The Positives of Silent Hill Homecoming.

[JaneTheNurse]

Eh, I only ever watched the games. Never played. Too much of a wuss!

Plus, I'm too wrapped up in my own perception of it. I'd probably get upset. xD

[Granhunter101]

I actualy loved this game, the graphics, the story was better then most games, the nurses were even more sexy, Alex was a mighty handsome guy (jk), the combat was cool (the one problem being the little healthbar), although I still think pyramid should NOT have been there, it seemed like he kind of had a reason, and the graphics were AMAZING, I was realy excited to see Silent Hill on a next-gen system.I actualy loved this game, the graphics, the story was better then most games, the nurses were even more sexy, Alex was a mighty handsome guy (jk), the combat was cool (the one problem being the little healthbar), although I still think pyramid should NOT have been there, it seemed like he kind of had a reason, and the graphics were AMAZING, I was realy excited to see Silent Hill on a next-gen system.

[mumbler]

The combat was decent and I enjoyed some sections like the cemetery at times.

[Purramid_Head]

The voice acting was great. It had some of the best in the series. Cutscenes were not bad either. They were very entertaining.

[Augophthalmoses]

The combat first and foremost was the best thing it brought to the series and it allowed the boss battles to be the best in the series.

Scarlet easily being the best one. The scene before the battle, the actual battle itself, the room you fight her in, the music. Everything came together perfectly.

I actually like PH's design in this game a hell of a lot more than his SH2 incarnation. He looks more menacing.

[mumbler]

I thought he looked more menacing in the movie than he did in Homecomig.

[JaneTheNurse]

I thought he looked more menacing in the movie than he did in Homecomig.

Latex chests and platform shoes will do that. =3

[mumbler]

Yeah you're right. That's obviously not feasible when making the transition from movie to game...

[TraceBASS]

The combat first and foremost was the best thing it brought to the series and it allowed the boss battles to be the best in the series.

Scarlet easily being the best one. The scene before the battle, the actual battle itself, the room you fight her in, the music. Everything came together perfectly.

I actually like PH's design in this game a hell of a lot more than his SH2 incarnation. He looks more menacing.

I will agree, The Bogeyman's design did fit the game very well. I thought that Pyramid Head's design was supposed to be more lifelike and, I suppose, "real" to be more menacing to James' persona, as opposed to The Bogeyman's more "industrialised" look with the helmet towards Alex and his "soldier" persona.
(Does that count as a spoiler?)

[samael21walter]

I have to say, the only thing I really enjoyed about homecoming was Hell's Descent. That's it basically. The whole game felt rushed, thrown together, and it overall didn't even feel like Silent Hill (though it had nods toward the series, it more felt like it was trying to be it, but failed). The combat could be challenging....until you learn the attack patterns. I liked the old Silent Hill combat because it just wasn't as repetitive. In homecoming, once you learned the patterns, you could say goodbye to using healthdrinks for most of the game. Combat was more encouraged than discouraged (which is a big minus for me). The storyline seemed pretty rehashed, and it felt more like the guys who made the game went from the movie's setup and just read a thin plot guide for the rest of the games. The movie was an entirely different universe than the games, and trying to mix the two just...ugh. I enjoyed the movie on it's own, I enjoy the games on their own. But they do not mix. That's why when someone says they hate Silent Hill because they hated the movie, I tell them the games are completely different. Musically this game was pretty good. Akira put some great tracks on there, but it still felt dull compared to earlier soundtracks. Voice acting was still not the best in the world (like the rest of the series), but it still had that "Silent Hill" feel for the acting. Overall, to me, it felt that the developers were just rushing out something that they didn't particularly care about. The graphics...ugh, Silent Hill 3 looked better. The storyline...ugh, read above. The combat...read above again. This game might be fine as a standalone horror game, but when you put it in the Silent Hill series, it goes from "fine" to "bad...maybe horrible". It just doesn't fit.

[Augophthalmoses]

Combat in previous games wasn't any less repetitive than it was in Homecoming. After experiencing what Homecoming had to offer it's hard to go back to the old system.

[samael21walter]

It wasn't only that the combat in Homecoming was repetitive, it was that it because so routine also. Each time you see a monster you know which weapon to use and how to dodge. On the old Silent Hill games it wasn't as evident as to which weapon to use or attack a monster would do (in most cases). Also, Homecoming forced you to fight, which is a pretty bad way to go for the series.

[Augophthalmoses]

I don't know where you're getting the idea that that weapons were harder to determine usage for then Homecoming. As far as figuring out which ones were effective on which enemies it was easy. A lot of them were fairly obvious such as the Great Knife. Hell, if anything Homecoming does a better job of balancing out the weapons making some more useful in situations that others.

Take the knife for example. In previous games it was practically useless because you always had weapons that performed better but in Homecoming you can actually use it against many of the monsters with ease and effectiveness particularly because of the combo system.

Dodging and attacking when necessary has been a part of the series since its inception. Homecoming made it better by allowing you to dodge more effectively with the evasive rolls and ducks. However, they balanced this out by making you have to time the dodges instead of just pounding on the button. Previous games only allowed you to run out of the way for the most part save for SH3's blocking system.

[mumbler]

Gotta agree with both of you. The fighting system was way better than in previous games.
It is sorta being discouraged by being unforgiving at times, but at the same time they force the combat onto you as samael21walter said, so nevermind.

[Augophthalmoses]

Forcing combat on the player isn't really anything new to the series. Previous titles had just as much of it as Homecoming.

SH2 for the most part had monsters that were easy to dodge save for the Abstract Daddies. Not really the case in SH3 where there quite a few instances in which an Insane Cancer blocks a hallway or a hallway is congested with multiple Slurpers and a nurse wielding a gun. You basically HAD to kill the slurpers as they could still find even if the light was off so you couldn't sneak past them, they were nearly always in groups, and we all know how they annoying they are when they knock you down. Hell, I just finished a Hard mode playthrough of that game and the change in strategy in dealing with monsters is a world of difference from SH2.

You also spend a lot of time in buildings in SH3 and less time out in the open so you're often dealing with cramped areas on top of everything mentioned above.

So forced combat isn't really a new concept that Homecoming brought to the table. I'd say SH1 & 3 are the ones that really pressure you to kill enemies while SH2 & 4 give you more room to run away from them.

[JaneTheNurse]

Y'know, Veris? You're absolutely right.

SH4 did give you more... Room...

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[mumbler]

You're right about the difference between 1/3 & 2/4.
However there's still a big difference between the way 1/3 present their enemies and the way Homecoming does it.
Nowhere is this more apparent than when you deliberately try to avoid them a la Speedrunning.

As you said it's harder to avoid enemies in SH3, but far from impossible.
Now look at Homecoming. Combat feels a whole lot less avoidable, because the game treats enemy encounters as set pieces, rather than a constant and omnipresent threat that lurks around every corner like in SH1-4.

This leads to the conclusion that Homecoming is less atmosphere-oriented and more in the style of a (the) movie. (surprise surprise) In some way it's also less sophisticated and more like a traditional video game where it just sends you from room to room to fight the next enemy.

So all in all the combat is better in Homecoming, but I don't like the overall effect it has on the game's most important aspect: the atmosphere.

Now as far as the (for me) second most important aspect, the story, goes, it's funny to note how they explain Alex's superior physical prowess with his experience as soldier.

REVEAL SPOILER

When the absolute flabbergasting and one hundred percent original plot twist comes around and it turns out Alex was never a soldier to begin with, it's as if this whole thing was a complete after thought.

Bear in mind that was the explanation The Collective (at the time) gave for the revamped fighting system at every single interview. I've got a feeling this little aspect wasn't the only thing in the game's developement that was an after thought.

Y'know, Veris? You're absolutely right.

SH4 did give you more... Room...

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

That made me smile.

[Augophthalmoses]

This leads to the conclusion that Homecoming is less atmosphere-oriented and more in the style of a (the) movie. (surprise surprise) In some way it's also less sophisticated and more like a traditional video game where it just sends you from room to room to fight the next enemy.

This can easily be said about the previous games in the series. They weren't any different and neither is Homecoming. You're fighting and killing monsters which is just the same as the older games. The main difference is you have more moves to deal with. Not something atmosphere or game breaking at all.

So all in all the combat is better in Homecoming, but I don't like the overall effect it has on the game's most important aspect: the atmosphere.

It has less to do with combat and more to do with the overall monster designs, story, and the environments themselves. The Otherworlds felt a bit more generic than you'd expect.There aren't exactly things like the mirror room in SH3. They just lack some of those things that make you go "WTF?" like the earlier games and the monster designs needed to be a bit more creative (and stop reusing dogs and nurses for a change).

After using Homecoming's combat system there's no way in hell I'd want to go back to the old system for the next game.

[mumbler]

This can easily be said about the previous games in the series. They weren't any different and neither is Homecoming. You're fighting and killing monsters which is just the same as the older games. The main difference is you have more moves to deal with. Not something atmosphere or game breaking at all.

Nyeh, I wouldn't say that. Maybe you didn't completely understand what I meant by this:

Now look at Homecoming. Combat feels a whole lot less avoidable, because the game treats enemy encounters as set pieces, rather than a constant and omnipresent threat that lurks around every corner like in SH1-4.

What I mean by this is, in SH1-4 the monsters are part of the atmosphere. They are everywhere and you're constantly on the edge of your seat anticipating the next encounter, though not so much in a BOOO jump-in-yer-face' kinda sense, mind you.

The latter is rather the case in Homecoming while it completely lacks the former. As I said, the creators didn't know how to marry atmosphere and enemy encounters very well. So they they feel completely detached from each other.

It has less to do with combat and more to do with the overall monster designs, story, and the environments themselves. The Otherworlds felt a bit more generic than you'd expect.There aren't exactly things like the mirror room in SH3. They just lack some of those things that make you go "WTF?" like the earlier games and the monster designs needed to be a bit more creative (and stop reusing dogs and nurses for a change).

That's the other and most important aspect to why the atmosphere in Homecoming falls flat on its arse in almost every regard as far as the otherworld is concerned. The grey fog world wasn't that bad. You see I could definitely get something out of that which is somethign I can't say about the orange nightmare world. As I said already, the cemetery I enjoyed the most. Sure the foggy sections are even more boring and quite then the rest but at least that lent itself to the possible development of some *gasp* atmosphere. At least more so than any other part of the game.

After using Homecoming's combat system there's no way in hell I'd want to go back to the old system for the next game.

Then i guess you're in luck. In Downpour they actually got a reason why the main character would be a tough guy.
Whether he's guilty or not, he did serve some time in prison. At least I'm assuming what we see in the trailer wasn't his first trip to prison, seeing how his nightmare looks like one and he tells the officer chasing him that he's not going back there. I don't recall any more background information about his sentence.

Well anyway, I'd be very surprised if the combat system would end up disappointing.

[Piece0fSheet666]

You just gotta love the drill in the eye and in the neck! The graphics were good, the story was quite good although it wasn't told properly, the VA was good, the colors were a bit grey but helped the overall tone. I actually liked the fact that in some parts the game flows like a movie (aided by the cutscenes).