Fans of the horror video game genre are very, very protective of their Silent Hill franchise, paying deadly close attention that each successive game is not only a high quality affair, but also stays true to the established canon of the series. It's no wonder, then that fans were taken aback when it was revealed here at Kotaku that the fifth game in the series would be developed here in the states by developer Double Helix, rather than traditional developer Team Silent. Did handing off the beloved franchise to an all-new, Western team create a darker, nastier Silent Hill, or did it simply result in darker, nastier game critics?

The sixth installment of Konami's venerable psychological horror franchise Silent Hill breaks ground on current generation consoles, now in the hands of a new developer, Double Helix Games, formerly known as The Collective. The titular homecoming is that of white bread war vet Alex Shepherd, who has returned to the town of Shepherd's Glen, exactly one lake over from the perennially cursed town of Silent Hill, only to find his younger brother Joshua and his father missing. While on the hunt for his baby brother and an explanation for the decimation of his hometown, Shepherd encounters all manner of hell-spawn and cultist conspirator, dispatching them with steel pipe like a true American hero.

With a new developer at the helm and new, more powerful consoles to showcase the world(s) of Silent Hill, does Silent Hill: Homecoming bring the series into the next generation? Or is just pure hell?

Out of obligation (and a dash of personal interest in the series still intact) I'll be playing through the rest of Silent Hill: Homecoming this weekend. The game ships to North America on Tuesday, meaning a review is in order. It's going to mean a bit of backtracking, unfortunately. Perhaps re-tracking, as I'll have to revert to an older save to get the job done. More about that on Tuesday.

Otherwise, I might tinker around with Doom III — never did get around to playing it — and punishing myself with some Wario Land: Shake It! challenge missions. Add prepping for a Tokyo vacation and TGS coverage and you got yourself a weekend? How's about you?

Silent Hill Homecoming Refused Classification In...

...Australia or Germany? Go on, guess! OK, well done, the correct answer is indeed Australia. Still hamstrung by the South Australian state Attorney-General's refusal to amend the country's classification laws (currently games don't have the R18+ rating movies do, and all six state AGs need to agree to change the law), Silent Hill: Homecoming has become the latest high-profile game to be refused classification in Australia, a move that practically bans the game from these antipodean shores. Those that have already played the game will suspect the decision was due to quality control concerns, but in reality it'll have been down the game's gore. Or, sorry, "gore".

No Homecoming [Screen Play]

Silent Hill: Homecoming: Skinned Bodies Ahoy!

I spent a little bit of time with Silent Hill: Homecoming on the 360 yesterday at Konami's NYC event. I've been kind of lukewarm on the series since The Room, so my expectations weren't extremely high going in. I must say, however, Silent Hill might be coming back on the upswing after this. The series has always looked great, and Homecoming certainly does as well, but the vastly improved combat mechanics will make this iteration stand out from the rest and, hopefully, capture a bigger audience.

When we say "new," sometimes we mean "new?" because we've definitely seen some of these screen shots of Silent Hill: Homecoming before. It's not just because of the protagonist's penchant for zombie nurse boob-grabbing attempts, but because we know without a doubt that this screen shot, at the very least, was released prior to September.

Fortunately, Konami has broken down the new* shots by platform, giving us plenty of fodder for determining which version of Silent Hill: Homecoming will be grainiest or which version will contain the most amount of disappointment. The best way to assess that, via our galleries, is after the jump for sanity's sake.

The lovely folks over at GameCinemaHD have just posted a video of the first major boss battle from the next installment of Konami's long-running horror series, Silent Hill: Homecoming. Those of you who would rather be surprised are advised to ignore this post altogether. Those of you too curious to stop yourselves should be warned that the clip contains language not suitable for most work environments. Knowing that some of our readers are of the more weak-willed variety, we've gone ahead and posted the video after the jump, so the choice is yours.

While Fahey only went rods and cones on with Silent Hill: Homecoming at E3, I got to spend a few minutes with the Double Helix developed horror game, most of which was spent wrapping my head around the game's new control scheme. After some initial fumbling, which led protagonist Alex Shepherd bumping into walls and ambling backwards unintentionally, I got it.

It's not like Silent Hill has ever had an exemplary control set up. Homecoming at least gets some credit for making the experience feel a bit more intuitive, once one breaks old Silent Hill habits and allows for easier access to your inventory. After some grumbling — and a confused search for a quick turn button — it felt like a change for the best.

Silent Hill: Homecoming Gets Pyramid Head, PC Version

Earlier this week I watched a Konami rep play through a bit of Silent Hill: Homecoming while we were awaiting the coming of Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi. The quick play through showed off the opening moments of the game, with protagonist Alex Shepherd waking up in Silent Hill and setting off on the search for his little brother. The game looked rather nice in motion, and creepiness immediately ensued as Sheperd's little bro seems to have a penchant for scampering in and out of shadows, a staple of the horror genre since Uggok the caveman drew the first horror cave painting. Note to Alex: your brother might be more receptive to being found if you don't slowly walk towards him with an axe in your hands.

While the demo was cut short by Iga's entrance, two bits of news to come to light. Pyramid Head will indeed be playing a part in the game, and now the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game is coming to PC, as did Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4 before it. What will Pyramid Head do in the game? Not sure, but I'm ruling out the hokey pokey.

Konami has released a batch of new screens from the game formerly known as Silent Hill V currently under development from the team formerly known as The Collective. Yes, your reservations are well warranted about the game, but if all the tender loving care spent lighting and texturing those zombie nurse racks is exhibited in other, possibly more important aspects of Silent Hill: Homecoming, Double Helix might just be able to pull it off. If not, we'll be giving away pitchforks and easy-light torches for our proposed "Silent Hill V Went Horribly Wrong And Someone Must Pay" contest in September. Watch for it!