Ever since my first encounter with Silent Hill 2, something about this survival-horror franchise really got to me. Not that running from zombies wasn’t terrifying when I played the original Resident Evil — it’s just that Silent Hill’s themes of sin, punishment, and forgiveness (not to mention the nightmarish abominations) drew me in on a deeper level. While I’ll always associate earlier series games with clunky combat, hard-to-follow stories, crappy camera positions, and load times between every room, those imperfections became synonymous with the franchise for me — even endearing. What can I say? We love games for their flaws and their strengths alike.

With Silent Hill: Homecoming, everything’s changed. So many of my associations with the franchise simply aren’t applicable anymore: The clunky controls are now streamlined, combat’s much more intense (at times, a little too intense), and the storyline — for once — makes clear-cut sense. None of this is bad, just…different. Very different.

For starters, combat’s now a dance of sorts, with a dodge (yes, a dodge!) mechanic available to narrowly avoid enemy attacks. Sure, you can still swing away at enemies, but this often results in taking too much damage yourself. And while you might feel empowered by the new battle system at first, it’s also incredibly frustrating when fighting more than one monster at once. I simply could not effectively dodge multiple enemy attacks, and even when running, I had to chug an unacceptable amount of health drinks (due to aggressors’ parting swipes). Granted, I could circumvent this once I armed myself with a gun, but with bullets so scarce, I often wound up using firearms as a desperate last measure. I’m not saying combat should consist of simple 1-on-1 encounters, but part of a great survival-horror experience is the ability to safely run when things get too hairy.

While Homecoming’s combat system has its growing pains, I wholeheartedly endorse the new camera and movement controls. You move with one analog stick and control the camera with the other, which enables you to manipulate the view with far more precision than ever before. Moreover, your character can now strafe, which really helps cement the more action-centric focus. I’m sure some Silent Hill fans will miss the cinematic angles when entering an unknown area, but this should pass — the new camera and controls do little to detract from the atmosphere in the long run.

Homecoming stays true to the macabre Silent Hill atmosphere without feeling stagnant. Exploration’s perfectly in line with previous games, complete with tons of locked doors, decaying structures, and doubling back between the real world and its hellish counterpart — but some little nuances intrigue. In the older games, you either went through a door, or it was too damaged to bother with (or simply locked). Now, though, you might have to hack through a wood-blocked door or find a damaged wall where your character can slip through into an adjacent area. Doors are also no longer bound to loading screens; most allow you (and enemies) to pass through in real time. All this goes a long way toward establishing a feeling of actually exploring a decaying environment, and it makes much more sense than exploration restrained via broken locks.

While Homecoming’s look and feel are in line with Silent Hill, the narrative’s much clearer. It still deals with familiar series themes (love, forgiveness, sin, redemption), but it’s also the most straightforward story to date. By the time I reached one of the game’s multiple endings, I had a clear understanding of exactly what happened, and why — leaving little for me to think about afterward — whereas previous games were incredibly nuanced and downright confusing, no matter which ending you received.

Homecoming developer Double Helix has stayed true to the series’ foundation while also taking steps in a brave new direction; they’ve crafted a tale that stands well within franchise lore, and they’ve produced horrifically beautiful environments, occasional framerate drops aside. If Double Helix learns from their mistakes here — combat balance being the most glaring issue — their future work could rival the series’ best. Homecoming definitely fits well within the franchise, but it also left me eager to see what’s next, as this is clearly only the first step in Silent Hill’s next evolution.

Source: 1UP.com

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