Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Poor Alex ... his momma don't seem to like him much. We wonder why in here ...

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How did you like Homecoming

FUCK YEAH HOMECOMING
9
8%
That was pretty cool!
17
16%
It was okay, sure.
39
36%
Meh.
18
17%
Please don't make me play it again!
8
7%
KILL IT WITH FIRE
16
15%
 
Total votes: 107

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phantomess
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by phantomess »

^ I actually like Wheeler! :mrgreen: If he was around for most or all of the game that'd be bothersome, but he's not.

I probably posted in here about my opinion on Homecoming before, but I can't remember what I said. When I first played it, while I didn't hate it, I thought it was pretty bad. I was pissed at how much they took from the movie, and was like,
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
Josh is dead? Yep, who didn't know that?
And the smogs were ridiculous as hell, and I found some of the actiony parts to be extremely difficult.
But on subsequent playthroughs, I found myself really enjoying playing through it! It has enjoyable atmosphere, an awesome otherside and awesome hell descent sequence, a number of the monsters (including bosses) are awesome, and it's not nearly as difficult action-wise as I thought the first time. I simply had to choose the proper weapon and technique and I got past the same parts much more quickly and easily.
I also like the story for the most part- I think the cult side of it is mostly interesting, but the
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
dead Josh & Alex not being military
didn't impress me.

I still think that pretty much everything from the church onwards is utter crap, and Alex & Elle's conversation at the billboard & the Missing Persons flyers confuse me and how I thought the dimensions of SH worked.
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Skele
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by Skele »

^The game definitely has its highs and lows, and it's definitely not as hard as some make it out to be. like others stated, it's all about finding out the attack pattern and figuring out which weapon works best. the knife can essentially be used for all enemies, but I really liked using the axe. I also agree about the story.. the cult related stuff and Alex's relationship with his parents was really interesting to me, but the Alex and Josh stuff not so much.

I forgot since it's been so long, but the character models were the thing I had a gripe with. I think the men looked pretty ok, and had decent enough detail, but the women were all horrible. the hair and lighting was done very poorly, and I thought we were going to get this awesome looking Elle based on her character art, but nope.
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911
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by 911 »

For the moment I am in the cimetery.

I don't like it. In the nightmare I thought I was playing the movie. It doesn't have its own personnality. What I like about SH is that every single game has its own personnality but this one doesn't. It's a recreation of the movie personnality for the moment and it's bad. And a cimetery ? come on ! Such a bad idea, Silent Hill is about places where you feel comfortable in the real world ususally and disturb in the game. so cliché to use a cimetery.
And why his childhood city looks like Silent Hill ?
It's just a game that try hard to looks like SH but isn't. Huge disappointment for the moment and doesn't worth the 15$ I've puted in it.
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Typographenia
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by Typographenia »

Let me see if I understand you correctly-
Because the game has a Pyramid headed character and an Otherworld transition that are visually parallel to the film, the game is devoid of any sort of unique traits or personality? Goodness...

Also, there is a cemetery in Silent Hill 2. Two of them, actually. And there's a cemetery in Silent Hill 4.
But, yeah, you're right, boo Homecoming! How dare you use imagery that is supposed to invoke ideas fear and death!
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by Mephisto »

^ Damn, I was about to write something like this! Well, you won for now. Gotta run the next time...
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phantomess
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by phantomess »

Typographenia wrote:\
Because the game has a Pyramid headed character and an Otherworld transition that are visually parallel to the film, the game is devoid of any sort of unique traits or personality? Goodness...
Well, there's more from the movie than that, such as cutting paintings open down the middle to walk through and cult members running around in miner suits and bugs that swarm (and it's not just "a PH character," it's the version from the movie)-- BUT, although those things originally annoyed me a bit, I'm more on your side in this matter.
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Jonipoon
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by Jonipoon »

The combat mechanics in this game are broken.

I find it hilarious that the developers behind Homecoming mocked the combat mechanics in previous games, which they called "shitty". But they forgot that Team Silent made the combat seem clunky on purpose since the characters were "everymen". Homecoming was supposed to feature modern, realistic combat equal to that of an experienced soldier - but oh boy, the combat turned out to be extremely clunky, only this time not on purpose.

I love how certain things hit right back at people.
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by Xuchilbara93 »

It's a decent and pretty fun game in its own right. I liked some things about it, like the real-time wounds when you slash or bludgeon an enemy, the movable scenery, the music, the animations when opening doors, etc. Warning: potential TL;DR ahead.

With that being said, the last time I played it, I had not quite learned to appreciate Silent Hill beyond being anything more than just a horror game series with weird enemies, and of course, Pyramid Head. Nowadays, I'm more prone to tearing it a new one. It's like Double Helix watched the movie and did some reeeeeeaaaaaaally minimal research on the series, skipping straight to the twists and concluding that Pyramid Head is cool and needs at least two unnecessary cameos to appease fans, nurses are a recurring monster, oh, and it's a horror game series, so its gameplay has to cash in on the success of Resident Evil 4. To take a quote straight from the game: "You don't know anything about Silent Hill!"

The opening scene is ripped straight from Jacob's Ladder. I realize that the entire series was heavily inspired by it, but the way that sequence was executed borders on plagiarism rather than homage. Of course the first Otherworld transition in Silent Hill 2 mirrors that scene as well, but it's much more subtle.

And the gore. I said before that I appreciate some of the effects like real-time wounds, but at the same time, are they really necessary? Regardless of whether you prefer the cult storyline or the psychological aspects of the series, it's never been about violence for the sake of violence. It doesn't fit this series. At all.

Then there's the Order soldiers. Seriously, what's with these guys? All their accidental hilarity aside ("I'm gonna cut you up, SON!"), I have to point to a criticism that was made in this forum before: killing humans — EVEN in self-defense — has never been taken lightly in this franchise. There's always some sort of consequence for it. Here, though? They're just treated like a bunch of basic monsters. Never mind that they've probably been brainwashed by
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
Judge Holloway.
As for the Order. Like many things throughout the game, their motive is ripped straight from the movie: keep the wrath of God at bay. Quite a far cry from the previous games, no? Why would they see Her judgements as anything less than holy and just? I get that there are different sects of the Order, but almost all of them are devoted to bringing about "Paradise" for at least some. The only real reason they split, from what I can tell, is that they wanted to branch out from Silent Hill. Maybe they faced persecution? I don't know. They could have at least established that. So it makes no sense why they'd go from being agents of God's wrath to trying to prevent it.

Lastly (for now, at least, because I can go on all day about the game's problems), the fog. There was something mysterious and beautiful about it in all the previous entries, but in Homecoming, it's just grimy and dark because "hey it's scurrrrry guis!" Yeah ... I call bullshit.

Alright, that's about enough. TL;DR: Homecoming could have been a great entry, but it was too derivative of the movie and the previous games, and was too much of a gorefest.
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by warfare315 »

Wow. So i haven’t played this one in years. My girlfriend and I have been marathoning the games. We did SH 1-4, and Shattered Memories. Now here we are. I remember enjoying this game, but it having its faults.

Now, I’m seeing at as... bad. Real bad. With some redeeming qualities. The atmosphere is pretty good, although most of that is in the sound design. The score is amazing. The boss designs/meanings are great. That’s kind of it for me, upon replaying it.

I’m seeing this one as the “Attack of the Clones” or “Crimes of Grindelwald” of the Silent Hill series now. The story is not only derivative of SH, but other horror. And it is stupid, and potentially canon-breaking in multiple areas. Much has been said throughout the years about the off base appearance of Pyramid Head and the “sexy” nurses. But those are prime examples. Not to mention the whole story is dumb to me now. Even if the bosses based on the kids are cool, the overall story is wack. It’s knockoff Silent Hill and shepherds glen is literally a knockoff Silent Hill. Everything just feels unnecessary or.. wrong in this game.

I may sound like a Team Silent elitist, but I suppose opinions change. SH 1-4 are still just... incredible. 4 being cool in story, less incredible in execution. That said replaying Shattered Memories, I still adore that game for what it is.

When homecoming came out, I knew it was a bit derivative/tryhard/off base. But I didn’t necessarily see it as a disappointment. Now it’s right there next to Origins in the trash pile for me. I still found a bit more enjoyment in homecoming than origins. But even the gameplay.... the fact that you can stun lock ANY enemy in the game with the combat knife.... A, A, A, X and repeat.... man. Brain numbing unless you MAKE yourself use weapons that are not as effective.

It’s crazy how much my opinion of this game got worse. I already was “meh, cool” about it at best. At least as I recall. I remember really enjoying 80-90% of downpour, but now I’m really nervous to replay it. At least SH 2 + 3 especially remain incredible.

All my opinion of course.
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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by Lifetolifeless »

It had pockets of sublime atmosphere when its idiosyncratic rendering effects meld with its sound design. Flooded Shepherd basement, junkyard, and living room chat with catatonic mother are standouts. I enjoy these moments enough to stomach its clunky gameplay.


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Re: Who else was disappointed by Homecoming?

Post by Chris Sunderland »

Homecoming is without the being a Silent Hill games, mediocre. Mediocre graphics, story and gameplay. You add the fact that it's part of the legacy of SHill and it makes it so much worse. The game can't be assed to do anything original. A poor man's Silent Hill 2. It feels like a game created to appeal to the most common denominator, doesn't respect lore(fucking Pyramid Head). Why does the town of Silent Hill look nothing like previous games. It's the worst mainline game in the series. Downpour is mediocre, but it has heart and tries at the least. Origins has a trash story but it nails the atmosphere and locals of the team silent games probably better than any of the others. Shattered memories is a great game, it's just it's own canon/universe of Silent Hill.
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