Preview: Silent Hill Homecoming

After being discharged from a military hospital, Alex Shepard catches wind of his brother’s disappearance. He returns home only to find that things have gone horribly awry. Soon Alex realizes that his missing brother is only a small portion of all the evil that has corrupted the small town of Shepard’s Glen.



What was first revealed as Silent Hill V, later became known as Silent Hill: Homecoming. It’s a little confusing, I know, but it’s still Silent Hill. This time, though, players will be in charge of a character that at least knows his way around a gun. With Alex, players will actually have a new take on the melee and combat in Silent Hill: Homecoming. The main focus of the game is still on exploration and puzzle solving. But for fans of the series who were peeved at the shallow combat mechanics, they can at least relish in the fact that there are more moves to execute and more ways to dodge then in previous Silent Hill games.

Some of the ways in which the combat has been improved includes multiple attacks, some of which can be charged. Each attack will vary with the weapon, so expect quick but weak results from the knife, but slower and deadlier results from the lead pipe or axe. Timing also plays an important part in the combat, insofar that players will need to effectively dodge enemy attacks or risked being ripped, torn or slashed to pieces. It’s not the fanciest of fighting schemes. But what's been added is effective enough to keep the horror-survival presence intact, while still providing gamers with a means to defend themselves.

Another addition to this sequel is the showing of physical damage. Where players cut, or where players get cut, will appear on the enemies and on Alex. So when cutting those deformed, yet model- shaped nurses, you’ll notice that the slashes made are reminiscent to the attacks of Alex. It’s definitely a step up from the continuous beatings monsters would take in survival-horror games and you just couldn’t tell if you were hurting the darn things. I’m just shocked it took six tries to get it right. Still, one of the cool features that they added to the monsters’ AI is that they listen and react to the environment. Considering that the game has physics-based properties, this means that if players bump into something, or knock over a fixture of sorts, a creature in the distant might hear it and become alerted. Yes, this feature is a little old, and was present way back in the hey-day of the original Doom. But an updated, next-gen, physics-based take on an old feature is still pretty cool. Right?

Anyway, Silent Hill: Homecoming is also going to contain a number of different endings based on the player’s actions. Some of these endings will actually be jocular in nature, while other endings will reflect in the way players behaved throughout the rest of the game. Hands down, this game looks very fun to play, but it’s no where near as diverse or functionally adept as the recent reincarnation of Alone in the Dark. Still, this game looks like a good hold-off until Resident Evil 5.

Silent Hill: Homecoming is due out on September 30th for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. So be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games for more info and news regarding all your favorite games, or visit the Blend Games Forum to discuss the latest gaming topics.