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.

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.

There's a huge gap, actually. They're very advanced. I'm Japanese, and I think this is not just with Silent Hill but with the whole of the industry — I look at what American developers are doing and I think wow... Japan is in trouble."

Later he explains why he thinks his country is falling behind on the game development front, explaining that the nature of the publisher / developer relationship in Japan as well as low salaries contribute to games that need to be created fast and cheap, stifling innovation in the industry - much like we've feared would happen here for years.

So you've got pressure on these people to perform like they did when they were 20, and it's just not possible. I look at a game magazine, and I see interviews with the "important creators," like Mr. Sakaguchi. He's a great game creator, but he's not young. And I don't see many young game creators in Japan. Then I look at the west, and I see all these young guys coming up so fast, it's just amazing.

On top of that, Yamaoka explains that a lot of the tools and drivers they need to create more technologically advanced games are in English, adding translation problems even to games that are only seeing release in Japan.

Aside from shattering my ill-founded illusions about the state of Japanese game development, the interview also touches on working on the Silent Hill move, interactive music in video games, Yamaoka's CD iFuturelist, and his own musical tastes (woo PJ Harvey!)

Yamaoka Talks Silent Hill 5, Japanese Game Development 'In Trouble' [Gamasutra]

The folks at 1Up get a first look at Silent Hill 5 and man does it look great. From what I can see in the clips of the game shown throughout this piece, it's everything you are going to want from Silent Hill on a next gen platform. The scenes of Silent Hill changing to evil Silent Hill are delivered as promised, in real time while you are actually playing the game and draws directly from the method used in the Silent Hill movie. While it may have had it's faults, the film version did have a lot of interesting ways of treating the environment which translates quite nicely into the video game format. It's also nice to see that they are going back to the elements that made SH 2 the best in the series and steering away from the sometimes clunky mechanics of SH 4. If you are a Silent Hill fan, you're going to love this clip. What are you waiting for? Press play!

Our first hint about the content and style of the game is this:

I cannot say much about the development of the game but i can say we are working on a new unique idea of fear in daylight and the game will play like Silent Hill 2's psychological roots.

And what console or consoles will the game appear? Akira dodges the question:

We cannot say yet but we are hoping to carry on the plans of the earlier silent hill platforms.

Well, that sounds like it will hit the PlayStation 3, but who knows? Only Konami. Yamaoka also speaks briefly about the music and his involvement in the PSP prequel, also named Silent Hill Origins. Michael McWhertor

Japanese Magazine Famitsu interview Akira Yamaoka on Silent Hill 5 [Silent Hill Origins]