Silent Hill Homecoming Review

By Kristan Reed Published 28 November, 2008

Shepherd's delight?

Version tested: Xbox 360

After the enduring majesty of the first three Silent Hill games, it's now more than five years since Konami's survival-horror lynchpin stood shoulder to shoulder with the most vital, relevant brands in gaming. With the slight disappointment of The Room, followed by the curious and controversial decision to farm out the development of the underwhelmingOrigins to UK studio Climax, expectations for Homecoming have been dampened for some time. Again farmed out, this time to the US-based Double Helix, fans were expecting another frustrating compromise. And so it proves.

In almost exactly the same way that Silent Hill Origins dared not stray from the formula, Homecoming is guilty of paying homage to the series to a restrictive degree. And while the game is mostly successful in its attempts to ape the cloying atmosphere and visual grime that made the originals so disgustingly alluring, its obsession with ageing gameplay mechanics and bygone design quirks means that it feels regressive and out of touch. Double Helix has - by its own admission - been tasked with making a solid, faithful continuation, rather than building on what's gone before in any meaningful way, and the familiarity often breeds contempt.

As ever, Homecoming's about a man haunted by his past. In this case it's Alex Shepherd, a 22-year-old returning to Shepherd's Glen after a spell in military hospital. Troubled by dreams of his younger brother Josh, he returns to discover his mother almost catatonic, and the town largely abandoned, save for a few frazzled individuals also on the hunt for loved ones. Typically for a Silent Hill game, the whole place is shrouded in fog, entire streets have been ripped apart by what looks like an earthquake, and crazed, disembodied creatures lurch out of the gloom with a peculiar desire to eat your face.

'Silent Hill Homecoming' Screenshot 1

The boob job wasn't quite what was advertised.

The gameplay, once again, is a fine balance between exploration, puzzle-solving and tense combat, and anyone vaguely familiar with past Silent Hill titles will note that the fundamentals are as they were eight or nine years ago. You pick up a map of your immediate vicinity, traipse to a designated location, mine it for objects, ammo and health items, and laboriously try every door until you find someone to talk to. Along the way you digest numerous passages of text, and, of course, you stumble across puzzles of varying levels of obscurity. Figuring them out will require the placement of objects in the correct order, or shifting puzzle pieces around. And so it goes.

There are a few concessions to modern action games, like the camera and control systems, both of which have been given a subtle overhaul. The most obvious change is the removal of static camera angles, replaced with a standard two-stick movement/camera system, although it's stiffer than it is in other, faster-paced action games. As with Origins, you can easily target-lock, and whack seven shades out of your hideous foes without any trouble.

'Silent Hill Homecoming' Screenshot 2

Finding flared cuffs presented a few fashion challenges.

That said, enemies are more vicious and unrelenting in Homecoming, and to compensate you're given a handy dodge/block manoeuvre, as well as a strong or fast attack. Rather than simply hacking away like before, combat is more skillful, and requires mastery of defensive timing and counter-blows. You also get a few rare opportunities to wield firearms, but in true survival-horror style, your ammo is so painfully limited that you save firing a shot in anger for when you absolutely need to: climactic boss battles, and when you're on your last sliver of health.

On the whole, though, while the combat infuses a suitable amount of tension, it's tension borne out of never feeling quite in control, rather than anything particularly clever. Once you adapt to the stiff aiming and predictable attack patterns, you realise most of the monsters are not only quite dim-witted, but not all that tough to beat. And whether or not you buy into the idea of controls deliberately crippled to amp up the fear factor, we can probably all agree that old-fashioned save systems that involve trudging around for ages should be locked in a cellar and left to die.

Another minor disappointment is how the game looks. When Silent Hill 2 shambled onto PS2 in 2001, it was one of the best-looking games ever, with incredible facial detail and an artistic style that set an impressive benchmark. Double Helix barely matches it, falling short in the same ways Origins did. The environments are alright, with richly detailed, disgusting grime and devastation at every turn, but when it comes to modelling human faces, Homecoming is so far off the techniques Team Silent developed that it's hard not to be disappointed. Instead of beautifully rendered avatars during narrative moments, we're served close-ups of characters rendered in-engine, who are nowhere near as striking. Lip-synching techniques and transitional animations could both be better, and overall it simply looks a bit rushed.

By contrast, most of the monsters in the game are obscenely excellent, with all manner of grim apparitions delighting in their hideousness. But for every positive, Homecoming harbours another slight disappointment. One of the most crucial elements of any Silent Hill game is the characterisation and narrative, and sadly it never finds its feet. Alex Shepherd's search for his brother has potential, but you never feel the same sense of bewilderment and intrigue that made previous Silent Hill titles so otherworldly. If anything, the main criticism of the story is that it plays it too safe. Before you've even got to know several characters, they're slain by hideous monsters before your eyes. It lacks the subtlety of old.

The resolutely linear nature of the gameplay, as well, is a throwback. There are so many possibilities for a Silent Hill game set in a more expansive environment with multiple threads running concurrently, with a more fleshed-out cast, but that's never the case here. Instead, Shepherd's Glen is not only smaller than previous Silent Hill environments, but less interesting. The number of locations feels reduced, and therefore the capacity for the game to surprise the player is lessened as well. It's too stripped-down for its own good.

'Silent Hill Homecoming' Screenshot 3

Having an arm for a nose has its advantages.

Fortunately, the audio remains as resolutely excellent as ever. Akira Yamaoka contributes more than 70 minutes to the game, and retains an atmosphere as oppressive as you'll find. As well as his trademark guitar-lead pieces, some of the more mind-warping compositions create an almost unbearable ambience. Some top-quality voice-acting also carries Homecoming through sections where the game itself is treading water - or just retreading old ground.

Konami has taken a big risk in turning one of its most treasured series into a franchise property, and it's hard to be too critical of Double Helix for essentially doing what it was commissioned to do, because Homecoming respects the legacy and approximates the things fans want. But in the same way you wouldn't accept Metal Gear Solid or Pro Evolution Soccer taken from Kojima Productions or Konami TYO and given to a contractor with no background working on them, Silent Hill fans won't be thrilled about this. Maybe Team Silent is quietly beavering away on something new, which is going to blow us away again, but until then horror fans must make do with this fairly decent cover version.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (59) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mcmonkeyplc #1 3 years ago

    Resi goes from strength to strength this goes from shit to shit.

  • vegard #2 3 years ago

    maybe worth testing if you've never played these games before? i sure haven't, and i'm looking for a good scare....dead space maybe?

  • Retroid #3 3 years ago

    Oh.

    :(

  • itamae #4 3 years ago

    maybe worth testing if you've never played these games before? i sure haven't, and i'm looking for a good scare....

    Get a PS2 and Silent Hill 2&3, on the double!
    Edited by 1 at 28/11/08 @ 14:12

  • Evolution #5 3 years ago

    "US studio Climax"? UK-based I'm afraid :(

    EDIT: *sheds a tear for the Silent Hill series*
    Edited by 1 at 28/11/08 @ 14:16

  • menage #6 3 years ago

    "or Pro Evolution Soccer taken from Konami TYO"

    Isn't that a bad example nowadays? It didn't look that hot this year.

  • clean515 #7 3 years ago

    I loved every second of the game, yes it wasnt totally like the old silent hill games but still a very damm solid game, the story was really good, the combat got better without getting boring and repetive (RE4) and the graphics were mostly good.

    I really dont get all the negative reviews.

    It's nearly like the good old adventure games, everything still got a greater meaning and all the creaturs and locations symbolises stuff to the story... Made me scared which no game has managed to this gen yet (dead space and siren).

    A 8.5/10 from me
    Edited by 3 at 28/11/08 @ 14:19

  • clean515 #8 3 years ago

    retibra : dead space is better in gameplay yes... Completely failed to make me scared, the story was boring and you always knew when and where the monsters would come from... Not to mention they were so ugly you would only laugh at them "oh i'm a giant stick monster" and sound design SH wins easily in.

    I was horrible dissapointed in dead space, mostly because i thought it would be scary... I still enjoy old adventure games with not much gameplay so SH wins for me. The atmosphere and story is enough for me.
    Edited by 2 at 28/11/08 @ 14:23

  • kangarootoo #9 3 years ago

    "And whether or not you buy into the idea of controls deliberately crippled to amp up the fear factor"

    I don't. Frustration is not the same as fear, and fear generated through a loss of control (in a more general sense) is a bit of a one trick pony. It is much scarier to feel that there IS nothing you can do, rather than just feel you are not ABLE to do what is possible to save yourself.

  • kangarootoo #10 3 years ago

    @vegard

    Silent Hill 1 is scary as feck, but it probably looks somewhat dated now. Condemned was pretty scary at times, but overall not as strong a title.

    Siren is quite good, if you have a PS3.

  • coomber #11 3 years ago

    Game is out in February, grinderhouse. This is an oddly-delayed import review.

    Seems the biggest complaint is that it was too much like previous Silent Hill games. I'll take that!

  • muziksoulchild #12 3 years ago

    I bought this on PS3 when it was released in the states after recently buying the Silent Hill collection for PS3 (backwards compatible), I couldn't wait for the next-gen version... I was disappointed. I have to agree with alot of what this review says, also this series for me has always been about the narrative, SH1, 2 & 3 it really is on point, SH2 story still lingers while Homecoming story is very forgettable and not engrossing at all. Bring back Team Silent! What happen to them anyway? I heard some worked on Siren Blood Curse (in my view a better game than homecoming)...

  • El_MUERkO #13 3 years ago

    "Maybe Team Silent is quietly beavering away on something new, which is going to blow us away again, but until then horror fans must make do with this fairly decent cover version."

    or maybe they've lost their edge like so many other developers

  • JetSetWilly #14 3 years ago

    Ouch.

  • ZuluHero #15 3 years ago

    No surprises. I said this as soon as they went with a western developer. On saying that though, I checked out of the Silent Hill hotel part way through 4 and haven't looked back. I won't be vacationing there again.

    At least i can cherish the memories of the first 3...

  • jade2001 #16 3 years ago

    Reviews say Silent Hill 4 was rubbish and I absolutely loved it so I don't pay attention to Silent Hill reviews. In the US...The Silent Hill fans loved it so I'm more inclined to listen to them tbh.

    RE blows - not scary is it? RE4 wasn't anyway - just blooming tedious. One thing Silent Hill has that RE doesn't - Akira Yamaoka - the king of atmosphere - and he was a consultant on this game.

    I'm still looking forward to this...and Alan Wake.

  • space_ace #17 3 years ago

    should be good for 6-10 £ then

  • Muddtallica #18 3 years ago

    kangarootoo: "Frustration is not the same as fear, and fear generated through a loss of control (in a more general sense) is a bit of a one trick pony. It is much scarier to feel that there IS nothing you can do, rather than just feel you are not ABLE to do what is possible to save yourself."

    I'm glad I'm not the only one feels this about the survival horror genre. Many designers seem to consider their mission to be accomplished if they can get the player to feel tense, but there's a difference between the tension you feel when you're excited and involved in an atmosphere, and the tension you feel when you're being forced to perform an arbitrarily arduous task. One is transporting and enjoyable, and takes skill to construct and evoke; the other is frustrating and annoying, and can be accomplished by any idiot. I remember excitedly renting Silent Hill 2 back in the day, on the back of strong reviews; I was alone in an empty house, with all the lights turned down, ready to immerse myself in psychological horror...for all of half an hour, whereupon I gave up in an irritated strop after trying and failing to enjoy the experience of controlling a character with the handling and mobility of a tank. Since then, I've given the whole genre a wide berth, with the exception of Resident Evil 4, which was more of an action game anyway...
    Edited by 1 at 28/11/08 @ 14:56

  • Grom #19 3 years ago

    Team Silent don't exist anymore FFS

  • MattyD #20 3 years ago

    RIP Silent Hill.

  • clean515 #21 3 years ago

    Most of them still works inside konami on PES and MGS so there is a chance...

  • GamesConnoisseur #22 3 years ago

    I played up to the large boss monster in the circluar room next to the lobby in the hotel in Silent Hil town, not yet progressed further past that stage. But have to agree that its certainly not memorable, wanted to like the game but doesnt recall to me SH2 on PS2.

    Siren Blood Curse and Dead Space are both also in my view a bit better offering for the PS3 owners, SH Homecoming is still not too bad, but more for the fans. 7/10 so far for me.

    Review is pretty much on the ball, sadly.

  • jade2001 #23 3 years ago

    Blood Curse was brilliant....Now that is a good Horror franchise. If anything is to overtake Silent Hill in the horror stakes then this is it.

  • IneptPercy #24 3 years ago

    Thats good enough for me, probably go with the PC version.

  • spudsbuckley #25 3 years ago

    This game was actually good. 6/10 is just a stupid score.

    It'a a bit more combat-based that previous SH titles but it's still really good. This is coming from a fan of the series who has played all of them including Origins (which was treated unfairly by critics as well).

    I think that a lot of peoples problem is it wasn't made in Glorious Nippon like the others. Stupid dev-fanboys. The same thing would happen if the next Resident Evil was made in the US or Eu.

  • johnny_death #26 3 years ago

    The first SH game is the best one IMHO.

  • PameBoy #27 3 years ago

    Sigh. Another example of a developer completely missing the point of what made a game good in the first place.

    Look at these monsters. It's like the developers don't even know that the basic premise of the Silent Hill mythos is that the monsters are manifestations of the character's own disturbed mental state. Hence the weird, sexualised, bondage-themed, vulnerable, monsters-raping-other-monsters repression of Silent Hill 2 (the sexy nurses were James' warped, guilty fantasy, they weren't in SH1 and now they've been in every game since for absolutely no reason), and the huge, brutal, oddly phallic and decidedly not so vulnerable monstrosities of SH3. Look at these screenshots. What the hell is that leather-bound, arms-coming-out-of-his-face monster supposed to represent? And what part of this character's damaged psyche is worried about spidery mannequins? If this guy's been in a warzone, there would have been a massive potential for giving him warlike, destroyed enemies, like landmine victims with no apparent limbs, warped suicide bombers or whatever. There could have been potential for some kind of commentary on the devastated emotional state of someone who's seen the horrors of real, modern war, up close.

    Bottom line: Silent Hill 2 was better than Jacob's Ladder, or any other horror movie I've seen. The subtlety, the rich emotional content. It was one of the very, very few games I can hold up to a non-gamer and say "Look. See? This is what games have the potential to be". Silent Hill 2 was a genuine, honest-to-god work of art. This? This is just a videogame.
    Edited by 1 at 28/11/08 @ 15:32

  • jade2001 #28 3 years ago

    Silent Hill 4 strayed away from the Silent Hill formula and that got slated too - you cannot win with these critics.

  • gonzax #29 3 years ago

    i can´t agree with this review. Homecoming is great, far better than The Room or Origins, even better than SH3. It could have been better with a better combat system and maybe taking some more risks but as it is it´s a fantastic SH game. The new camera works very well and story is as good as always. I think reviews are being quite unfair with the game, to be honest.

  • PameBoy #30 3 years ago

    Jade - SH4 wasn't a Silent Hill game. It was a game using an original IP that got the Silent Hill name tacked onto it at the last minute.

  • jade2001 #31 3 years ago

    I'm perfectly aware of that...it doesn't mean it's crap though does it. And it was done by Team Silent anyway.

  • PameBoy #32 3 years ago

    No I'm just saying that's why it got bad reviews - putting "Silent Hill 4" on it and marketing it to Silent Hill fans was bound to make people say "urgh, this isn't Silent Hill! Get it away from me! 5/10". Ironically it would have done a lot better if it didn't have Silent Hill on the box.

  • Bragelonne #33 3 years ago

    I don't particularly want the Silent Hill franchise to be re-invented, so this is a purchase for me.

    It'll be nice to get back to exploration rather than fending off irritating ghosts or escorting NPCs past invincible enemies.

  • XdarXideX #34 3 years ago

    I stopped reading after the reviewer complained that the game sticks too closely to the previous games' mechanics. To be honest, if you want an action shooter that has nothing to do with Silent Hill, you can have Resi5. Leave Silent Hill alone. The suped up action clearly robs the game of its dangerous atmosphere as you can now commando roll and grapple with enemies. Resi 4 had almost no atmosphere and wasn't the slightest bit creepy or scary.

    Silent Hill is meant to be a survival horror game (for the record, Dead Space -although I love it- is not meant to be a survival horror in the traditional sense)

    Also, personally I thought Origins was a pretty good effort. Same goes for 4 which has the scariest feel to it in my opinion. Leave Silent Hill alone, it doesn't need fixing, just a decent team developing it.

  • jade2001 #35 3 years ago

    I see your PameBoy...It's a shame that that is the case though because it is a really good game.

  • miiiguel #36 3 years ago

    Don't know nothing about that February release. I have mine on pre-order from Amazon and it says 26/December.

  • clean515 #37 3 years ago

    PameBoy : have you actually played homecoming ? All the creatures actually symbolises stuff and so does all the enviroments and crap.

    I'm a fanboy of SH but i really think this is better than SH1, The room and Origins.... And pretty much as good as Silent hill 3.

    Anyway diffrent taste i guess, i really really like homecoming and i think people should give it a try before saying it is crap just because eurogamer and ign didnt like it... I guess there is no place for this kind of games anymore where you dont

    1. Play a sport.
    2. Kill a zombie every 2 sec
    3. Play it in fps
    4. Want to play through the game because of the story
    Edited by 2 at 28/11/08 @ 16:41

  • actionfitz #38 3 years ago

    "maybe worth testing if you've never played these games before? i sure haven't, and i'm looking for a good scare....
    --
    Get a PS2 and Silent Hill 2&3, on the double!"
    --

    ...and throw in an old xbox, with 'Fatal Frame' too - bloody game nearly made me incontinent...
    small japanese girl Vs Ghosts, armed with nout but a poxy camera...
    'brown-trouser-tastic'.

  • XdarXideX #39 3 years ago

    @actionfitz - I'd say Fatal Frame/ Project Zero is much scarier than Silent Hill (even though I'm a Silent Hill Geek)... especially PZ 2 and 3... and to think people keep saying that the defenseless nature of the main characters and how you control them has little to do with the atmosphere and scariness. Project Zero, Silent Hill and even Siren are perfect examples of how to induce panic when confronted with enemies and dangerous situations and it's almost exclusively to do with the controls.

  • Agent_Llama #40 3 years ago

    Fatal Frame was far too scary for me.

    /sighs

    Silent Hill died after number 3. Origins was a fair stab but didn't do anything particularly remarkable. The less said about the disgrace that was 4 the better. I don't think any SH game will ever beat number 2 - I thoroughly agree with the sentiments voiced already about it being a piece of art (whatever that may be, let's not get into that debate here...) I just can't get excited about Homecoming. /end waffle

  • bad09 #41 3 years ago

    "Resi goes from strength to strength this goes from shit to shit. "

    Funniest thing I've heard all week - but then I am a fan of the real RE games :)

    As for Homecoming, the review is fair. It's not terrible but it's not great either. It's oozing with the SH atmosphere but with the likes of Siren and Dead Space out there Silent Hill needs to raise it's game big time (just please no reboot into a unscary arcade shooter).

  • theindustrialone #42 3 years ago

    The first SH game is the best one IMHO.

    QFT

  • PameBoy #43 3 years ago

    "Konami have been one of the least impressive developers this generation"

    Tell that to Hideo Kojima.
    Edited by 1 at 28/11/08 @ 18:54

  • spudsbuckley #44 3 years ago

    Just out of interest, have all you guys shitting on the game and saying the series died at 3 actually played this game?

  • DarkBytes #45 3 years ago

    no

  • Lazarii #46 3 years ago

    Is this region-free on 360 then?

  • Nikanoru #47 3 years ago

    I don't particularly want the Silent Hill franchise to be re-invented, so this is a purchase for me.

    If you really wanted that, then you wouldn't want Homecoming. The biggest issue for me lies EXACTLY where it strays from SH1 and 2, the linearity. I want to actually explore on my own again, coming across scenes and setpieces in corners of the town seemingly by chance, making me feel like -I- discovered them. That's what made the first two games feel immersive and real, and in turn served as contrast to the parts where you -were- restricted and locked in the belly of some dark rusty environment, lending those more weight as well.

    But when the entire game is just a long rail of narrow path after path, all that is lost and you're left with a frustrating, empty, rigid movie-like experience that hardly feels real at all. That's where SH is being re-invented ever since 3 (which was alright, but already heading in that direction), and the same can be said for almost all games these days. Just a boring as shit sequence of shooting galleries in a straight line (unless, on the other end of the spectrum, they throw you in a huge computer generated heightmap with objects randomly strewn about, and call that soulless exercise a game).

  • Picnic #48 3 years ago

    Surely one of the first rules if you want to make a really great game is don't put the following words in the title:

    1. Zero
    2 Origins
    3. Homecoming
    4. '4' (well, apart from a few games eg Resident Evil 4- although I prefer the remake).
    Edited by 1 at 30/11/08 @ 21:39

  • TRUTH #49 3 years ago

    Do yourself a favor and go get Dead Space (quality game) instead...SH has always been shit and recycled over & over again!

  • m0thr4 #50 3 years ago

    @Mudtallica

    I remember excitedly renting Silent Hill 2 back in the day, on the back of strong reviews; I was alone in an empty house, with all the lights turned down, ready to immerse myself in psychological horror...for all of half an hour, whereupon I gave up in an irritated strop after trying and failing to enjoy the experience of controlling a character with the handling and mobility of a tank. Since then, I've given the whole genre a wide berth, with the exception of Resident Evil 4, which was more of an action game anyway...

    ... yes, another action horror game in which the developer deliberately restricted the mobility of your character in order to create tension. That's why in RE4 you can't step sideways, you can't walk and shoot at the same time and when aiming your gun moves so painfully slowly.

    Personally, I managed to finish Silent Hill 2 despite the slightly clunky controls. I cannot say the same about Resident Evil 4 though... I think I got about a quarter of the way through before giving up.

  • Nikanoru #51 3 years ago

    ... yes, another action horror game in which the developer deliberately restricted the mobility of your character in order to create tension. That's why in RE4 you can't step sideways, you can't walk and shoot at the same time and when aiming your gun moves so painfully slowly.


    Yeah because jumpstrafing across the roofs of the village would've made the game so more atmospheric and exciting!

    Ugh.


    Look dude, it's not restricting movement, it's simply what the game is designed around. If Gears of War controlled like Unreal Tournament, would it be better? If all racing games from now on had sideways strafe functions like F-zero, would they be better (Gran Turismo is only hard cause it restricts movement omg)?

    Hell, why are most games restricted by this dumb thing called gravity? If I want to get over that wall, I should be able to fly over it instead of being forced to walk around it because the developer saw fit to glue me to the ground.

  • wanderingkid #52 3 years ago

    It does seem pretty lame compared to the previous games.
    Silent Hill still has a place in today's modern game world,
    it just needs a dynamite team of developers with love for the project that it had back in the day.
    When you look back; 1 & 2 were the best because they really wanted to make them. 3 was totally gripping but didn't quite have the edge of 2,
    and 4 as separate from the series as it felt, is actually a superb horror game, but overall it seemed more of a spin-off than part of the series, which I guess is what it was.
    I don't really want to talk about origins, it kind of served a purpose, a portable 'SH-like' experience I guess.

    And RE does get better, new SH instalments just make fans of the originals wince.

    Good comment Pameboy,
    all i'll say now is come back Team Silent, we still love you!

  • NonniR #53 3 years ago

    Yup I'm sort of torn between getting this game. I'm a huge fan but what I've seen of the story + the fact that the original developers aren't even creating the game.... I'm not so interested in it sadly.

    Honestly I feel that Dead Space was the only "real" survival horror game to have been released since Silent Hill 3. RE4 was much more tension-action instead of horror and SH4 was just crap (although they stated afterwards that it was supposed to be a stand-alone game not a Silent Hill game which would explain it). I've never had a PsP so I haven't tested Origins.

    Granted I have yet to play Fatal Frame games since the local gamestore went bankrupt a couple of months back and Haunting Ground + Rule of Rose are more of a psychological horror games.

    Eeehhhm, I can't remember any more "survival" horror games that I should have played by now but yeah. Maybe I'll convince some of my friends to buy Homecoming so I can test it but it's not a first-buy for me.

  • trixter©ú #54 3 years ago

    Also torn...especially since I'm a big fan of Silent Hill 2 - best in the series (I haven't played homecoming or Origins but it seems as though I'm safe)...would so much love to go back to the first time I played SH2.

    As for RE 4 - I thought it was awesome!! So was Dead Space...but SH2 just had something special about it.

  • jaspm23 #55 3 years ago

    with the scope of what can be achieved with todays technology, i think its a real shame that they seemed to have done nothing with it. as for dead space being a great game i dissagree! it just seemed to me to be a third person doom 3 with very few monster types. although i did like the gravity free sections, but that wasnt enough for me. not strickly a survival horror game i think the darkness is a surprisingly good game with great characters and good gameplay a truly next gen game
    Edited by 1 at 18/02/09 @ 17:39

  • p00ntang #56 3 years ago

    WHY WHY WHY has no-one mentioned the lack of inverted camera in this game? You can only invert the aim system! There are threads and interviews with the devekoper all over the net regarding this issue but no mention on Eurogamer... CONSPIRACY!!!

  • wanksta10 #57 3 years ago

    ive just been reading through the comments made here,
    the game has just been released and im yet to buy homecoming yet i will get round to it, regardless of what the reviews have been saying and what not
    it was good to see the amount of passion that some of us on here have for SH2 because at the time i didnt realise it but looking back now its clear for me that SH2 was the best survival horror title available then as it is now. i played through that game 4-5 times trying to get all the endings, but put simply i just truly enjoyed it, it hit me in a spot that very few a game has and the atosphere and music together scared the bejesus out of us
    i would be over the moon if ever a survival horror game is made that struck me the way SH2 did, one can only hope :)

  • jaspm23 #58 3 years ago

    "WHY WHY WHY has no-one mentioned the lack of inverted camera in this game? You can only invert the aim system!"

    is that right p00ntang not able to invert camara angles? the most important thing in any game ever is the controls!! if you have trouble with the controls in a game, then the game can become incredibly frustrating and some times unplayable. at the most crucial points in a game. when things are frantic you dont have time to think about what to do. you just react by pressing buttons that you are used to for any given action. you end up jumping instead of shooting! looking up when you want to look down etc. one game that had terrible controls was that zombie game i cant rember what it was called, you know the one set in the shopping mall. i found it totaly unplayable. why dont developers allow you to remap all of your controls. like most games do on the pc. i wasnt sure if i was gonna buy this game but now i wont not unless they fix this with a patch

  • Vandit96 #59 3 years ago

    i love this game, i got the xbox360 version and full achivements.
    I was a Silent hill fan from 1999 so this is the best francise for me.
    I just love it and will ever.
    Peace :)