Silent Hill: Homecoming | 
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| From: Konami
Category: Video Games
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $54.99
You Save: $5.00 (8%)
New (29) Used (9) from $42.00
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 1309
Platform: Playstation 3
Genre: horror_action_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: PlayStation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 20179
Model: 20179
UPC: 083717201793
EAN: 0083717201793
ASIN: B00149MEVY
Release Date: September 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Enter the next chapter of Silent Hill and learn the town history | | • | first silent hill game on PS3 | | • | All new next gen graphics bring silent hill to life like never before | | • | solve treacherous and deadly puzzles to learn dark secrets | | • | features an all new soundtrack by acclaimed series composer Akira Yamaoka |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Follow the story of Alex Shepherd, who is returning to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his brother. From Shepherd's Glen to the foggy streets of Silent Hill, Alex must face the darkest of horrors in order to find his brother. Struggling with his own grip on reality, Alex must unravel the mystery behind his nightmares, discover the truth behind his brother's and father's disappearances, and confront the evil that has taken hold of his own flesh and blood.
Amazon.com Product Description
Silent Hill: Homecoming marks the debut of the renowned psychological horror series on next-generation consoles. Building upon the series' trademark foundations of atmosphere, adventure and storytelling, it introduces a frightening new and standalone gameplay experience destined to haunt the dreams of both first-time players and those with some experience wandering the famously fog-shrouded streets of the town of Silent Hill and its new sinister sister city Shepherd's Glen. 
Survive Shepherd's nightmare | 
Explore Silent Hill as Alex Shepherd.
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Battle frightening enemies.
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And the unexpectedly frightening.
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Use tools and your wits to puzzle-solve.
View larger. | The Story of a Grim Homecoming
Homecoming's story follows the nightmare turned real life of Alex Shepherd, a war veteran returning to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his kid brother, Josh. From Shepherd's Glen to the foggy streets of dreaded Silent Hill, Alex must face the darkest of horrors in order to find his brother. Struggling with his own grip on reality, it's here that Alex must unravel the mystery behind his nightmares, discover the truth behind his brother's disappearance, and confront the evil that takes hold of his own flesh and blood in the process. Improved Gameplay
Firmly steeped in the Survival-Horror genre its series has been pivotal in establishing, action in Homecoming remains based on exploration of the terrors residing in the communities surrounding Toluca lake and puzzle-solving skill as a means of surviving them. But to its credit game developer Double Helix refuses to rest on past laurels, choosing instead to include new more accessible gameplay in the hopes of gaining a new audience for Homecoming. Examples of this gameplay include:Next-Gen Visual and Spatial Features - Every sequel seeks reinvent the namesake game in their series. Homecoming does this in three ways, by adding the ability to toggle between a traditional third-person view and an action-oriented first-person view; by adding fully 3-D physics to the game, creating a realistic range of motion for any and all objects impacted by the player; and by adding transitions or "Hell States" that alter the game's physical landscape at points in the game both in real-time and via cinematics. All three actively change the way players see themselves and in the process create a whole new game experience.An Enhanced Combat System - Adding to the standard knives, axes, pipes and other melee weapons that made up the arsenal of previous Silent Hill games, Homecoming adds a wide variety of guns and explosives. Fitting with the military back-story of protagonist Alex Shephard, these weapons can be wielded in attacks weighted as weak or strong and can be strung together in combos to stun or incapacitate opponents, who can then be taken out with powerful finishing moves. With practice players can even perform evasive ducks and rolls and follow these up with counterattacks. But remember that enemy AI has also been significantly improved to compensate for your higher degree of combat prowess, and that it's not uncommon to battle multiple monsters simultaneously. Key Features: - Enter the next chapter of Silent Hill as you delve deeper in the tormented history of the town and learn of the evil that surrounds Toluca Lake.
- Silent Hill: Homecoming is the 1st Silent Hill game designed for PlayStation 3.
- From the murky fog to the ominous shadows, all-new next-gen graphics bring Silent Hill to life like never before.
- Survive the denizens of Silent Hill with an all-new enhanced combat system that gives you a wide array of attacks and counters.
- Solve the treacherous and deadly puzzles of Silent Hill to discover its darkest secrets.
- Silent Hill: Homecoming will feature an all-new soundtrack by acclaimed series composer Akira Yamaoka.
Exceptional Replay Value
Although Alex Shepherd is the only playable character in Silent Hill: Homecoming there are many other important characters--some returning from earlier games in the series--that can have a dramatic impact on the game. When interacting with these, players are given a choice in how to proceed via dialog trees. Will you take the short route letting only the search for your brother guide you or will you explore the nooks and crannies that make up the mystery of Silent Hill hidden in the small talk you share with non-playable characters? The choice is yours, with different paths providing for possible alternate endings each time you delve into the game.A Frighteningly Masterful Soundtrack
All games in the Survival-Horror genre seek to create tension and unease through sound and Homecoming does this masterfully through the compositions and sound engineering of Akira Yamaoka. Having scored the music and effects for dozens of video game titles, including all of the previous games in the Silent Hill series, Yamaoka is considered a master at using sound to illicit a response.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
Scared the heck out of me January 9, 2009
Patrick (Wisconsin, USA)
Silent Hill Homecoming is a game I love to play but almost hate to play because it scares the heck out of me. One thing it does perfectly is music and sound effects. They're brilliant. When you bump into a trash can you can hear metal screeching. Metal gates and everything just have the perfect sound effect to make you feel like you're in the game. You can hear dogs barking off in the distance and know there is something out there to get you.
The graphics are very nice. Although, I think the character models could have been a bit better. Their hair is very last gen. It's just a helmet with texture. Very little movement.
I'm not at all impressed with the combat. It's very slow and sluggish. If you're in tight quarters and a monster is right there with you, the camera can be darting all over the place and you wont know what the heck is going on. I kind of wish there were less enemies because I just don't enjoy fighting them.
I also wish there were more save points. I don't understand how a game in this day and age doesn't have auto save. Doing it manually is so annoying. And I like how in other games I can play up to a certain point and if I get tired I can quit and my progress is saved. Here, if you quit without finding a save point and saving, you could have just lost a ton of progress.
The story in Homecoming is really good and so is the voice acting. It's a game I'll enjoy playing multiple times to unlock secret stuff. Overall, good game
A Great Game January 4, 2009
Brian Martin (Houston, TX United States)
Like a couple of others here I was a bit put off woth some of the negative reviews from game mags like IGN etc. It's defintely not a 5 or a 6 game. Out of all the Silent Hills, I enjoyed this one the most. Silent Hill 4 I barely got passed the beginning before I got bored with it, and 2 was decent. I say that because people think that because Double Helix did the game, something was lost in the process. I disagree.
The game does start off a little slow. The story is a little light in the beginning, but midway through the game it starts to pick up steam. I would have loved to see a little more character and plot development. Silent Hills before would leave me perplexed at what the heck is going on story wise. I don't really like stories or games that leave it up to me to interpret what's going on.
I play games, read books, watch movies for the story a person wants to tell, not for interperting it with my imagination. The story in 5 was straight forward and progressed nicely. At first I thought it would end up ambiguous like the SH before it, but loose ends were tied up and explanations were made. I liked that. I do wish more plot and character development was had. I still don't know what the heck silent hill is after 10 years of playing the games. Is it a place for the dead, is it a cult, it it pergatory? What is it already. I guess that's half the fun of the games is that you don't really know. I would love to finally get some more clues as to what it really is though. The ending was a little meh, unless you get the "good ending", even that was a little short and light on details. Overall though I enjoyed the story.
A few complaints I heard of the combat is that it takes away from the tension of the games. Which is true in a sense, your character is much more compotent in combat, but personally I enjoyed it. While the combat system isn't terribly deep, it's fun and relativly engaging. The dodge system is nice and weapons like the axe and knife are fun to hack away monsters with. It could use some refinement though, but to me doesn't take away from what Silent Hill is like some think.
The overall presentation is nice. The box art left a lot to be desired, it intially gave the opinion of a cheaply done game. It just doesn't really tie in to the feel of silent hill. There are no CG intros and endings, which I wish developers would do more of. Like I said, the beginning is a little slow and doesn't draw you in as much as the middle, but it does a nice job. Once you get in the game though the presentation is top notch.
Audio is great as well. It isn't all ambient beats like before, you'll hear the signature Silent Hill guitars and Akira music in certain spots throughout the game, and it goes with what your character is currently doing on screen. The music is also great as well. Different types throughout and each tune is catchy and has the appropriate feel. I feel like it's the best soundtrack of the series, possibly outdone by Silent Hill 3, but better than the rest.
There are some parts throughout the game that really shine. A torture scene and a couple of others that are unique and different and you sort of wish more of those were interspersed throughout. A couple more of these moments, with a little more plot and character development would have made this game really shine. A few more psychological episodes like the torture scene would have been perfect. The music is great and the combat is fun. Overall the monster design is better than in past series. I like the nurses that are from the movie, and a lot of the monsters are just plain creepy. The previous silent hills had little monster variation and this one suffers from some of that as well. A ouple more varieties would have been nice.
One point about the "ease" that some players feel. I personally enjoyed it. I wouldn't call it easy, but I wouldn't call it difficult. It was nicely balanced to where you don't feel cheated when you die, and you never get stuck on one certain part as to put the game down and never pick it up. This is the first game in awhile that I actually finished, not because of difficulty, but because it was never so hard that I get frustrated and put the game down saying "I'll finish it later". Then later never comes and I have another game I'll never finish. Everything was made to keep the flow of the game up. Sure you'll die a couple of times, but instead of being frustrated, your challenged to try again. Mostly if a boss is difficult, it never takes you more than 3 or 4 tries to figure out what needs to be done to kill them. To me that's great because it keep things flowing. I hate dying ina game and feeling frustrated at the game and not simply my own skills. A player should never have to feel like a games limitations are what's keeping him from progressing. I feel like Double Helix did a great job in this regard.
Overall this was a great game. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it. The story was nice, the combat felt good, and the atmosphere was spot on. There are a couple of flaws here and there, but nothing worthy of a 5 out of 10 review. I think if Double Helix gets to do a sixth one, they can really make it shine if they combine some of the more tense and psychological elements of the past games with the new direction theyve brought this game. Don't listen to the naysayers and try it for yourself. I did and this is a game I've throughly enjoyed.
Real Review December 31, 2008
Zman9294
Story: Don't expect a groudbreaking story, but you will be entertained and care for the story. You also have dailogue choices to craft the story. As for scares this game has a few predictable shocks, but there will always be something to make you get creeped out.
Gameplay: The new combat system needs a quick learning curve and you may result to online hints on how to fight an enemy, but it works well. Some might hate it, but if you give it a chance you'll have fun with it.
You'll be doing classic survival horror game exploration and puzzles. Some puzzles are interesting while some will have you helplessly moving around blocks and wires. The exploration is where the game works best with hints written in blood and a map that automaticially makes notes for you. Most of your time will be spent finding a place you can't go to, fighting, exploring, fighting, cutscene, getting a new item or weapon, fighting, backtracking, cutscene, and repeat until you reach a boss, and finally story.
Graphics: The game looks great. There's not much more to say. The camera is decent, textures are creapy, animation is smooth, and so on. You may want to turn your sound all the way up because the game is noticably dark with only your flashlight. Sound is where the game excedes with excellent music to fill any scene.
Design: The game has multiple endings depending on what you say during story dailogue options. The game will also encourage another playthourgh with an unlimited ammo gun and and a saw when you start your next playthrough. You may want to play again so you can easily defeat the enemies that kept killing you but the other endings are best seen on the internet instead of playing the game over and over again
Overall: 8.5/10
Story:9/10
Gamplay: 8.5/10
Graphics:8.5/10
Design:8/10
Pleasantly Surprised December 30, 2008
Christopher Deweese (Kansas City)
Silent Hill: Homecoming came with a lot of hype and proved to underwhelm several critics and regular folks. However, I went into this with an open mind and not expecting much. What I came away with was a surprisingly good experience. I really enjoyed Silent Hill 2 and Origins (I also liked the movie), so I guess I'm a fan. Homecoming actually has a pretty compelling story, nice graphics, and decent mechanics. It didn't really scare me or creep me out that much, but I found myself really drawn to the story and anxiously awaiting the next tidbit of info to unravel the mystery. Graphics are very grainy (more so than the usual fog-laden environments). Character animations and cut scenes are very good. Spoken dialogue isn't too cheesey. Controls are pretty good, but there were times when it took forever to line up with a door to get that "open" option to pop up. The score and sound effects definitely served to heighten the tension. Puzzles aren't too challenging, but they aren't a walk in the park either. I think if you like survival horror you will find something to like in Homecoming. It's definitely worth a rental or purchase used.
 Writers take note!!!! Absolutely brilliant!!! December 27, 2008
M. Howitzer (East Coast U.S.)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Absolutely brilliant on multiple levels of artistic excellence! A wonderful and compelling addition to an already radiant series.
My highest recommendation goes to Silent Hill 5!
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