At Konami’s NYC Media Tour, I had the opportunity to sit down and play Konami’s latest iteration of their survival horror franchise Silent Hill, titled Silent Hill: Homecoming. I had high hopes that the franchise could bounce back from 2006’s subpar Silent Hill movie, and judging by what I saw, Silent Hill is definitely back.
This is the last console SH title since SH4 on the PS2, and the first on the PS3 and 360, so developer Double Helix from Irvine, CA wanted to be sure to take their time and ensure that the franchise is fully represented and true to its roots on the next-gen consoles. They used elements from the movie and prior SH titles like the eerie atmosphere and disturbing nurses, as well as the fan favorite Pyramidhead character that has a large pyramid shaped mask with no eye holes and arms for knives. The Havok engine was utilized to achieve the graphical quality the developers were striving for.
The story picks up with Alex Shepard who is a returning war vet, and he comes home to his hometown of Shepard’s Glen to investigate the disappearance of his brother. Everyone in the town has disappeared and it is up to you to find out what happened find your missing brother and father and solve the mysteries behind his nightmares.
The AI of the monsters in Homecoming has been enhanced significantly. Your enemies will be able to seek you out by sight, movement, and sound, which can work to your advantage if you want to hide in a dark corner to regain health if you are wounded. I tested this out by smashing out a window and hopping into a hospital room where a sexy nurse with plenty of cleavage showing and a horribly disfigured face was stumbling around in the dark. With my flashlight on (which you will need- most of the areas are dark), the nurse awkwardly stumbled towards me, clicking her high heels as she slowly and unevenly approached. I ran to another dark corner and she began to follow me, but when I clicked the flashlight off, she stopped in mid-motion, with her bodily unnaturally slumped over and her arms dangling over her head. It seems this light sensitivity thing really works as she stayed frozen in that motion until I turned the light back on.
The combat system has been reworked to make fighting more fun than bothersome. There are two different attacks you can perform and you can pull off combinations by hitting specific sequences. My knife fight with one of the nurses was rewarding as my rapid slices created real-time bloody cuts across her torso, arms, and legs. You can also block using some melee weapons and you can interact with the environment such as using an ax to chop down some doors. Heeere's Johnny! Other weapons that you can pick up include daggers, lead pipes and range weapons like 9mm guns, shotguns, and more.
There are multiple boss and sub-boss battles that you will encounter. One boss called Sepulcher, is a fiend suspended in mid-air by larvae rope. Once you cut him down from his giant meat sack he will wake up and charge after you. You can hurt him by chopping at his hands when they reach to strike you; each boss will have his own specific strategy to defeat them.
Throughout the game you will encounter a series of dialogue trees when you talk to people, and your different answers will affect how much of the story is revealed, and clues for finding hidden areas. Although the game is linear, there will be multiple endings depending on the direction you choose and there is an estimated 15-20 hours of gameplay.
The HUD is minimized to give the feel of a horror movie- pressing the shoulder buttons brings up the items and weapons list. The camera is from a third person perspective, and when you aim your weapon the camera shifts out and up to give you a better view. Once in a while, you will see a funky symbol in bright neon green engraved on the wall—that’s the developers hint for you to save the game because something is going down.
I didn’t encounter any load times while I was playing; there are only brief load times when going from area to area. I did come across a few ‘holy sh!*’ moments while playing like when a wheelchair came out of nowhere and came crashing down the stairs, or when these weird bug-like creatures came crawling at me and after stomping a few to death with my foot, one jumped on my face and eventually killed me after I was unable to shake it off.
Silent Hill: Homecoming was easily the most exciting game of the show with impressive graphics, great sound and atmosphere, and tight combat controls. Horror fans won’t have to wait long as the ship date for the PS3, 360, and PC is September 30th.
Comments
Posted by
zomgzwtfbbq
on Oct. 27, 2008 "Jesus, this place if FULL of morons." Well, obviously you're still here so one more moron to add to the mix. :o
Posted by
feyleon
on Oct. 9, 2008 "Hey moron...Silent Hill 4: The Room was the last game in the series. Maybe you fail at Math, but the jump from 3 to 5 should've been a huge clue, even for an idiot." What about the prequel 'Silent Hill: Origins' (released for the Sony PlayStation Portable in 2007, and in March 2008 for the PlayStation 2)? 'Origins' is actually the last game in the series before 'Homecoming'.
Posted by
Luke
on Sep. 21, 2008 I believe almost all of those games were noted for having exceptional graphics and realism...especially Oblivion. Seriously, just read about it: http://www.havok.com/content/view/72/57/
Posted by
Luke
on Sep. 21, 2008 Havok’s 3D software powers online worlds for Linden Lab’s Second Life, and well known games such as BioShock, Stranglehold, Halo 2, Half Life 2, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Crackdown, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, MotorStorm and more.
Posted by
Luke
on Sep. 21, 2008 Right, it is a physics engine, which enhances the realism of clothing garments, vegetation, hair, etc. To create better animated and graphically appealing characters or environments. Still helping to enhance the game's graphics.
Posted by
THWIP71
on Sep. 21, 2008 @ Luke..
Um, no...that's just CLOTH physics. Jesus, this place if FULL of morons. :o
Posted by
Luke
on Sep. 20, 2008 Actually, there is a product called Havok Cloth™, which is a new platform-optimized runtime and toolset that dramatically increases the realism of game characters and environments. Hence, enhances the graphics. Make sure you do thorough research before yo
Posted by
THWIP71
on Sep. 20, 2008 And, BTW...
"The Havok engine was utilized to achieve the graphical quality the developers were striving for. "
No, Havoc is a middleware PHYSICS engine, which has NOTHING to do with these CRAPTACULAR graphics. Seriously...did you just get into vid
Posted by
THWIP71
on Sep. 20, 2008 Hey moron...Silent Hill 4: The Room was the last game in the series. Maybe you fail at Math, but the jump from 3 to 5 should've been a huge clue, even for an idiot. BTW, this game is garbage, and looks like a PS2 title.
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