Silent Hill Homecoming
Silent Hill Homecoming Review
Spoilers a plenty!
After playing Silent Hill f, I had two choices:
a) play Clair Obscur:
Expedition 33
b) play another
Silent Hill game.
I looked at Clair Obscur and everyone praised it to the moon
and back with outlandish obsession that deterred me sadly. I do have thoughts,
but I cannot share them just yet because I haven’t played the game. So, in the
end, I was so captivated by Hinako’s Silent Hill that I chose to play Silent
Hill: Homecoming. I still have a few Silent Hills to play (e.g. Silent Hill 3
*gasps*) but the hate and general dislike toward Homecoming with occasional
words of acclaim intrigued me.
Silent Hill: Homecoming is the sixth entry in the franchise,
released in 2008. Having played Silent Hill games for a long time, I think I
knew what to expect. All the hallmarks are present: cults, foggy world, rusty
otherworld, atmospheric chaotic beats, lovely melodic and vocal tracks, creepy
hallways, superb monster design, cryptic puzzles, lots of symbolism… and a heartbreaking
story.
My overall impression is that I am glad I played it. I could
not wait to see what came next, so I was invested in the game but at times I
would hysterically burst out laughing at how bad and comical the game treated
me and worse, itself.
Story
We enter the world of Alex Shephard, an honorably discharged
soldier who is taken against his will and is being wheeled through the surgery
rooms on a patient trolley at a hospital. As he is strapped in, he can’t move
an inch and though he cries and screams at his caregiver as he witnesses
horrific acts in the other rooms, all is for nought. We help him escape by
spamming the X button, but someone gutters the caregiver by shoving a sword the
size and shape of Final Fantasy’s Cloud’s sword or perhaps you immediately
recognize the rust and glamour of Pyramid Head’s sword from Silent Hill 2 right
away. Alex does not meet the assailant and moves forward. The next human he
encounters is Joshua, Alex’s little brother, a young teenager, who is drawing with
crayons on the hospital floor, beyond a barred entrance. Joshua entreats Alex
to find his little toy and hysterically laughs at how Alex can’t open the door.
You can hear Joshua’s whispers and a child wailing throughout the game and the
prologue is no exception. Alex finally wakes up from the nightmare world in a
truck on his way to Shephard’s Glen, his hometown, only to find everyone,
except select few, gone from the face of the earth. The entire place is
enshrouded in fog, and we immediately realize that Alex must face his deepest
demons to find the truth out.
I think the prologue sets the tone perfectly for the
intrigue and mystery of what is to come. I am immediately hooked to the premise
of the story to unfold in Shepherd’s Glen. While the first hour of the game is
excellent, the remaining hours may feel dragging at times but it’s never
boring. I found myself going back to the game to see the next scene. The
mystery is preserved all throughout. You can anticipate the story, but it is
not convoluted, and it does take you in. It’s not anything groundbreaking or
innovative either. It’s about the trauma of a man who comes from a troubled
middle-class home with an abusive father and indifferent mother. There is much
more to this, of course, and you soon realize that the family is rooted deep in
the traditions of Silent Hill, which is only but a lake away from Shepherd’s
Glen.
Story is told mainly in cutscenes but as per usual in the
franchise, letters and notes scattered all over the world tell a lot. The world
of Homecoming is very dark, and I don’t mean that just metaphorically. I mean,
it is literally dark on the screen. You carry a flashlight, but its lux levels
are so low that the measly light doesn’t do much. In fact, you may have a hard
time finding the notes or letters because they won’t glimmer or even give a
button prompt as you come close to it! So, I tended to press the X button
pretty much everywhere I saw a pixel that was unlike the rest on the screen.
I’d say the notes are worth reading and add to the weight of the story. For
example, you open a drawer in the attic and you find this:
“Whether they want
to punish us for the exodus of our forefathers – or simply to breathe new life
into the old ways, I don’t know. But they’ve taken our people. The only thing
left is to face the source of this evil, to fight it, and pray that some hope
can be restored. My sole consolation is that I’ve finally opened my eyes to the
evil in Silent Hill.”
…This sounds so familiar to one of the most terrible war
crimes in our history, does it not? …
Always pay close attention to paintings as well, especially in
Alex’s house and at the church!
Character development happens only to Alex, the other
characters, either comrade or villain, do not display any dynamics in their
relationship with Alex or themselves. You do encounter people whom you will
grow to be curious about, like Elle, Wheeler and Judge Halloway but their
characters’ immutability is apparent to the player right from the start, so
your anticipation of big character reveals fades in time. That is not to say
the characters are not interesting, they are just predictable but totally
believable. None appeared out of place, their motives and parts in the Silent
Hill’s dark world were all meaningful.
Rant Time 1: So far so good right? No. All of this can be
rendered meaningless by some absurd game design. For example, the ending! There
are five endings you may get, and it depends on your some of your choices. You
immediately recognize the choices you make will change the ending but here is
where I had a huge issue. I got the UFO ending in my first
playthrough. Yes, by not forgiving my father, not killing my mother and saving
Wheeler, my story was doomed to be explained away by aliens. I was laughing and
fuming at the same time. First, it’s terrible to get the UFO ending as your
first. It wrecks your experience with the game and the game was not taking
itself seriously, and not in a humbling way. Second, how did I not forgive my
father exactly? This is what I said to my father: “What did you do?” and then
“You don’t sound sorry”. Is that not forgiving? The writers clearly don’t know
what forgiving or unforgiving means because this wasn’t it. What adds insult to
injury is that Alex’s father’s wimpy little apparition in the confession booth
did not sound sorry at all ANYWAY! I wish there was a clear choice to forgive
or not forgive, or at least one that made more sense. Killing my mother was
another setback. I was seriously waiting for another way out, but I wasn’t
given one. This is not a complaint per se since games can’t give you all the
options, but the choices felt incredibly forced. Saving Wheeler too. I did save
him but what did saving him do? Nothing. He shows up at the end making a joke
at the UFO. The question is why, as the player on a first playthrough, wouldn’t
I save him? Of course I will give him the first aid kit unless I want to play
the evil Alex. The mom and Wheeler choices are minor complaints, but the dad
definitely takes the biscuit on this one.
There are some awesome moments as well. In fact, the
emotions are conveyed really well, so you do feel Alex’s frustrations and
anger. For example, the confrontation with Judge Halloway and the way the
screwdriver is slowly advancing toward you, and the tables turn and bam! Alex’s
“Bi**h!” was the perfect line after all that. I loved it.
I also loved the character that was never fully named but
your brief encounter with her may chill your bones. I speak of Carol Doyle, the
woman behind the hotel door that is ripped apart and taken shape of a monster’s
mouth, taken straight from the Shining’s all work and no play. You don’t ever
see her, you speak to her through the opening and you learn about her sickening
story of betrayal and lust in the notes found in the hotel. Her voice acting
was also great and the line “You have a kind voice. Hehehe.” was sick. I wish
there were more side characters like Carol and we get to know more about
Shepherd’s Glen.
One technical hiccup with the cutscenes is that you can press
start button and it would skip the scene completely. That… happened to me
twice. Annoying.
Another weirdness is the comeback of nurses and Pyramid
Head. I mean it’s Silent Hill but they felt so fan servicey. Their first
appearance was too sudden and superficial. They could have been incorporated into
the game better, or better still skipped entirely. Some inconsistencies in the story
are present as well: is Alex right in the head or not, I wonder?
Overall, the story is just ok. I can easily see how someone
can love it, hate it or simply be indifferent.
Gameplay
Silent Hill is a psychological survival horror game but it
has never been about gameplay. Even Silent Hill f, with all its reforms of
dodges, stamina and focus, does not hold gameplay in the forefront. Homecoming’s
gameplay is rather horrendous… You collect melee weapons, shotgun, pistol etc.
I will save you the trouble: Knife is overpowered for almost every enemy in the
game, even bosses. The final boss especially! I was so sure that I had
collected shotgun shells and pistol ammo but lo and behold, there weren’t any! So,
I only had a knife and steel pipe. Knife all the way! Not to mention, the ammo
is scarce even in easy difficulty which is a shame because firing the gun was
actually enjoyable.
Rant Time 2: The animations are clunky and slow. You got hit
by an enemy? Too bad, because you will be spammed by more attacks as you lie
hopelessly on the floor. Perhaps you think this would add to the despair of
Alex’s blight but no, it’s just annoying. The final boss would spam me all the
time without time to dodge, it got so bad that I just dropped the controller
and started cackling nervously. The converse is true: you can stun an enemy
constantly and it’d be fine. The enemy AI is non-existent: if there are two
enemies, one will just idly sit by and do nothing while you lock on the first
one and spam it with your knife. The boss fights are particularly adamant in
making me pull my hair out because you always have to find the right opening
and spam the same attack fifty times. The worst enemy in the game I hear you
ask: The needler and nurse. You may just die because of a nurse, pronto. You
can avoid them by not making noise and turning off your flashlight though.
Puzzles are interesting for the most part. I don’t care much
for the slide-open-the-box type puzzles but the puzzles with poems and matching
symbols were wonderful. The poems and notes on the walls were very good too.
“I stand beside the holy man
The monarchs fear my wrath
None may move the way I can
Ever the crooked path.”
I had a fun time solving the puzzles, I could have asked for
more but the amount felt right in the end.
The level design is solid. When you open the map, it looks a
bit much but as you go through the areas, it feels easy and polished.
Among the technical issues was accidental item use. If you
press LB for too long, you may accidentally use up the serum that you
tirelessly searched for. Not a fan. One needs to save often as well but this
era of gaming invariably demands that from the player. Minor complaint: you
know how it always says the door is locked (and you don’t need a key)? That
door will never open. I always expected one of those to open from the other
side for ease of exploration but no.
Graphics
Full disclosure: I played the “Ultimate Edition” with 4K 60 fps
remastered cutscenes mod. The PC port on Steam is riddled with bugs,
glitches and crashes so it is rather unplayable. You can either play (or emulate)
it on a PS3 or use the PC mods. There are also Quick Time Events (QTEs) in this
game but the mods got rid of them due to crashes and I’d say it’s a welcome
change.
For a PS3-era game, I think the graphics are ok. It’s not
the most beautiful or alluring scenery. There is a rolling film filter on
everything so you will see shimmering lines all over Alex’s shoulders and it
was ok.
The atmosphere is the highlight. Alex’s house, the prison,
the church, the hotel, all had eerie aura. Some scene design choices were
subtle: when you see Joshua standing still at the far end of the hallway or the
creepy paintings with looming faces at the corner, you may be spooked more than
you think you would. It never gets overtly scary, jump scares are almost non-existent
and when they happen it’s just another annoying enemy encounter.
The facial expressions are cartoony but given the game’s age,
it can be forgiven. Monster design isn’t particularly strong compared to the
rest of the franchise. While bosses conceptually made sense (e.g. last battle
monster spitting water for example), the designs were bland and repetitive. Just
skin, bones, scissors and blood.
The game can get very gory. Expect to be torn in half and
blood squirting everywhere if you fight that awful Schism running around. It’s
not overdone but definitely gorier than Silent Hill f.
Sound
Sound design is very good for the most part. Sounds complement
the atmosphere very well. The wailing child, the chorus at the church, echo of
the footsteps, the occasional piano and beats. It’s not all great, however. Sound
direction can be a bit too trippy. Imagine one of your allies getting snatched
by a vicious six-legged monster and the next second you hear is rap beats. Some
of the sounds won’t make sense, e.g there is a constant bug crawling sound when
there aren’t any bugs (“Swarms”), or the monster you ignored can be heard from
the floor below. The sounds become so repetitive that they won’t give you the
chills of someone chasing you or that someone is waiting for you, it’s just
annoying.
Dialogues are ok, all a bit cheesy but this game does feel
like a B grade horror movie. Or perhaps C, depending on whom you talk to. Voice
acting is mostly dull and falls short at emotional moments, though at the end,
you may grow fond of the dullness. It’s nothing memorable or jarring either
way.
The music was awesome as always. More on that below.
Conclusion
Silent Hill: Homecoming could be a cult classic. Some regard it as the worst in the mainline but honestly if this game is the worst, then the franchise has some really good games, which it does. I would give a 6/10. I enjoyed the journey as it was full of intrigue despite the predictability and unoriginality. I would recommend it for Silent Hill fans, and psychological survival horror genre fans.
Soundtrack Review
Composer: Akira Yamaoka
Another Silent Hill OST, another Yamaoka classic. The series
has seen the return of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and I just want more. Her vocal
tracks are absolute bangers: it’s metal/rock (One More Soul To The Call,
This Sacred Line), it’s rap (Alex’s Theme) and it’s new age (Elle’s
Theme) at their catchiest.
Non-vocal tracks are less prominent in this OST than say,
Silent Hil 2 OST. Witchcraft is an excellent prologue track full of
interesting sounds of synth, piano and beats that remind me of rain drops. The
Terminal Show is like Witchcraft and I’d say this is the main theme
(also plays in the menu). Cold Blood has One More Soul To The Call’s
melody on piano and beats which work well.
If you want to be reminded of the spooky atmosphere from
time to time, you can also play Snow Flower, Total Invasion, Voodoo
Girl, The Thing and Dead Monks.
*Note that Silent
Hill Sounds Box has another version of Alex’s Theme which is great!
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn’s lovely voice works wonders for Yamaoka’s
metal and psychedelic rock world. The harmonies and echoing double-layered
vocals (e.g. 3:46 in Elle’s Theme !),
“Is she gone? Are you real? Are you
here?
Can I trust who you say that you
are?
And who I am now? (And who am I
now?)
Too late for me knowing
Or just in time”
and the desperate calls of her cries in the choruses (e.g. 1:56
in This Sacred Line)
“This line that can't be broken
This line that never will be crossed
again
In time, we'll be forgiven
This line affected by the innocent”
and the ritualistic chant or rather, the warning that the
ritual will never end (5:35 in One More Soul To The Call):
“One more soul to the call, for all,
in silence comes
Two more souls to the call, for all,
and in time
Three more souls to the call, they
fall, unknowing that
Four more souls to the call won't be
all, and you know it”
will draw you in and lock you up in there for a quite some
time.
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