Silent Hill Homecoming

Silent Hill Homecoming is the sixth installment in the Silent Hill survival horror video game series, developed by Double Helix Games.^[6]The game was announced on July 11, 2007 by Konami at their E3 press conference, and was originally entitled Silent Hill V.^[7] This entry follows the journey of Alex Shepherd, a soldier returning from war, to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen, where he finds the town in disarray, and his younger brother missing. As he continues on his search to find his younger brother, he discovers more about the Order—the cult of Silent Hill—as well as the town's history, and his own past.

The game was released on September 30, 2008 in North America for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and the Microsoft Windows version was released for North, Central and South America on November 6, 2008 exclusively through Valve's Steam digital content delivery service.^[8] All versions were simultaneously released in Europe, including a retail Microsoft Windows version, on February 27, 2009. The Japanese version was cancelled.^[9] The game received mixed but generally good reviews from critics, with positive reaction to the graphics, audio and environments, and less favorable reaction to the game's plot and scenario, and some of the gameplay and horror elements; however, overall, reviewers were largely appreciative of the development of a main, home console installment of the franchise by an external Western developer.

Gameplay

Alex attacking a Lurker with the Ceremonial Dagger, showing on-screen health meter.

The player assumes the role of the protagonist, Alex Shepherd, a Special Forces soldier who returns home from an overseas tour of duty to find that his father and younger brother are missing,^[10] and that his mother has gone into catatonia.^[11] Alex begins to search for his brother, leading him to Silent Hill after searching his hometown of Shepherd's Glen.^[11]

Overall gameplay is similar to past entries in the series. The player, as Alex, explores the various environments and locales, searching for clues to advance the plot, such as photographs, drawings and other items which are placed inside Alex's journal, which the player may read at any time.^[12] To assist the player, Alex will turn his head towards items and clues to inform the player that the object may be picked up;^[10] other recurring items include weapons and ammunition, which give off a glow as a visual cue to the player, and health drinks.^[10] Puzzle elements also play a part in the game, and Alex's journal may be used to refer back to photographs and other items that can help the player decipher such puzzles as keypad entries.^[12]For the first time in the series, the player may select responses when engaging in dialogue with other characters he encounters in the game, which in turn may affect how the player sees the plot unfold.^[10]

In addition to exploration, combat is another major element to the gameplay, and the player must fight the various monsters that appear. In contrast to the more naïve protagonists of previous games, combat in Homecoming takes into account Alex's experience as a soldier.^[10] The player is able to perform light and heavy attacks, or mix them to perform combinations,^[13] and may also perform a variety of finishing moves to ensure that the monsters are dead.^[13] Attacking enemies also leaves wounds in them that match the motion carried out by Alex in inflicting the attack.^[14] In terms of controlling Alex, the player may also perform new maneuvers such as targeting the enemy before attacking them, dodging enemy attacks, and performing counter-attacks.^[11] As well as melee weapons, pistols, rifles and shotguns are available as firearms, which can be upgraded to stronger versions later in the game.^[12] In addition to the changes in combat, and unlike previous entries in the series, the player is also able to fully control and rotate the camera as they choose;^[10] one analog stick controls player movement, and the other controls the camera.

System requirements:

Silent Hill: Homecoming
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Double Helix Games
Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.13 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Memory: 1 Gb
Hard Drive: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 256 Mb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 7600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard
Mouse
Other Controllers: Microsoft X360 USB game pad
DVD Rom Drive
Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.5 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
Memory: 2 Gb
Hard Drive: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 512 Mb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3870
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard
Mouse
Other Controllers: Microsoft X360 USB game pad
DVD Rom Drive