Silent Hill Homecoming is a solid survival horror entry in the venerable franchise, marred by a few PC-specific issues.
User Rating: 8 | Silent Hill: Homecoming PC
Silent Hill has remained one of the most famous survival horror franchises on consoles and PC. Unlike the previous installments, which were developed by Team Silent in Japan, Konami decided to have Homecoming developed by Double Helix in the US. Released for Xbox 360 and PS3 in late September, the PC version was delayed until November and is only available for digital distribution on Steam. Homecoming tells the story of Alex Shepherd, a soldier in the US Army who has recently returned to his home on Shepherd's Glen, only to discover it in a state of ruin and trapped in a perpetual fog. His mother seems to be in a catatonic state and many of the town's children seem to have gone missing, including Alex's own little brother, Josh. As he learns more about the dark hidden past of his home, Alex realizes that everything is connected to the enigmatic nearby town of Silent Hill. The story is generally well-told, dealing with thematic elements such as forgiveness and coming to terms with your past with a few twists thrown in but it just doesn't resonate enough. At times, it feels more like a side plot with minimal ties to the Silent Hill mythology. Gameplay leans toward exploration in dark, decaying environments and the Otherworld, which transforms just like in the film. There's also the occasional puzzle but some of them are rather obtuse, with no reset button so you might end up sitting there for 20 minutes or more trying to solve them. Combat is heavily emphasized, unlike the previous entries where running away was more suitable. Alex can obtain a variety of melee and ranged weapons to deal with the hellish denizens of Silent Hill. Fortunately, the knife's fast attack prevents monsters from ever fighting back and with careful dodging, you won't die too much. You'll also get upgraded versions of the weapons, making the game ever easier. The final boss fell with only 2 full clips from the shotgun. Save points are spread too far apart though and their are no checkpoints. Graphics look good but at times certain objects seem to have leaped from a PS2 game and lip-syncing isn't done too well. Monsters are well animated and show real-time damage. Sound is mixed featuring an amazing score from Akira Yamaoka but at times the dialogue volume is incredibly low, a problem specific to the PC version. The controls work well enough but pressing the dodge button (Spacebar) results in a split-second delay and monsters might get a few free hits in. There have been reports that changing the resolution or graphics options results in crashing but I did not have this. Granted, options are minimal with only resolution (presented as widescreen format) and graphic quality (medium or high, no low option). Alt-tabbing out does result in crashing though. Although some have derided the game as generic and not scary, I think Double Helix have done a good job in creating the same foreboding atmosphere from the previous entries. The game has rather high system requirements and is locked at 30 frames per second but it will run well once you exceed them. Silent Hill Homecoming is a solid entry but its marred by a few PC-specific issues, with an unexplainable delay that resulted in no optimization improvements. While you could only get the game on Steam in North America, once the download is finished, you can start the game without having Steam running in the background, basically meaning its DRM free. If you live in the EU, there is a boxed retail copy available. 
