A must-play for fans of the series but gamers new to the Silent Hill universe might have an enjoyable time as well.
Gameplay (7.5) - Homecoming goes in a bit of a different direction from previous titles when it comes to combat. In older titles, the fighting was so clunky and your character was so useless that running was almost your best chance for survival. With Alex we have a soldier that knows how to use weapons and can hold his own against these monsters. Alex not only can put together combo strikes but can dodge as well. Unfortunately the combat is still a bit rough and can't compare to other games that really focus on this aspect. There were many times that Alex did not dodge or strike when I expected him to, which generally still wasn't much of an issue against the typical monsters but it did become frustrating in some of the much tougher Boss battles. This is offset a bit by the abundance of health items and gun ammo you'll find, at least on the normal difficulty. When you're not in combat or exploring you'll be solving puzzles. While I'm not generally too fond of puzzles I found most of these to be fun as they weren't too difficult and simply took a small amount of trial and error.
Graphics (8.0) - While the story is interesting, Silent Hill is really about the atmosphere. Homecoming is a pretty good looking game. It's one of those games that can be a stunning visual experience though some of the individual parts may be a bit lacking. The visual style is stunning, and draws heavily upon the older games in the series with its heavy fog and disturbing creatures. An impressive new feature is watching SH transform into its own version of Hell. Taking a cue from the movie the horns blare, the paint starts peeling off the walls which become pulsating, living things and stuff in general just get really bad. As great as these things are there still some issues. Textures are muddy and ugly in some cases, and the whole game is too dark in general. The camera is also a bit clunky in tight spaces and facial animations of the characters can be a bit off, but other than that, the game looks pretty good.
AUDIO (8.5) - The game sounds good thanks to a great soundtrack and sound effects. The score does a great job of setting the mood. Sound effects are also really well done and the mixture of small noises and big ones all work together to have you so paranoid you won't want to leave your fighting stance. Voice work is certainly above average and very believable.
Value (7.5) - I'm guessing the game took me somewhere between 12 to 15 hours to complete. It comes with the series' trademark multiple endings to discover, which adds a nice chunk of content for those that are interested. Depending on the ending you get you may receive different costumes and weapons for a second playthrough, which is an interesting touch.
SUMMARY - For those that have never played any of the games it can be difficult to describe exactly what the SH experience is. Even with all of games based on this town, it has never been fully comprehensible. No matter how you look at it one thing is for sure, Silent Hill is a seriously disturbed place. This is one of those games that seriously earns its M rating and if you are turned off by extreme violence or gore then this game is definitely not for you. In my case, while I do not like to watch movies with this type of content it does not bother me to play videogames that contain it, go figure. At any rate it's my opinion that most professional reviewers underrated this title as you'll see that most gamers gave it a higher score. Definitely recommended for fans of the series, and while I would recommend new players to try to play the older games first it's not actually necessary. If you accept the fact that combat is not its strong point and can appreciate the strong atmosphere then new players can have an immersive experience as well.