It’s sadly ironic that a game which pioneered the survival horror genre has met such a pathetic, drawn out demise. Rather than breathing new life into the great elements that made the first few titles in the series such massive successes, Homecoming is not only the final nail in the coffin but is also the host to its own rather mundane funeral, complete with an embarrassingly small turnout and those nagging relatives you’d hoped to discover had also kicked the bucket.
Players will start getting that eerie, uncomfortable feeling that Konami was aiming for as soon as they boot up Homecoming. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with the gameplay, but is rather down to the circa 1993 looking menu system.
Déjà vu, poorly disguised as terror, will continue to wash over the player as the intro cut scene finds the primary protagonist in a (startlingly original) run down, blood-soaked, scream-filled hospital. Finally, your uncontrollable trembling and girly whimpering will reach its crescendo as, fifteen minutes into the story, you realize that this is not a bad dream, but merely a bad rehash of most of the five games before it.
Following a disappointingly predictable plot revelation, players choosing to continue onwards will find themselves in Shepherd’s Glen, a small town not far from Silent Hill. Homecoming’s primary protagonist, Alex, is searching for his lost brother Josh, as well as some answers as to why the town is deserted and why there are so many bloodthirsty mutant things running about.
From here, the journey will take players on to Silent Hill and beyond, although there’s not much more that can be revealed without giving away the plot. What can be said though is that you’ll realize long before the weird cult stuff and tired twists that there’s very little to save Homecoming from itself.
The first and most obvious of the many letdowns are the embarrassingly overused horror clichés. Consequently it is difficult to take the unravelling events seriously, and, like the bald, sweaty fat guy running the one-man band at the local pub, Homecoming will try to wow you with stuff you’ve seen done before, and for that matter, done substantially better.
Adding to the already strained ‘horror’ experience are the abysmal monsters, most of which are as laughably far from frightening as a bucket full of kittens; a prime example are Resident Evil’s skinless zombie dogs that enjoy a rather uninspired cameo appearance.
On top of this generous dose of ‘meh’ is the unwelcome return of the pesky fog made famous by Homecoming’s predecessors. Sadly, the atmosphere isn’t helped by it as it was with the previous games. Because the whole experience has already been ruined by the other lacklustre attempts at compelling gameplay, the fog is just annoying and is likely to frustrate players in their quest to get the whole thing over with as quickly as possible. (On the plus side, it does a great job in concealing what are often very bland and dated graphics, so technically it’s not all bad.)
The biggest problem with Homecoming is that the chilling narrative that made the original Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 so great just isn’t there. In fact, it’s so routine and predictable that the air of mystery that is meant to keep players tied up in suspense is rendered about as useful as the aforementioned fog, and will make you think the developers pieced together the plot from various pieces of crumpled up notepad paper salvaged from Stephen King’s dustbin. Any fan of the survival horror genre will tell you that for a psychological horror title like this to work, the developers need to nail the storytelling aspect in order to make the mutants/zombies/screaming effective.
However, should you happen to pick up Homecoming in the bargain bin one of these days, or get it as a birthday present from a clearly non-gamer relative (minus the receipt), there are one or two points that may make the game worth playing for die-hard fans of the series.
The controls have been refined, and you’ll struggle a lot less with your items and your inventory this time around. The placements of items like health packs and ammo often feels thoughtless and misplaced, but if you’re a Silent Hill veteran you should know that rationing through the lean patches is a crucial tactic.
Also, the multiple endings are back, which honestly comes across as a lazy way for developers to squeeze some extra gameplay where there isn’t really any, but it does add a bit of variety. There is also the question of whether you would want to play long enough to watch each finale, but I suppose it is a small slice of redemption at the end of what is ultimately a frustratingly tiresome experience.
Homecoming is a game that delivers too little, too late. Its dated style and often unnecessary devotion to the old Silent Hill formula makes it a title that will give you the uncomfortable feeling that you’ve already somehow played through it before. With Resident Evil 5 arriving soon, you’d be far better off waiting for that or picking up a copy of the actually-scary Dead Space.
In closing, the only possible way we could recommend Homecoming is if you are planning on spending a long wait in a dentist’s office with nothing more to entertain you than a niggling toothache and pile of three year-old Huis Genoot magazines.
Even if you could manage to lug your entire gaming setup along with you, your forthcoming root canal (with an only mildly effective anaesthetic) wouldn’t be the most painful part of your day.
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