Silent Hill Homecoming

[Jonny The Kay]

Ok people what the hell?

I'm a die hard silent hill fan and I personally think that SHH didn't receive the credit it deserved.

Typical Argument one: Most People didn't like Alex (the main character) having combat training thus creating the combat system. Also Alex is a better shot with his gun(s) because of the aiming system. Considering this is from a series known for it's survival horror aspects this is disgraceful.

My response: Almost every enemy you encounter is very strong. Most even take away 25%-40% of you health per attack. It's also reasonably hard to dodge your first run through (by the second run you're probably a little better a predicting attacks). As for the firearms you can only carry 3 clips with the pistol and the bullet count is roughly the same with every other gun. Just about every enemy takes a full clip from the pistol and the bigger enemies take about a clip from the shotgun. These are without shooting weak points of course but these aren't easy to find and shoot CONSIDERING EVERY ENEMY CHARGES YOU THE SECOND IT SEES YOU. In silent hill 2 for example: once I got the pistol I never had to use anything but a firearm for combat because of the amount of ammo I would end up picking up. In SHH on the other hand, I constantly ran out of ammo and had to use the melee weapons and lose health every fight. By the way there aren't that many health items. That makes almost every fight dangerous and intense.

Typical Argument two:This installment doesn't add anything to the silent hill storyline.

My response: Ok you got me there, but this isn't anything to condemn the game for. It could be worse it could be silent hill origins. But with that being said it's like silent hill X years later I don't know what you people expected.

Typical Argument three: It has an effective combat system it's a action game.

My response: NO NO NO NO NO read what I wrote about 2 paragraphs ago and that will secure my point.

With all my arguments in tact the game still is not without its flaws. The game sometimes glitches in ways I need to reload a save. It's infrequent and to be honest gears of war glitches more but it's worth mentioning. This game also probably isn't good for anyone who isn't already a fan of the series. Last but not least the endings are terrible. For one they're super short and don't provide any kind of solid conclusion. For two when the junctures come up that effect the ending they're extremely apparent.

Even with those complaints I give it a solid recommendation.

 

[LisaB1138]

I admit I haven't played SHH yet. My concern about the added combat has always been that it will reduce the amount of fear I feel. Combat skills give one the feeling of "control" over the situation. Limiting ammo and health and forcing combat only leads to artificial difficulty. When I consider how I felt running through the fog in SH2, hearing that crackle of the radio and running past it on my way to the prison, to hear that I have to fight all the time a la GoW makes me think SH5 decided to go the way of RE4.

I plan on renting the game when I can. I buy as few games as possible these days, as most are not worth the $60 price tag.

 

[not a zaar]

Although Silent Hill didn't need a sequel, Silent Hill 2 was an excellent reimagining of the first game with a new storyline. After SH2 the series just went downhill and officially died when the movie came out.

 

[Gelp]

Dude, I've been a diehard Silent Hill fan too, since I first played silent hill 2 when it was new back in my youngin days.
Having delved so deep into every little detail and secret, I have grown to love and appreciate the little details they hide and the complex story it beholds.

I knew as soon as I saw the movie that my beloved game series would be forever raped and crippled on account of the giant American penis that had given it such a sore ass.
Especially since in the movie they had to give it some horribly gay moral to the story.
Gay talk aside.

I found it particularly MESSED UP that the FIFTH game was a horrible rip off of the MOVIE which was a horrible rip off of the FIRST game!

I honestly had to put the controller down after I saw pyramid head though, that was just all I could take. It didn't feel anything like silent hill, the monsters just pissed me off, all the puzzles didn't make ANY sense and were ultimately laughable.
None of the notes I found in the hospital had any defining personality to them, they all sounded like they were written by the same person, insane or otherwise.

And I especially hated the new controls! I rather liked the camera angles and everything in the other games, I especially liked being able to flip my view around with the hit of a button as opposed to taking an unrealistic amount of time to slowly mosey around like he's in no hurry.
I don't even believe the game was targeting it's original fan base, it looked like they were trying to milk it by making it playable to all the halo fanatics and fast paced thrill seekers . The only fanly thing they put in were achievements making references to other games.

Ultimately it isn't something I can indulge in and have fun with.
It's just like every other game where your ultimate goal is just to 'win'.

Anyway, I'm spent.. Been holding all that in for months.

 

[squid5580]

I liked it. Alex's ability to fight didn't bother me at all and I actually liked it. Although him being such a douchebag did bug me. I like my MC's likeable and he wasn't. It was hard to beat the game cuz I was always hoping a monster would rape him.

 

[DethFan666]

It was a decent game.

 

[Jonny The Kay]

I'm saying as a stand alone game it's beyond a decent game. I thought as zero punctuation said: if they would have just the silent hill name then it would gotten a little better reception. I think everybody is comparing it the silent hill series which is borderline a perfect set of games, that definitely brings the game's ratings down. Just think of it not as a silent hill game, but as a stand alone game and then judge it.