Review - Silent Hill: Homecoming (XBOX 360)

October 16, 11:06 PMTampa Console Game ExaminerStephen Forte

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Box art for Silent Hill: Homecoming
on the XBOX 360.

September 30th, 2008 - Konami unleashes the newest in their ever expanding catalog of Silent Hill games on PS3 and XBOX 360. After the slightly above average performances of both Silent Hill 4: The Room and Silent Hill: Origins, Silent Hill: Homecoming attempts to cement the franchise on current-gen consoles.

The story - one of the critical elements to Silent Hill's success - revolves around Alex Shepherd's return to Shepherd's Glen, a town bordering the titular Silent Hill. He returns to find that the town is all but deserted and what little life remains is monstrous. Worse still, his little brother, Josh, has gone missing. Without giving too much away, eventually Alex's pursuit of Josh leads him to Silent Hill. To avoid spoiling anything, permit me to say simply that it is at this point when the course of events leading to the dissolution of Shepherd's Glen begin to make sense. By the end of the game you'll be treated to one of the five different endings. These five distinct endings give the game at least a little more replay value.

Naturally, those who have played Silent Hill games previously will know how the story plays out pretty much from the get-go as there are no shortage of clues. Suffice to say, the premise is nothing if not predictable and something fans of the series have seen about six times by now. That being said, it's still gratifying each and everytime.

In terms of graphical capability, Silent Hill: Homecoming doesn't disappoint. The texture mapping is vivid and, even though the town is perpetually obscured by ash or fog, it's easy to see the amount of work that went into making the area as defined as possible. Also, enemies move fluidly, if not a little erratically to fit the horror motif, and the animation of their movements never stutters unintentionally. And, for better or worse, there are times where the animation looks less realistic in different lighting and instead appears to be cel-shaded. It leads one to believe that, under the fog and various filters, may be a cel-shaded gem that comes across entirely different on account of the environment it opeartes in. Honestly, though, how horrifying can cel-shading be?

Controls are tight as ever and the new menus are both faster and more intuitive than any previous Silent Hill. Menus are laid out in a circular diagram so that you can simply tilt the analog stick to select whichever item you want. Thankfully, the days of scrolling through pages of items are long gone. More importantly, the combat is tight and combos are easier to pull off than ever before. If your timing is right and practice countering, you can kill pretty much every monster in the game without so much as requiring a health drink.

Overall, Silent Hill: Homecoming is a welcome addition to the Silent Hill family and is every bit as good as the games which preceded it. However, that's all it is. Homecoming rarely adds anything new and, for that reason, probably won't win over anyone who isn't already a fan. But, if you're a fan of the franchise, you owe it to yourself to play this tasty morsel of a game.