Dead Space instead!· Like · Go to review -
I wrote something witty here, then I accidently clicked off. Durrr.
Anyways. A welcome addition to my Silent Hill collection. A very well done game.
PS: KillerPinkBun: I take it you didn't play The Room? That was about as "modernized" as you could get.· Like · Go to review -
finished this last night and got 2 of the 5 endings so far. ill get the rest later^^
i must say, i was a lil biased going into this game having heard that many didnt like it. its not the worst sh game in my opinion (its above 4 at least XD ), i rather liked it. they tried so hard to bring the game back to its roots and the entire game is what you would get if you mixed sh:movie and sh:2.
graphics are really good for this game. the effects for the otherworld, creatures and world itself is seamless. the animations on alex sheppard's face are pretty good at showing emotion. its a pity this worked fine on sheppard, it wasnt as much on the other characters. some, if not all, of the character models(heads in particular) didnt look up to scratch. graphically this game takes a strong leaf from the movie, things look as good as in the movie. the transition to the otherworld is straight from it and looks amazing in the game. the nurses as well are straight from the movie and look really well done :O
music and sound is still as good as any silent hill. yamaoka is back again for this one as is the singer maria, so the music and sound is nice. dub is really good and i felt no complaints from it apart from the whines of elle. the noises the nurses make are perfect renditions from the movie.
plot and story are.. well, not as good as expected. dont get me wrong, the twists in the story and the whole plot itself are brilliant, but its not that original. its very hard to top silent hill2 and with a game like this where the story and graphics are so similar to sh2, its hard not to feel "well, sh2 did this too but 10 years ago. and did it better." as itself, sh5 has a great plot, great twists (i didnt see them coming!) and again my only comparison is to sh2. heres brief synopsis:
[quote]The player assumes the role of the protagonist, Alex Shepherd, a Special Forces soldier who returns home from an overseas tour of duty to find that his father and younger brother are missing, and that his mother has gone into catatonia. Alex begins to search for his brother, leading him to Silent Hill after searching his hometown of Shepherd's Glen.[/quote]
gameplay is a lil more refined than before. i have no complaints about the camera (for once). the puzzles are decent if somewhat out of place at times. combat in this game is new. it uses a lockon system similar to origins i believe, and adds in more advanced elements like dodging and light/heavy attacks with melee weapons (because hes a soldier, he is a lil more experienced in combat than the earlier protagonists. i know this statement will come under fire tho from anyone else who finished the game, and i would agree). weapons can be upgraded by finding better versions in the game, and the strengths and weaknesses of the monsters becomes apparent later in the game. the nurses are now like from the movies, where if you dont have your flashlight on, they stand still until attacked but otherwise shuffle towards you or your light.
my complaints about this game.. theres a few:
the story feels unoriginal, but that can be accounted for because the doublehelix company were hired to make a game that was similar to the originals rather than try expand the sh universe like 4 did.
the character models arent that great. after seeing the ps2 models in 2-4, these look..worse almost. its a different team working on it, but it wouldve been nice if they got better modellers. in this day and age, modellers and texture people are the main people needed for topnotch graphics.
im extremely annoyed with the character of elle in the game. after sh1+3 where we had strong female characters(cybil in both her versions, alessa/heather, cynthia), im very disappointed with them using elle as another damselindistress character in this game (it was ok with maria in sh2 as she had a reason, eileen was just eyecandy and just thrown in there for 4..). shes a freakin' police officer! having a damselindistress police officer is just wrong, and it hurts my head. how could anyone who is so dependant and whingy get so high on the police? this annoys me alot.
i know its been brought up before, but the nurses werent really needed for this game. they are a treat to see and play again, yes, but not needed in the game due to the basis of what the otherworld is. neither is pyramid head despite how awesome he is in this game (his design is closer to the movie version. he only makes 2-3 short appearances in the game to either scare the dung outta alex or serve as executioner). the monsters are awesome looking, but most dont pay attention to the rules of the otherworld (except the bosses, which are both awesome and fit into the story and otherworld perfectly). i cant elaborate on this without making spoilers.
my fav part of the entire game has to be the leadup to the second boss and the second boss itself. this was a splendor, shining grimecovered section which i welcomed. the music and sounds fit. my second fav is the opening area. the opening of the game really helps the game and makes you feel like youve come home XD
my [u]last note[/u] on this game is its violence. violence is sometimes overused in games and looks nice and funny most of the time. in this game, the violence can get disturbing in its realism and detail. there are scenes where you can watch someone cut themselves up with a scapel and you hear them moan and cry and the blood dripping and visible shudders from the pain. someone gets their throat cut quite out of the blue and it has a shock value to it. you see someone else get their innates ripped apart, or someone cut completely in half and you can see the aftereffects ingame. the one which got to me and made me clutch my chest was a scene in which you see someone being forced underwater and drowned by hand [spoiler]while you are looking through the person drowning through their eyes[/spoiler] (im deliberately keeping these vague to keep spoilers to a minimum). most gamers are used to violence now, most people are. but its..unique to see how few realistic violent acts in this game can still be disturbing.
overall, i give this game a 7/10. my list of fav sh games that ive finished are now sitting at(fav at left):
sh2/sh1 - sh3 - sh5 - sh4· Like · Go to review -
As a huge fan of the series, I was thoroughly disappointed... It's too short, too "modernised" and is more Resident Evil than Silent Hill... It's lost a lot of the psychology...
The story is interesting; but the endings were not that great...
They could have done so much better...· Like · Go to review -
This game is an awesome addition to the Silent Hill family. Especially after the horrible Silent Hill 4: The Crap...er, ahem...I mean The Room. And of course a great soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka. If you're a Silent Hill fan, get this game.· Like · Go to review
Well, as a massive Silent Hill fan, I couldn't hep but be wowed at the atomosphere this game had. Was almost similar to the first, (which may I add, is undoubtedly the best :L) The plotline was great, but the enemies you faced did get a little tedious after a while, especially if you've run out of health packs, and have to rely on your own wits to kill enemies. Which is aided by the nice littel dodging feature. Not at all hard to get used too, just diffucult to master.
Akira Yomoaka has done a brilliant job on the audio yet again, bringing back the memories of the 1st. Sure, this isn't as good as the first, but with 5 different endings, and certain choices to make, it sure as hell does come close. And it's better than the fourth... ;)