Homecoming vs Downpour

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Nightmareish Waltzer
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Nightmareish Waltzer »

I don't hate Downpour, but playing the game and reaching its conclusion is like being teased with a candy bar with half its wrapping pulled from it's body. You know there's more behind it, but you never get to see it because the entire mechanic is to simply tease you. It had great ideas and concepts; Anne, Ricks and Murphy were perfectly interesting characters with a whole lot of potential, but half of it was never brought to full fruition. I can't hate it for those reasons, but I can't love it either.

Homecoming, on the other hand, felt more or less like a complete, with the exception, funnily enough, of the fate of Deputy Wheeler (the brothas are always getting shafted) depending on which ending you got. There was attention detail to the protagonist's backstory in concerns to his family, I sympathized with Alex's interpersonal plight, his need to friend his brother; the monsters were both properly symbolic to all characters involved and weren't a total pain in the arse in kill or even be confronted with. The wheels that propelled the story clicked without halt. I was more emotionally invested in Homecoming's story than I ever was in Downpour's despite the desire to be so. I truly don't understand the "strayed from the franchise" rhetoric, as none of the previous or future games are a static definition of what makes Silent Hill, an ever changing beast much like the town's method of physiological torture or otherwise noted.
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rollerfan222
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by rollerfan222 »

Nightmareish Waltzer wrote:I don't hate Downpour, but playing the game and reaching its conclusion is like being teased with a candy bar with half its wrapping pulled from it's body. You know there's more behind it, but you never get to see it because the entire mechanic is to simply tease you. It had great ideas and concepts; Anne, Ricks and Murphy were perfectly interesting characters with a whole lot of potential, but half of it was never brought to full fruition. I can't hate it for those reasons, but I can't love it either.

Homecoming, on the other hand, felt more or less like a complete, with the exception, funnily enough, of the fate of Deputy Wheeler (the brothas are always getting shafted) depending on which ending you got. There was attention detail to the protagonist's backstory in concerns to his family, I sympathized with Alex's interpersonal plight, his need to friend his brother; the monsters were both properly symbolic to all characters involved and weren't a total pain in the arse in kill or even be confronted with. The wheels that propelled the story clicked without halt. I was more emotionally invested in Homecoming's story than I ever was in Downpour's despite the desire to be so. I truly don't understand the "strayed from the franchise" rhetoric, as none of the previous or future games are a static definition of what makes Silent Hill, an ever changing beast much like the town's method of physiological torture or otherwise noted.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Shadowgate »

I agree with Nightmareish downpour seemed like it was just getting started. HC was great but I did not care for the end at all. DP only having a couple enemy's is pretty lame IMO as well... HC did not have many more but at least you didn't see some until later on.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Biccard »

Definitely Downpour!! It's my second favourite, right after Silent Hill 2 of course! Vatra did an amazing job, I cannot say it enough!
Some parts of Homecoming was amazing as well, I loved the hospital in the beginning and the look of Hell Descent, it was extremely hellish and very Silent Hilly! And the sounds were amazing and sonwas the plot! It's just, the flashlight sucks so bad, it doesn't give any light! And the prison and sewer levels sucks so much that they actually ruin the game for me! :( had they not been there, Homecoming just might've been ranked so much higher! I haven't played Honecoming for a long time, and the prison and sewer are the main reason I think!
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by EmilietheStrange »

^Yeah, sewer levels always seem to suck. The first sewer trek in SH1 and the sewers in 3 and Homecoming were all tedious, boring levels, and I think there's one in SM also. The only time they've ever been creepy in the entire series is the second underground voyage in SH1, as the other world has taken it over.

I'm not fond of subway levels either.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Kompwars »

EmilietheStrange wrote:^Yeah, sewer levels always seem to suck. The first sewer trek in SH1 and the sewers in 3 and Homecoming were all tedious, boring levels, and I think there's one in SM also. The only time they've ever been creepy in the entire series is the second underground voyage in SH1, as the other world has taken it over.

I'm not fond of subway levels either.
Oh god. The sewer level in sh3. It was so boring. imo, sh3 had the worst levels....:P The church was nice tho
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Augophthalmoses
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Augophthalmoses »

I didn't mind the sewer levels in SH1 & 3. Didn't care for them in Homecoming and Shattered Memories. Although the sewer section in SM is so short that it really isn't worth complaining about.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Silent Fantasy »

^ Its not even 2 minutes long if I remember correctly. It cant even be called a level. lol
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Biccard »

The prison in Homecoming is SO bad! And the streets of Silent Hill outside the prison (which is TOTALLY out of place in the middle of Central Silent Hill) and the powerplant and boiler rooms, I don't see them fitting in in ANY way AT ALL! Like I said, some parts of Homecoming was amazing, but the parts that sucked - they sucked so bad that they ruin the entire game for me! And what is up with the lack of inverted camera? It makes it even more confusing that it's not inverted but suddenly when you aim your gun it's inverted. (I'm aware that this is optional). And you could only have 5 saves, whereas in Silent Hill you could have 40 I think. I really don't get what the hell they were thinking with this game. There are some good ideas, but there are a lot more bad ideas!

So to sum up: Downpour over Homecoming any day, I can't think of any major bad things about Downpour. The Centennial Building is a bit boring, but not so much that it ruins the game.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by ShiningBind »

Hmmm i'll have to go go with Downpour on this one

I don't hate Homecoming...but I really don't find it all that scary. I want A SH game to scare the crap out of me.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Karakulz »

Downpour was a bit of a let down in my opinion.

I liked it, but it just didnt seem like Silent Hill.
Okay, there were a few pretty SH moments that creeped me out (Like the Hansel and Gretel Scene) But other wise... It was like a completely different game.

Homecoming was very similar in the aspect of it being less like Silent Hill. But it was very similar to the movie (Which I loved) So maybe thats why I enjoyed it a bit more?

I also enjoyed the Homecoming story line more than downpour, You know what, to save this turning nto a bit of an all over the place rant I'm gonna make a Pro's and Con's list for both games xD

Downpour - Pro's:

- Better voice acting, Not the best but significantly better than some of the previous games.

- Graphics, which is to be expected from a new game.

- A Couple of decent scares and creepy moments.

Con's:

- The monsters were very poorly designed. I just Lol'd at the break dancing Zombie Inmates xDD
Why not just re-use some of the old monsters?

- It never actually 'Downpoured', why call a game Downpour when the most rain it does is a regular amount for about 3 minutes?

- The fact that the map has significantly grown larger with a whole new segment that no one had ever been to before, I mean, sure why not add a few new places but they almost added like a whole new town on top of it, What ever happened to it being a little Resort Town?

- Sunlight... I thought it was NEVER sunny in Silent Hill after the fog took over, yet when your at the Devil's pit, it almost seems like a happy place xD

- The Toilets, Why let us flush the damn things when nothing even happens?! Its just mean!!!

- The Nightmare world was pretty poor, So far, I havent found one as creepy as Heathers. (I know its based on the person, but still, they could have made Murphy's more creepy)

LOL, Some of these arent so much as Con's but some things that personally bugged me xD

Homecoming - Pro's:

- The story was pretty good, and I really felt bad for Alex throughout the whole game.

- The Nightmare world, Very similar to the movie one but I liked it because it had that rusted feel that SH3 had.

- The monsters were pretty decent (Hated the smog for the fact it was a pain in the ass to kill XD) But they actually scared me from time to time.

Con's:

- I didnt like the fog world, not olnly was it very thick but it was quite dark too.

- The fact that Silent Hill was only in it for less than half of the game, the rest was Shepards Glen.

- Josh... He just annoyed me because he was an ass every time you see him!

- The pace of the game, it was a little slower to actually get somewhere, at some points I kept on losing the will to even continue, but once I got somewhere I regained my enthusiasm xD

All in all, Homecoming was more enjoyable to play.
Downpour... I liked it but maybe if it was a stand alone game (Not in the Silent Hill series)

Sorry for rambling ^^;
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by ww_andi »

I am tired of hearing people say one of the games doesn't feel like silent hill. With a series that is supposed to show different otherworld's based on a particular character WONT FEEL THE SAME EVERYTIME!!

i liked both of them but enjoyed Downpour a little more, just a little
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by gostoneph17 »

I prefer Downpour. Loved the plot and the sidequests. Homecoming was enjoyable but I enjoyed Downpour more.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by FinnSaw »

I liked downpour more, though i hated the prison too much... And that final chase with the juggernauts grabbing you from the cells.
some of the sidequests were pretty stupid too, like that bank quest. Some of them were great, the ones that actually had a bit of a story behind them.
I didn't hate Homecoming but i didn't find it that interesting either, not going to rant about graphics because i dont care about them that much.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by thy_butcher »

As much as I like both games (Downpour especially), I feel they both faulted greatly with the inclusion of Overlook Penitentiary.

It's recently begun to bug me very much. Why would a huge prison like OP be in a "small resort town?" If the place is for tourists, why would they have not only a prison put there, but put in either A) Central Silent Hill or B) on an island in Toluca Lake; which is arguably the town's main attraction.

A big beautiful, serene lake with a giant prison floating in it.

I have a dream... that they'll retcon OP in the future as nothing but a complete illusion.
I know how dumb that'd be and/or difficult to do, but I think I'd much prefer it the alternative of letting OP be a real place.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by AuraTwilight »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the town stop being a popular resort like sometime around SH3?

Also, Silent Hill has been established to have a prison since SH2.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Soulless-Shadow »

thy_butcher wrote:As much as I like both games (Downpour especially), I feel they both faulted greatly with the inclusion of Overlook Penitentiary.

It's recently begun to bug me very much. Why would a huge prison like OP be in a "small resort town?" If the place is for tourists, why would they have not only a prison put there, but put in either A) Central Silent Hill or B) on an island in Toluca Lake; which is arguably the town's main attraction.
Having a prison near Silent Hill doesn't seem all that out of place to me. I know of a lovely little tourist town by the name of Beechworth here in Australia that has many things Silent Hill has. It has an old gaol, a new prison (minimum security though), and an old asylum. On top of all those, there are also some old gold mines around the area. So, it's not really all that hard to imagine a town like Silent Hill having some of those things as well. Having said all that, Beechworth doesn't have a prison in the middle of town or the middle of a large lake. :? They do have great bakeries though. :D
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Kenji »

To be fair, Australia did start as a continent-sized prison... :wink:

Also, I think a new Silent Hill could do with a bakery level. Actually, I wanna visit a bakery level, now.

For real.

And leave with bread.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by thy_butcher »

I know of the prison in SH2, but it isn't actually there anymore (as far as I know). That thing was in the past.

I have horrible retention for information until I go over something dozens of times, so I may have forgotten any information the games gave to suggest that the town had lost its status as a "resort town;" so I figured that it was still at least somewhat active as one.

I'm mainly thinking of Henry Townshend's photography; but then again, who knows when those were taken.
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Re: Homecoming vs Downpour

Post by Augophthalmoses »

thy_butcher wrote:As much as I like both games (Downpour especially), I feel they both faulted greatly with the inclusion of Overlook Penitentiary.

It's recently begun to bug me very much. Why would a huge prison like OP be in a "small resort town?" If the place is for tourists, why would they have not only a prison put there, but put in either A) Central Silent Hill or B) on an island in Toluca Lake; which is arguably the town's main attraction.

A big beautiful, serene lake with a giant prison floating in it.

I have a dream... that they'll retcon OP in the future as nothing but a complete illusion.
I know how dumb that'd be and/or difficult to do, but I think I'd much prefer it the alternative of letting OP be a real place.
Inconsistencies plain and simple,but really nothing to ponder too much about. Besides, SH2 introduced Brookhaven as a mental institution. I always wondered why the hell a small town like Silent Hill would need a mental hospital and why it would be situated in the middle of a normal part of the neighborhood with a bowling alley and park nearby, but oh well. Then again Origins didn't help things by adding the Sanitarium. I don't have a problem with Silent Hill expanding but two facilities focusing on mental health in the same town seems like overkill.
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