Silent Hill: Homecoming - Final Impressions
So I beat Silent Hill: Homecoming last night. So after playing through the whole game, how was it?
To quote the Nostalgia Critic: It. Was. Okay!
Not amazing. Not terrible. Just okay. How's the story? It's okay. How's the fight system? It's okay. How's the ambience? It's okay.
So let's take things bit by bit. Likely there'll be some spoilers, but I'll try to keep those few and vague, since if you're not interested in the story then what the heck are you playing for?
So the story. You're a soldier who arrives back in your hometown after being wounded in action. You find the town is beset in traditional Silent Hill fashion - monsters walk the streets, the town seems abandoned, and even the local geography is vanishing. Getting back home, you find your mother nearly comatose, talking vaguely about your father leaving to find your brother. Bit by bit, you uncover clues that more terrible things have happened, than the monster infestation - that the families descended from the town's founders are keeping dark secrets, and that your father is among them.
Honestly, it's an okay story for a Silent Hill game, and they incorporated some of the better elements from the Silent Hill movie. But all in all, I felt like they did too much lifting from Silent Hill 2. The nurses and Pyramid Head were elements personal to James Sunderland's journey in that game, and having them showcased here seems like too much fan service. Chasing after a phantom of a missing loved one is also more than done-to-death.
Really, the story is the most interesting when it's focused on the main character's story, what's happening to his home, learning about his family's past, that sort of thing. It's at its weakest when it's rehashing a story that's already been done.
Next up, combat. In my previous post, I complained about running out of health items and getting stuck later in the game. I loaded an older save, and by the time I finished the game last night I had a massive surplus of health items. I credit this to learning how to face each enemy. Really, after you get used to the attack patterns of each enemy and learn it's weakness, fighting isn't that difficult. Same with the boss fights. Sometimes they take a while, but most of them are beaten by dodging an attack pattern, then counter-attacking aggressively.
As is frequently the case, the game does shine when it comes to music and sound. The Silent Hill games have always done well at using audio to really create an impressive, eerie atmosphere.
As with the story, the setting and imagery are best when they're personal to the main character. I loved walking around his house for the first time, seeing family pictures and learning his thoughts on them. The parts where you're walking around a hotel in Silent Hill for no reason? Unmemorable.
So what do I think of the game? It's okay. Should you buy it? If you're a big Silent Hill fan, you already have. If you're on the fence, I say wait a while until the price goes down, or else borrow it from someone, but don't shell out $60.
To quote the Nostalgia Critic: It. Was. Okay!
Not amazing. Not terrible. Just okay. How's the story? It's okay. How's the fight system? It's okay. How's the ambience? It's okay.
So let's take things bit by bit. Likely there'll be some spoilers, but I'll try to keep those few and vague, since if you're not interested in the story then what the heck are you playing for?
So the story. You're a soldier who arrives back in your hometown after being wounded in action. You find the town is beset in traditional Silent Hill fashion - monsters walk the streets, the town seems abandoned, and even the local geography is vanishing. Getting back home, you find your mother nearly comatose, talking vaguely about your father leaving to find your brother. Bit by bit, you uncover clues that more terrible things have happened, than the monster infestation - that the families descended from the town's founders are keeping dark secrets, and that your father is among them.
Honestly, it's an okay story for a Silent Hill game, and they incorporated some of the better elements from the Silent Hill movie. But all in all, I felt like they did too much lifting from Silent Hill 2. The nurses and Pyramid Head were elements personal to James Sunderland's journey in that game, and having them showcased here seems like too much fan service. Chasing after a phantom of a missing loved one is also more than done-to-death.
Really, the story is the most interesting when it's focused on the main character's story, what's happening to his home, learning about his family's past, that sort of thing. It's at its weakest when it's rehashing a story that's already been done.
Next up, combat. In my previous post, I complained about running out of health items and getting stuck later in the game. I loaded an older save, and by the time I finished the game last night I had a massive surplus of health items. I credit this to learning how to face each enemy. Really, after you get used to the attack patterns of each enemy and learn it's weakness, fighting isn't that difficult. Same with the boss fights. Sometimes they take a while, but most of them are beaten by dodging an attack pattern, then counter-attacking aggressively.
As is frequently the case, the game does shine when it comes to music and sound. The Silent Hill games have always done well at using audio to really create an impressive, eerie atmosphere.
As with the story, the setting and imagery are best when they're personal to the main character. I loved walking around his house for the first time, seeing family pictures and learning his thoughts on them. The parts where you're walking around a hotel in Silent Hill for no reason? Unmemorable.
So what do I think of the game? It's okay. Should you buy it? If you're a big Silent Hill fan, you already have. If you're on the fence, I say wait a while until the price goes down, or else borrow it from someone, but don't shell out $60.