The original Silent Hill was, upon its PSOne release, the finest example of gaming horror to date. It was far more innovative, emotionally charged, and spooky than Resident Evil and its innumerable clones. For many gamers, the game brought the precepts of Japanese horror to light for the first time. Now, of course, all those fatalistic clichés of J-horror are played out, and the series has never managed to reach the heights of its start. So, Konami should be commended for handing the reigns of the series off to a fresh, non-Japanese developer.

Soldiering On Through Horror

In this case, the developer is Double Helix, an offshoot of the Collective, whose pedigree unfortunately consists mostly of licensed third-person action adventure games like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the DaVinci Code, and other similarly middling money makers. Thankfully, however, their first title under the new name is a satisfying addition to the Silent Hill franchise, and easily one of the best in the series.

Granted, hardcore fans of Japanese horror might not agree. Double Helix hasn't reinvented the wheel in Silent Hill: Homecoming, but they have changed and streamlined enough of the gameplay, combat, and controls that the game feels more like an American remake than a sequel. The story is definitely familiar country, though.

You take the role of Alex Shepherd, a Special Forces soldier returning to his hometown of Shepherd’s Glen. It seems Mr. Shepherd keeps having horrible nightmares about his kid brother, Josh, and feels the need to check on him. What he finds is a very real nightmare of a ghost town where most of the population is missing, monsters are roaming about, and the evil of a certain neighboring town called Silent Hill is seeping in.

The game moves between Shepherd's Glen, Silent Hill, and of course, the alternate nightmare world, as Alex struggles to unravel the horrible secrets of the town's founders. The story isn’t particularly original, and there are no great surprises, but it still makes for a very involving journey into the macabre.

Homecoming nails the traditional Silent Hill look as well. The alternate world has that gritty and grainy film and the oppressive, ubiquitous fog that covers the towns will make long time fans feel right at home. Creature designs are gorgeously grotesque, though the human characters look a bit too stiff. The visuals are nicely done overall, yet don't scream next gen. Alex's flashlight is required through most of the game, but the lighting effect seems haphazard, leaving you with incredibly poor visibility at awkward times. The audio is excellent, with a wonderfully moody score on par with the prior games, solid voice acting, and especially spooky ambient noises and creature effects.

Combat-Able

Where Homecoming deters from the previous game is both in its protagonist and its combat mechanics. Alex is, unlike any other Silent Hill victim, a fighter. He's proficient with melee and fire arms. It's here that the biggest arguments over Homecoming will come in. For the most part, Alex manages to be more imposing in a fight than most of the monsters, which is a radical change for the series and twists the horror to focus less on creatures and more on the story and mood.

Alex has a strong and weak attack, and can (finally) target, dodge and counterattack. This means that if you're quick enough, you can take out the ghoulies without them laying a claw/razor/scalpel on you. The controls are tighter and combat is no longer the clumsy and muddled affair it's always been.

The design is also more focused. Whether as a direct result of the Room's insistence on obscurely going back and forth between locations, or merely the result of an American developer trying to hit a wider market, Homecoming is much more linear. While you can explore the levels for hidden goodies, health, and extra ammo, there are few spots where you'll be wandering aimlessly wondering what to do next.

The puzzles are generally pretty straight forward as well. With a couple exceptions, most of the brain teasers are surprisingly simplistic. Even the boss fights on the normal difficulty level should be manageable to most gamers.

Welcome Home

Thankfully, the game manages to be worth more than the sum of its parts. The controls are the best they've ever been, and combat is actually tolerable this time. That said, you're still better off avoiding fights whenever possible, especially during the few annoying sections that continually respawn creatures. Gun play is viable now, and Alex makes a refreshingly different hero for the series. It's not particularly scary, but the atmosphere of Silent Hill is still firmly intact, and this is easily the best horror-themed game we've seen lately.

Review by: Jason D'Aprile