This is not relevant in any capacity to any current events, but recently, I finished a play through of Silent Hill: Homecoming. I actually really enjoyed this game when I first played it despite its negative reputation. However, replaying it filled me with extremely mixed emotions so I thought I would discuss them here.
I thought I would do a review of everything I thought about the game since I used to play it quite a bit back in high school. Its strengths, weaknesses, why I enjoyed replaying it, and things I was disappointed in as I relived them. In the end, I do still enjoy the game, but think it could have been much stronger.
For an overview, the game follows soldier Alex Shepherd, returning home from war to visit his family. However, upon arrival, he has noticed that his hometown has become rather decrepit with people vanishing, including members of his family. Realizing that there is something wrong, he sets off to find his missing younger brother, Joshua, so the two can escape the town and get away from whatever is causing the town’s decay.
The rest of the game follows him on his search as he explores parts of his hometown of Shepherd’s Glen that are falling apart and the neighboring town of Silent Hill while he battles monsters that have started appearing. Along the way, he comes across different individuals from his past that are either trying to escape as well or may know more about why the town has collapsed. Each step is hopefully going to get him closer to his goal, but in reality it seems to be pushing him further away, leaving the player to ask “What the heck is going on?”
So, it is best to start with the positives. The visuals and atmosphere of the game are very good at building a sense of uneasiness and adding to the overall horror of the area in which Alex is trapped. Each area is very distinct from the others and yet thoroughly frightening with how it is made. Definitely this is the perfect location for a horror game.
There is much the game offers in terms of enticing the player to keep pushing forward. With each new revelation about the characters and areas you come across, the dark design of the levels, and finding out what exactly is going on keep the player on edge. It creates a sense of mystery and intrigue that needs to make the player want to unravel it and keep them invested.
As for the gameplay, it’s functional. There are issues with it as the dodge can go in odd directions at times and the knife becomes the most effective weapon in the game more so than the others ones that provide more damage since the knife’s speed means you can get a hit on enemies repeatedly before they can fight back. However, it still accomplishes what it needs to in the end. The game is heavily reliant on the combat oriented gameplay so the fact that it accomplishes everything it needs to is highly important for the game even if it could use some polish. Since the game would be busted if this did not accomplish what it was design for, it is worth noting that it succeeds at that.
Now that that is out of the way, we can move onto the negatives. Tragically, these are mostly built around spoilers as the biggest flaw is the game’s story so I will be separating that from the rest of the review in this specific section. I will try to keep it as spoiler free an overview as I can, but the real problem with the game is the story and it holds Homecoming back from being as good as it could have been in the end.
In short, the big reveal of the game makes no sense, the potential for Alex’s background in the military is underutilized, and the game itself deviates too much from the Silent Hill franchise to be another entry in the series but takes too much inspiration from past Silent Hill media (especially the film) to be its own thing. The game had serious potential to be a strong game in its own right, but instead blew it with the storytelling. In the end, the game is still fun to play, but a stronger and more interesting story would have elevated it much more.
*SPOILERS*
First off, the twist makes no sense in practical sense. It is revealed at the end that the four founders of Shepherd’s Glen and their descendents agreed to sacrifice one of their children every 50 years in exchange for the Gods of neighboring Silent Hill to leave them alone. Alex was supposed to be the sacrifice on the 150th anniversary, but accidentally killed Joshua instead in a boating accident. His dad was unable to continue with the ritual as a result and Alex has spent the last several years in a mental institution instead of the military, past trauma keeping him from fully remembering what happened to his brother.
This is odd because the dad could still complete the ritual if he so chose to since Alex was still alive. Not killing Alex will lead to Shepherd’s Glen becoming overrun with monsters, which he knows, and he hated his son so there is no real concern on his part for Alex’s wellbeing since Josh was the favorite. In the end, his decision makes no sense.
This becomes weird why Alex then doesn’t figure this out until the end. Sure, it is unlikely his father told most people about Joshua’s death and could cover it up as a disappearance since most people started disappearing after the boy’s death so Deputy Wheeler and Alex’s girlfriend not knowing make sense, but there are characters in game like the other descendents of the other founders who would have known about the accident and would have said something to Alex at some point. Meanwhile, Josh would not still look like he did before Alex was locked up yet still does as Alex chases his ghost throughout the game and never questions why he did not age. At some point, something should have clicked for the protagonist and he should have figured it out.
Second, the background of Alex being a soldier is poorly used. The early advertisements implied the focus would be on his PTSD and that the game would be a Silent Hill interpretation of coming home from war. Since Alex’s military service was all in his head, it makes sense why this was not the focus. However, this feels like a missed opportunity that would have been more interesting to explore.
Finally, the game is very removed from other Silent Hill games. I know I said I had not played them in the past and could not really compare, but there are some elements I know Homecoming is taking from other Silent Hill games which is felt repeatedly throughout. The imagery takes large inspiration from the film, and the story takes heavy inspiration from Silent Hill 2, though it is not as well executed. If the game had only taken the visuals which were the strongest part of the film (which I have seen), then that would have been acceptable, but taking the twist from Silent Hill 2, the inclusion of series favorite Pyramid Head, and the leap in logic to justify taking the twist from Silent Hill 2 made the game look uncreative.
*END SPOILERS*
In the end, I personally give the game a recommendation but add that with a grain of salt. The visuals and journey create an enticing atmosphere, but the actually story leaves something to be desired. Had this been an original IP that took inspiration from the Silent Hill film and told a different story, it would have been great, but instead it was held back. Still, I have a certain nostalgia for it and will play it again one day. However, this is a game that is destined to remain buried with all the other games time forgot.
