Silent Hill: Homecoming

[Banacek]

Just a heads up: I received this game from Gamefly the other day, and I'm sad to report that there is no invert option for the camera control. There is an invert option, but it's only for aiming with guns. That's right, if you turn on invert that means you'll have to switch back and forth between inverted and not inverted. It's very annoying. Sometimes developers make decisions that baffle me.

[Wolvie]

Got this as well today, TY for the heads up. I can't wait till the wife and kids go to bed so I can play it.

[shodan2020]

Originally Posted by Wolvie

Got this as well today, TY for the heads up. I can't wait till the wife and kids go to bed so I can play it.

Let me know what you think. SH4 was a huge disappointment for me. Started off strong, but the second half of the game totally ruined any fun I was having in the first half.

[Banacek]

Hopefully the game is good enough that I can get past the controls. I can't play until later tonight, so I'll put some thoughts up then.

[Wolvie]

Originally Posted by shodan2020

Let me know what you think. SH4 was a huge disappointment for me. Started off strong, but the second half of the game totally ruined any fun I was having in the first half.

Will do! It'll be in the A.M. hours probably, so I hope ya can wait.

Edit: also, I played SH4's demo back in the day... yeah that game sucked from the very beginning(IMO). SH:H seems to harken back to the SH1 thru 3 era, so it seems like I'll enjoy it.

[Spigot]

The thing is that SH4: The Room was never really intended to be a Silent Hill game. It had some great things going for it but at its core it was a different game with the Silent Hill name stapled onto it.

I read the Gamespy review for Homecoming and I have to say that I'm intrigued. They say that it starts off kind of sucky but once things get going, it's a worthy game to have in the Silent Hill franchise. I'll see how you guys like it and if it's skewing positively, I'll probably snag it when I get back from my trip. I have some credit at one of the local video stores and I might use it for this.

[Suave Peanut]

I had planned to rent this game for the weekend, but I couldn't find it! Someday...

I look forward to hearing everybody's impressions.

[Wolvie]

First Impressions: SH:H starts out just like SH3 did, with you in an inexplicable situation, trying to get out. This sets the foreboding mood, and had me uncomfortable and on edge, feeling dirty, and nervous. The graphics aren't going to win any awards, and in fact... remind me of Dreamcast fodder in spots.

The sound however is top notch. Anyone who dug past SH games for it's moody and depressing sounds will love this. All the ambient noise that made you jumpy in previous games is back in full disturbing force here.

Gameplay is pretty smooth, with the combat being pretty balanced for an SH game. Most fights consist of you smashing the light attack button, then bearing down with a crushing strong attack. Defensively your pretty formidable too. Dodges are a timing thing with a quick tap of the B button, affording you some breathing room in fights that just wasn't there in previous games.

From what I've seen so far, I like it. It seems rough around the edges, but seems loaded with promise. I'll have to play more and get back with ya later.

[Spigot]

I never worry about complaints about combat in a SH game because I always assume that the clunky combat is a design choice and if nothing else, it heightens the danger your character is in.

Nice to hear that the sound work is up to snuff. That's always a huge part of any SH experience.

I think I might just snag this when I get home in a week. Woo!

[Virtual Machine]

Best in the series since the second one. Very pleasantly surprised. All the talk of it being more "action-y" or whatever is just that, talk. It still feels very much like a Silent hill game.

[Tayaya]

I wrote a quick review of this on the forums at PiRi. I suggest anyone interested in the game give it a glance.... tried to answer the most basic questions about it there. Going to write a full review of it once I beat it this week. Only put about 2 hours in so far, but that's enough to get solid takes on the graphics, sound, gameplay, and performance.

[IIntrude]

Bought this yesterday. I have not played a SH game since SH 2, and so far this one is pretty darn good.

The camera is the worst part of the game, I alwasy play with inverted right sticks, and now I am constantly messing up, I will eventually get used to it, but it boggels the mind that a dev can incorporate inverted gun aim, but not inverted normal camera.

The sounds are fantastic in surround sound, I played a fer hours with my wife watching, she loves to watch horror games. All night were were hearing strange noises or menacing screams comming from all around us. The SS in the game really works well, we were jumping all night.

Graphics are pretty good, but nothing amazing. The rooms and area hoave tons of interactive objects in them, for example. We were exploring a room with lots of office equipment in it, rolling chairs, tables, standing lamps, etc. We were fighting one monster, when I accidentally backed into a tall lamp. We did not know it was a lamp right away, all we saw was a large object behind me moving at my back. It freaked both of us out, thinking it was the am of another monster reaching out.

The objects serve purpose too, not just filling the room with stuff. If the enemy is sounds sensitive, you best be sure not to bump into anything and send it skittering across the floor making a horrid racket, we did that a few times and the results were never pretty.

So far we have only encountered 4 different monster types, but each of them has been well animated and textured.

Overall, I am glad that i bought it, was needing something to hold me over till Dead Space.

[Banacek]

Originally Posted by IIntrude

The camera is the worst part of the game, I alwasy play with inverted right sticks, and now I am constantly messing up, I will eventually get used to it, but it boggels the mind that a dev can incorporate inverted gun aim, but not inverted normal camera.

Couldn't agree more. I keep messing up during combat because of the camera controls. I got used to it with FFXII, so I know I can, but it just doesn't make any sense. It's even more baffling that you can invert the combat, but not the camera. Who would do that? You'd end up more confused than anything.

Sound for the game is through the roof. I can't say enough good things about it. I suggest that you play the game with a 5.1 surround system to get the full benefit.

I personally don't have a problem with the graphics. I'd agree with Tayaya and say that they're first run 360 level of graphics. Nothing amazing, but not bad either.

The combat seems a bit too action oriented, compared to the previous games. Still not sure how I feel about that. I haven't got to any bosses yet, so we'll see.

I would easily recommend this game if it wasn't for the camera control. But since they decided not to make it adjustable I have to rate this as a rental.

[Wolvie]

Anyone who's read the IGN review needs to disregard it, since the reviewer contradict himself. The reviewer praises the game for a great story, improved graphics, sound, and controls, yet gives the game a poor score despite that.
The reviewers reasons, are supposedly the game isn't scary. Bullshit, this is classic old school SH mind fuck to the core. With the couple of hours I spent with it last night, I was tense, nervous, and jumpy the whole time.
I tried to go to bed after my play session, and had to come back out to the living room and watch some TV so my body and mind could wind down from being tense and nervous for so long.

It's not as great as SH2, but it isn't crap like SH4 either. And it sure as hell isn't a 6. More like an 8 in my book.

[Spigot]

I thought that the Gamespy review was quite even in both praising the game for what it did right and calling it on the areas that it fumbles. I think they gave it a 4 out of 5, which isn't half bad!

[Wolvie]

Yeah the Gamspy and TeamXbox reviews were more fair. IGN on the other hand... well it felt like they played the first three hours, said "fuck it" and wrote the review.

It wouldn't be the first time they did that.

[Blue]

Really appreciate the impressions everyone. While I'm not going to be picking up Homecoming for another couple of months, I'm glad that it's good enough for me to file away when the dry season hits. Love having games to tide me over after the insanity that is the holidays. And hopefully by the time I do get around to it the price will have gone down a decent amount.

[pheriannath]

I'm a good ways through it, and my only complaint is that the new combat only really holds up when you're fighting a single enemy.. When you have 3 Needlers or 5 Nurses fighting you at once, you'll be lucky to make it out alive.

Also, there's a boss fight after the section called "Hell Descent" that is pissing me off royally.

[Wolvie]

Yeah the game needs a 180 quick turn. RE and SH both had this back on the PS2, and it allowed you to tuck your tail and run when you were in a tight spot.
Running is an integral strategy in SH games, and not having a quick option for escape really hampers this aspect of the game.

[pheriannath]

Yeah. Running away (unless you had distance to begin with) usually means you're gonna lose 25-30% of your health.

The game is at its best when you're simply exploring, and when it throws 1 or 2 enemies at you, but it seems insistent on dropping you into situations where you've got to fight 3 or more baddies at once.