Silent Hill: Homecoming

Justin Meisse

I picked it up yesterday and so far it's pretty good, kind of a mix between SH3 and SH1. SH2 is still the best but this game makes up for the boiled turd that was "The Room".

I've heard reviews saying the combat was too easy, I'm playing on normal and some of the fights seem pretty hard, especially the "smog" monsters, I always save some ammo for them.

The characters don't look as good as Team Silent's work and the facial animation seems a bit dodgy at time but I think the American team pulled it off pretty well.

John Warner

i quite liked 3 actually.. i thought they pushed the whole horror art thing the furthest in that. S.H.2 i thought.. was boring.

haven't played this one yet. have they fixed the combat system yet?

Justin Meisse

SH3 was a direct continuation of SH1 but with more monsters, are you talking about SH4 the Room? The 2 reasons I didn't like it, 1: it became a Silent Hill game late in development and 2: the 2nd half of the game is playing back through the first half but with more ghosts AND your escorting a helpless character.

The combat system has light and heavy attacks, the heavy attacks can be charged by holding down the attack button, you can chain these attacks together to form combos. You also have a dodge button, there are some monsters that you won't be able to hit unless you dodge their attack ie the weird mantis things with a head coming out of their ass.

RazorBladder

No doubt SH2 is still the best, masterpiece that it is.

I notice this game has acquired a lot of mixed reviews, no doubt the psychological horror is either absent or falls flat on it's face but I'm still gonna pick this up. The world transformation implemented from the film is just too fuckin awesome

onionhead_o

I know that everybody says SH2 is the best. but I still liked sh4 a lot other than the voice acting. SH5 is awesome except that it is too short for me and the graphics are not up to next gen standards

nitzmoff

Perhaps this question will only get spoilers as answers, but how is it that this new protagonist is fighting monsters from other games in the series? The monsters have always been physical manifestations of a particular character's psyche.

When I have a nightmare it isn't of the bully that used to give you black eyes. Unless it's explained it seems a great deal like the creators didn't quite understand that key part.

fritz

i have this game. beaten it once. will most def play through again. i really liked it. it's got it's problems just as justin said. but it's definitely a solid game for people that like a scary/twisted vibe. i think the reviews that are in the 6's are WAY off. could just be me.

Justin Meisse

In Silent Hill 2 there are monsters born from Angela's psyche - I called them doormen since they look kind of like doors but I guess their official name is "abstract daddy". Pyramid Head is something from the cult-ish past of Silent Hill. I think the series kind of lends to the idea that Silent Hill will borrow monsters/settings from the people it draws in and they overlap at times.

I haven't played for long but Alex must have been injured in battle because he mentions spending some time in the hospital before being discharged.

Ninjas

I think this game has a pretty huge meh-factor. Being a pretty huge fan of the series, I liked that they kind of tied some stuff in with the movie, but the combat is ultra cheap, and the characters are dumb. I feel like the game is both harder and smaller than any of the ones I played (I skipped The Room). You can't beat enemies when they are down. They are recycling the scary situations from earlier games. The puzzles suck.

dummeh

I enjoyed it as its own game but just can't think of it as a Silent Hill game. No cinematic camera angles, monsters taken from the movie, too combat based, not finding it scary at all. To me it's a good action game, but not a good Silent Hill game.

Steviant

Odd thread, this, as Silent Hill popped into my consciousness today while I was doing some work on my laptop at the pub, and I only ever played the first one. After some research I found there's one on the PSP, and coincidentally I'm buying a PSP tomorrow. Fun times.

I actually really enjoyed the movie, too.

Mitch Cosgrave

Last week I found my old Silent Hill 2 collectors edition in some random box after moving. I never actually played it for very long, probably because my teenage mind at that point in time was scared as hell by the game. but with all the raving about SH2 in this thread, and I required a PS2 a few weeks back I might give it another go, hopefully i won't need to change my pants.

RazorBladder

Sorry to break it to ya, but ur still gonna need your spare underwear at hand
(make sure u play in darkness with surround sound on!)

As far as I can make out, the only people that didn't fall in diarrhea induced love with SH2 are the ones that got bored at the beginnin, roamin around blind in the fog having no clue what they should be doing..

I'll purchase the new SH when I get the funds, though I hold very little hope in being head-fucked.

konstruct

intresting game to be sure. my biggest beef is the navigation seems far more disjointed and akward.

OhH and Pyrimid-mother fuckin-head looks SOOO dope in this one.., sheeit I`m gonna go play it s`more.

Marine

you've got until february to save your pennies, razor, fuckers delayed it for us

The Mad Artist

Justin_Meisse wrote: »

Pyramid Head is something from the cult-ish past of Silent Hill.

I was always under the impression that Pyramid Head was a product of James' guilt in Silent Hill 2, and I always thought it was odd that he would show up in other titles.

Pope Adam

The Mad Artist wrote: »

I was always under the impression that Pyramid Head was a product of James' guilt in Silent Hill 2, and I always thought it was odd that he would show up in other titles.

agreed. I've been a memeber ofthe SH forums for years and that's kindof the general consensus of the hardcore fans... I don't like how PHead has become kindof iconic with SH. At least he's fucking badass, and I really love seeing him at any time, but recycling creatures isn't something I approve of. A war veteran should have all sorts of new horrors available.

Oh Silent Hill, a purgatory that calls you back to it to torture you for your misdeeds. Delish.

I picked up 5 tonight, I'll be sampling it soon.

Justin Meisse

played through a couple endings, all I can say is: be harsh in your judgments for a crazy ending

I was also suprised that the serum didn't have any negative effects, it's an uber-heal but the game kind of acts like it isn't healthy for you, I'm guessing it was something that got cut.

John Warner

i just picked up and played through this as well. i thought it was awesome, although a lot of it pissed me off:

1. people in this series don't react in a remotely realistic way. that pisses me off. i dont mind unrealistic content, but if you put humans in a crazy situation they should react to it accordingly. it creates this fucking bizzare dissonance that's really quite obnoxious.

2. fuck me if that combat system doesn't have a steep learning curve. if you fuck up once you get extremely punished.

3. can we stop designing games around filler content already? if i want to go somewhere, don't make me dog-fuck through some place i've got to go-through-to-get-where-i'm-going. that's so painfully boring and it strings out my attention span. take longer in preproduction and create more meaningful content. jesus. or just give me a shorter game. what's wrong with that?

as far as silent hill 2 goes... i played through it, like all the silent hill games. however, i sure as hell wouldn't call it a masterpiece. a masterpiece? really? the dialoge was retarded, the characters were often a bucket of shit.. and it was certainly the least scary of the 5. in fact, the room has MUCH more creative ideas than S.H.2, imo. I very much like what they did with the art in S.H.3. i thought they pushed it really nice and far. silent hill 2 never.. really got crazy. and the ending of silent hill 2? talk about endless drivel bullshit. go back to writing 10th grader poetry.

i think this recent one is the best so far, on balance.

Justin Meisse

John_Warner wrote: »

1. people in this series don't react in a remotely realistic way.

I actually found it kind of funny that Alex kept saying the same stuff as I was while playing, ie big monster appears, I go "FUCK!" and Alex says the same thing 3 seconds later. also Holy Fuck

John Warner

really, no kiddin. i get that when playing the half-life episodes. heh. don't get me wrong, there were times when things did seem reasonable. when *SPOILER!!!* you're in the atrium and that big fleshy beasty thing appears he kinda freaks out a bit.

in general though.. you're wondering about the town, there's these fucking crazy demons everywhere, and you actually just meet people around here and there, and he doesn't respond by saying "HOLY FUCK SHIT FUCK FUCK! GET OFF THE STREET! I'M CALLING THE ARMY"

if i was in half that situation i'd shit in my pants and lock myself in the closet.