The strange thing is I was randomly refreshing Steam a few days back and Homecoming was showing as available. I started writing up the story and everything, only to find the game gone when I went back to take a screencap. Spooky, though really par for the course when you're dealing with that particular town.

Buy Silent Hill Homecoming [Steam]

Basically, I think another way of saying what Leigh's getting at is that many game critics, particularly those who write for avid fans, can obsess over controls or menu design problems in titles that are doing something innovative in tone or theme, but downplay the same types of faults in games that are essentially improvements on the ones they already love.

The result is that we don't value innovation or attempts to do something big and new, like make a funny game that's thematically consistent with an all-time great TV show or create psychological impact through artful storytelling integrated with gameplay, because we obsess on the mechanical problems or the length of the cutscenes. Not that those things don't matter. But they don't matter that much, especially for an artistically immature medium in desperate need of innovation and freshness.

If we re-arranged our priorities, I think we'd have more critics "championing" certain games or developers. In the end, that's what I'm calling for and I think that's what Leigh's implying. In the film world, there were critics who championed the then-radical filmmakers of the '70s who transformed the world of cinema. Wouldn't it be great if there were more videogame critics who championed certain titles or artists, while acknowledging their imperfections, the way Leigh does "Silent Hill: Homecoming" and Hideo Kojima?

I'm not sure it's simply a matter of rearranging priorities, but overhauling the culture of game reviews and how we talk about games. It shouldn't be either/or — criticism is usually a range of grey, with polarizing opinions at least inspiring spirited debate. Does the audience at large really want 'real' criticism, though? Or just a concise roundup of whether a game is good or bad? We already have various types of 'reviews,' ranging from the generic thumbs up/thumbs down to detailed reviews that pull apart every conceivable part of the game. Certain types of criticism are rarely meant for a general audience — and that's OK. The average consumer looking for a title they'll enjoy isn't going to care if Kojima is a visionary or not; they just want to know if the game is worth spending money on. But are critics comfortable with the idea that their championing and detailed criticism is going to put much of the potential audience to sleep? Are we OK being irrelevant to most people other than the 'hardcore' and each other?

If critics did more championing and less obsessing over details [Cut Scene via Sexy Videogameland]

IGN
Homecoming doesn't radically attempt to revamp the established universe that's existed for almost a decade, but tries to tie the plot of Alex's adventure to pre-established canon. There are a number of nods to both the Silent Hill film from a few years ago as well as the movie Jacob's Ladder, which adds a couple of layers to the development of the characters as well as the situations they find themselves in. However, even with all of that going on, the main twist related to the game can easily be figured out before it happens, leaving a rather bland taste when it's finally revealed. Homecoming eventually feels more like a subplot to a larger, unfinished tale with tenuous connections to the rest of the series.

1UP
While Homecoming's combat system has its growing pains, I wholeheartedly endorse the new camera and movement controls. You move with one analog stick and control the camera with the other, which enables you to manipulate the view with far more precision than ever before. Moreover, your character can now strafe, which really helps cement the more action-centric focus. I'm sure some Silent Hill fans will miss the cinematic angles when entering an unknown area, but this should pass — the new camera and controls do little to detract from the atmosphere in the long run.

TeamXbox
Silent Hill: Homecoming proves to be a welcome step forward in the series without breaking the foundation that has made it a success. By staying true to the series’ roots and not trying to rely on unnecessary mechanics or gimmicks, Double Helix has created yet another unsettling gaming experience that is sure to stick in the minds of players long after the end credits roll. Fans of the series are sure to be pleased, as well as spooked, by the expected, yet unexpected twists the plot takes as Alex searches for his missing brother and father.

UGO
All of this praise doesn’t mean that Homecoming is without its flaws. The combat system, built upon a series of basic light-heavy-dodge combos, works reasonably well but some of the monsters feel a bit too cheap. Siam’s attacks in particular are nearly impossible to dodge while no such complications interfere with the game’s four bosses, all of them larger than Siam and some of them more agile. In many ways, it’s best to save firearm ammo for encounters with Siam or Smog, the game’s only true ranged attacker until the very late stages, rather than holding out for the boss fights.

Kotaku
Silent Hill: Homecoming is a very capable entry, maybe better than cynics were expecting, one that should please most fans of the series and anyone looking for a good scare layered with respectable storytelling. Homecoming fluctuates from moments of brilliance to shades of mediocrity, a bit of a junk food entry that may leave you hungering for something meatier. But less picky players, ones who don't mind the graphical quirks and sameness, will likely not take issue with the final product. There's plenty of frustration to be had and little in the way of traditional "fun," as the game's mechanics are starting to feel in need of a revamp, but Homecoming gets the job done.Some nice scores, but still not convinced I want to cross over into Silent Hill one more time.

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?

Loved
Thematically Strong: Silent Hill: Homecoming delivers on a solid, exciting storyline, one peppered with dense themes: child abuse, infanticide, religious fanaticism, mental illness. It's far more straightforward in comparison to other Silent Hill games, ones which often needed the aide of a plot guide to disassemble, but it's administered with finesse. Double Helix supports their storytelling with brilliant symbolism, little of which rarely detours into the obvious.
A Reasonably Good Facsimile Of A Silent Hill Game: If you're desperate for another trip to Silent Hill, Homecoming fits the bill. At times, the game feels like a "greatest hits" compilation, borrowing monster and environmental designs too liberally from previous entries and, unfortunately for this reviewer, the Silent Hill movie. At others, it feels more like a tribute band doing a well-worn cover version of older games, abstracting subtlety and nuance.
Improved Controls: From a mostly better inventory interface to more logical action controls, Homecoming is much easier to get a handle on than its predecessors. That doesn't necessarily mean that hand-to-hand combat is any fun. It's not. It's just better than what Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo was capable of with the older, more cinematic camera style.
Hell Looks Hellishly Good: The "Descent to Hell" portion of the game looks stunning. If only the camera were pulled back just a few more feet to get a better view...

Hated
Graphical Letdown: While Double Helix nailed portions of Silent Hill's "otherworld," the game is disappointingly inconsistent in its technical execution. Alex Shepherd looks well detailed in comparison to Shepherd's Glen's other inhabitants, with fathers, mothers, sons and daughters all looking, curiously, the same age, more like action figures that human beings. Homecoming also has some of the worst water we've seen this generation. Ugly textures abound.
Odd Bugs and Visual Quirks: Getting stuck on an invisible platform in the first fifteen minutes, forcing a restart of the game, did not leave a good first impression. Fortunately, this was a unique circumstance, but it made moments of geometry clipping and moments of violently spinning camera angles tied to enemy death animations that much more noticeable. Some lip-syncing in the game feels like it was left unfinished.
Annoying Enemies: While the game's combat mechanics are somewhat improved, it doesn't prevent the battles with the blade-limbed Needlers from being any less controller-throwing. A severe lack of supplies, that tends to irritate more than add to the "survival" of the horror, required reverting to an older save to beat one of the tougher bosses.
Obtuse Puzzles: Even for a Silent Hill game, Homecoming's puzzles are simply... puzzling. Too many simply devolved into a frustrating series trial and error attempts.

Silent Hill: Homecoming is a very capable entry, maybe better than cynics were expecting, one that should please most fans of the series and anyone looking for a good scare layered with respectable storytelling. Homecoming fluctuates from moments of brilliance to shades of mediocrity, a bit of a junk food entry that may leave you hungering for something meatier. But less picky players, ones who don't mind the graphical quirks and sameness, will likely not take issue with the final product. There's plenty of frustration to be had and little in the way of traditional "fun," as the game's mechanics are starting to feel in need of a revamp, but Homecoming gets the job done.

Silent Hill: Homecoming, developed by Double Helix and published by Konami was released on Sept. 30 for the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3. Retails for $59.99. Played Xbox 360 version to completion on normal difficulty.

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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?

No Homecoming [Screen Play]

So we start out back in a dreary, dark hospital again. Everything will be fine, right? Of course not! Hospitals and Silent Hill going together are never a good thing for anybody, let alone the protagonist. The first thing I wanted to know about this game is how much "Silent Hill" is actually in it. By that I mean, how much disturbing crap is there for me to look at that will make my brain throw up? Well, I almost immediately noticed a skinned body hanging from the ceiling. So, it's looking like this really is a homecoming!

Now, one of the biggest complaints about the series was the combat and the controls. I won't got as far as to say they are "fixed" this time around, but they're way better. The first weapon I managed to get my hands on was a knife. When you draw it, the camera pans behind you and off to the right, much like any over-the-shoulder angle, but a bit further back so you can see more of the environment. I can then start stabbing away, unlike in previous games where I had to randomly swing a weapon and hope I hit something. It almost makes the game easier now that the combat is better, as sad as that sounds.

I will forever contend that what makes any Silent Hill game great is the atmosphere it creates. That's why I still consider the first game in the series to be best one. That game scares the crap out of me, even 10 years later. I can't play it without turning off the sound, and sometimes, will just turn the whole thing off entirely. Homecoming didn't make me change my pants, however, a very cool effect was the when the 'normal world' changes to the 'underworld.' It's very much like the movie - which yinz should see - where everything is peeling off the walls and floor revealing all the in creepy, fucked up cages and spinning fans and shit.

Overall, it looks like Konami learned from The Room and is taking trying to take everything back to the early titles in the series. Everything that should make a good Silent Hill game is here. How the story holds up, or, if it makes any sense at all, remains to be seen. The improved combat and player mobility should position this game towards the more mainstream audience and will give me hope for a survival-horror renaissance.

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.

It doesn't look too shabby, does it? The boss is pretty impressive...definitely not something I'd want to be caught alone with in a circular room, armed only with an axe. Everything looks a bit too orange though. I suppose it's a step up from brown, but still. Hit the link to go to GameCinemaHD's Silent Hill: Homecoming page, where another exclusive clip should be appearing shortly!

Silent Hill: Homecoming [GameCinemaHD]

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.

Visually, the game has gotten some flak for not feeling like much of a graphical leap. After the gorgeous Silent Hill 3 wowed PlayStation 2 owners with its lifelike characters and detailed textures, Silent Hill: Homecoming was (rightly) slammed for feeling like a step back.

It's kind of true. Our hero can look blurry, blocky and low-res under the right circumstances. The wee monitors at the Konami meeting room weren't doing the game any favors, but there are portions of the game's visual make up that look rather attractive. It won't knock your socks off, but it gets the job done.

Silent Hill: Homecoming's environments are definitely more interactive. You'll bump into chairs, knock over vases and feel like the world — while still barren and empty — is more live in.

The other big change to the series is its larger focus on action. During one brief set piece, we had to take on a demonic denizen, some spider-like humanoid thing, while riding an elevator. Pop in the head once with a bullet and it would scurry away. The experience felt familiar, but also added a bit of tension to the game. The very limited ammo made it felt more "survival horror" than psychological horror, as some refer to the series.

Hero Shepherd's expertise with swinging a pipe didn't do much to add to the gameplay — we didn't encounter much in the way of enemies — but the combo mechanic still feels a little out of place. Still, fewer deaths from average controls will be welcome in the final product, we assume.

We also solved a quick, if frustrating puzzle, one that involved rewiring an electrical box that allowed to ride said elevator. To call it uninspired would be... well, accurate.

Walking away from our brief time with Silent Hill: Homecoming, we weren't horribly impressed, but we certainly weren't willing to write it off yet. This kind of game does not demo well in E3-sized bites. It might not be such a visual treat for the eyes that some were expecting and we have our reservations about the direction, but it appears there's some of the game's spirit within.

Whether that's going to make it worthy enough of a successor or not remains to be seen.

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.

When I arrived at the kiosks I was the third in line and I stood, shifting back and forth from foot to foot like a grade schooler who has to pee, waiting anxiously for my turn. While I was waiting I took the opportunity to compare the graphics since there were two stations side by side; one on the 360 and the other on the PS3. Of course, I have no idea what the final builds of the game will look like, but at the present time, the graphics for the 360 version were much smoother than that of the PS3. Enemies (including the ubiquitous nurses) were marred by some serious jaggies around the edges which hopefully will be fixed before launch. That aside, the game looked absolutely beautiful, retaining all the terrifying filthiness that the franchise is known for.

The story concerns a young man named Alex Shepard who is returning to his home town of Shepard's Glen. He is on a search for his missing younger brother Josh, a search that will take him to the spooky depths of Silent Hill which seems to have an unnatural connection to Shepard's Glen.

When the demo starts, you found yourself on a gurney and being pushed by a masked fiend through a dirty hospital. As you look from side to side, all sorts of terrifying, shadowed scenes pass you by. Silhouetted depictions of horrible things being done to patients by un-seeable evil forces. Eventually you are left in a room alone, strapped to the gurney and here your adventure begins.

Once you have removed yourself from your shackles you are free to start roaming the halls and rooms, constantly blocked by various locked doors. An early puzzle involving some x-rays and a number locked door was easily solved and soon we were treated to the switch from Silent Hill to dark Silent Hill. As you may have heard, the game designers lifted the world changing mechanic straight from the movie. No longer is there a fade to black, but you actually watch the world change in real time, with parts of the room lifting away like peeling paint and disappearing into the sky. The effect is quite nice and translated well from the movie to the game. And of course there were the nurses. Their new character models were terrific and also seemed to be based somewhat on the movie versions of the characters.

The battle system was basically the same with a few improvements. The addition of dodges to the fray makes avoiding damage quite a bit easier. There are perfect and imperfect dodges that can be executed. A perfect dodge will result in no damage taken while an imperfect one will have the player taking less damage than from a direct hit. There are also power up attacks and enemies can be stunned so that deadly finishing moves can be performed. The finishing moves are much more interesting than the old standard foot stomp to the head. Each weapon has a unique finishing move for each of the various enemies that are shown in glorious, graphic detail

It is now much easier to tell where your health is with the addition of an actual on screen health meter. Gone are the days of trying to determine what your health is like based on the pulsing green or red frame in your character's status menu. Now there is a nice red crescent meter that shows exactly how much health you have so you can drink those health drinks accordingly. Another nice touch was the ability to tear through certain walls with your equipped knife. Cutting through them leaves what looks like a horrible gaping wound with teeth sticking out of it that you must squeeze through to get into the next area.

At this point there was a huge line forming behind me and out of respect for my fellow journos, I reluctantly gave up the controls to the next fellow in line. My time with Silent Hill may have been short but it left me wanting more which I guess is the goal of any good entertainment. Silent Hill: Homecoming will be shambling its way towards your PS3 and Xbox 360 in September of this year, ready to scare the pants off you once again.

"Killed" is more politically correctly described as being put on "permanent hiatus", but it's rare for these projects to be resurrected. As long as they don't muck up the next Silent Hill, we'll forgive this cancellation of a game that we weren't particularly interested in anyway.

Foundation 9 buries Harker [GameSpot]

The Homecoming of Silent Hill

Konami's first Silent Hill® title for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION®3

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced the official title of its first Silent Hill game for PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360. Entitled Silent Hill: Homecoming, the game will be released end of September this year across Europe.

The sixth installment in the classic video games series, Silent Hill: Homecoming introduces another protagonist to the mythos. The story follows Alex Shepherd, returning to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his brother. From Shepherd's Glen to Silent Hill, Alex must face the darkest of horrors in order to find his brother. Struggling with his own grip on reality, Alex must unravel the mystery behind his nightmares, discover the truth behind his brother's disappearance, and confront the evil lurks in the seemingly empty streets of Silent Hill.

Homecoming is the first Silent Hill title for the new wave of 'next generation' consoles, featuring all-new graphics that bring the fear and terror of Silent Hill alive like never before. Alex must survive attacks from the misshapen denizens of the town using an all-new enhanced combat system that provides a wide array of attacks and counters. Along the way, Alex will encounter a variety of weapons to battle these horrific monsters and must also solve deadly puzzles as he uncovers the darkest secrets of Silent Hill.

Silent Hill: Homecoming also features an all-new soundtrack by acclaimed series composer Akira Yamaoka.