Let’s do without the standard "this is not that Silent Hill" today. It was high time to change something, even if we refused to dance to the tune of the fans. The Room was successfully trashed by most critics, and the prequel named Origins on PSP it seemed like a helpless fish washed ashore (well, what an atmosphere of horror when there’s a crush in the subway?) We decided to make an action movie.
The main character – Alex – is either in a coma, or has already fought back: he lies tied to a medical gurney, and somewhere above his head a silent surgeon is breathing heavily. Hospital, you can’t go wrong here. Driving past the wards, we catch our eye on all sorts of atrocities that some creatures commit on still warm and completely cooled patients. Apparently, the hero is being intimidated by a related fate. The surgeon leaves Alex and leaves. There are screams outside the door.
And it becomes somehow easier from the realization that the developers did something scary to us. Good old Silent Hill – half the doors are locked, the rest are simply creepy to enter. Because there are always some rustling noises behind the walls, and yet you are in a completely quiet safe room. And who knows, maybe this door is actually a loophole between them and the hero?
It will be a good half hour before you meet your true colors Silent Hill, and then another one. And one more thing. The game loves to change masks, pretending to be either an unrefined fool full of bugs, or a masterpiece that you wouldn’t be ashamed to show in a movie.
Closing the circuit
Actually, the mechanics are now like this: the hero calmly obeys the mouse, looks up, down, and to the sides. The usual camera position is behind your back. When it comes to a massacre, he habitually “aims” at the nearest victim and is ready to thoroughly heat him up with some sharp and compelling argument. It seems like before, but the camera has been fixed.
The change of management had a https://lotterycasinonet.co.uk/games/ more radical effect. With the former “slowness” of the protégé, the combat system, atmosphere and even the perception of the game have changed. From monsters, for example, you can simply cut circles through the halls and rooms without worrying too much about damage. The atmosphere of a nightmare from which you cannot escape was replaced by the path to the toilet after watching a horror movie – creepy, but bearable with the lights on. And it’s not scary, it’s even good. Now let’s explain why.
The series got out of self-repetition and stopped desperately holding on to the old. Yes, she remembers it perfectly: fonts, her favorite flashlight and a sensitive radio on her belt, equipment that pauses events and gives her the opportunity to delve deeply into herself. But the rest is new, and, as far as the game’s universe allows, brilliant.
Not the least role in the update Silent Hill played a feature film based on. Ironically, however, it was also not perceived by many fans of the series as having gone too far from the canons, it gave new images to everything: the classic transition into a nightmare (you remember the howl of the siren?), faceless nurses copying the sharp and clear movements of fashion models from the set, the plot, in the end.
Adventure
It’s just a shame that a lot of things weren’t worked on carefully. The combat system here is a complete mess. Imagine: in a narrow corridor, the hero encounters a nurse who knows how to carry out several types of attacks – she’ll swing a knife, she’ll do a combo, or she’ll even want to stick a weapon somewhere. The developers assumed that we would diligently dodge her blows, but the hero clearly had nowhere to turn around, and sometimes he didn’t give a damn about our orders from a high bell tower. You command him to go to the left – he tries to go behind his back and gets cut. To the right – another one. The nurse has gone into a real frenzy and it is useless to fight back – all that remains is to watch the slowly decreasing “life bar”, and then come to her senses at the pentagram checkpoint. Yes, and there is no saving at every step.
Schizophrenic but logical puzzles have given way to copies from Resident Evil 4 and inventive but tedious puzzles. For example, we need to fix the elevator, but the power is not working. It’s all about a burnt-out transformer, you just need to secure the wires properly. In words it’s as simple as shelling pears, but you would know, how much You can make them difficult to move with just two mouse buttons..
These shortcomings are basic, but by no means ubiquitous. The rest of the time we watch videos, talk with characters and explore the city. This is where the furious praises of the new part begin.
Actually, praises
Say that Silent Hill: Homecoming cinematic is an understatement. There are few heroes, but everyone actively uses facial expressions, and not just like that, but at the right moment. Barely noticeable frown. Looking over his shoulder. Runs his eyes over a familiar figure. Speaks in a well-chosen voice.
Yes, we know, the series has always been famous for its high-quality cut-scenes, but there is no coma here, a real movie with polygonal actors. And much more work was put into at least one correct camera angle than is often required in cinematography.
Second paragraph – music. Not at all different in style from the previous parts, it sets the right mood for many moments. By this we mean that the monsters in the police station will not end, and that we need to move forward from there. We panic a little while listening to it, rushing to the rescue of the hero’s friend. Under it we..
Let’s face it, it’s not the same game anymore. Another developer dictated new rules, as did the audience, tired of repetitions. "Fanservice" is there, a bold step has been taken and only the next parts will show where it will lead. Now Silent Hill: Homecoming – a good game that abandoned the old mechanics and went in search of something new.
Pros: good optimization; great graphics and atmosphere.
Cons: bad action component; sometimes too obsessive rejection of the canons of the series.