Silent Hill: Homecoming Discussion

[Faun]

Atleast I can have privilege of creating a thread first
Watch out for some really disturbing monsters, and a decent story like Silent Hill 2. Pyramid Head is back too. Well...since it's developed by Double Helix (American company) instead of Team Silent (original Japanese company), some will not like it. It features a new combat system and real time transition to otherworld.

Akira Yamaoka has again created awesome music for Silent Hill series. So try to get the soundtrack too, its worth listening.

Title: Silent Hill Homecoming
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Double Helix Games
Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment Inc.
Release Date: Nov 6, 2008
Languages: English


Blood and Gore
Intense Violence
Language
Sexual Themes




About the Game
In Silent Hill Homecoming, Alex Shepherd has returned to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen to investigate the sudden disappearance of his brother. From Shepherd's Glen to the foggy streets of Silent Hill, Alex will face the darkest of horrors while struggling with his own grip on reality. Alex must unravel the mystery behind his nightmares, discover the truth behind his brother's disappearance, and confront the evil that has taken hold of his soul.

• Enter the next chapter of Silent Hill as you delve deeper in the tormented history of the town and learn of the evil that surrounds Toluca Lake
• From the murky fog to the ominous shadows, all-new next-gen graphics bring Silent Hill to life like never before
• Solve treacherous and deadly puzzles to discover the mysterious secrets behind the evil that has cursed the town of Silent Hill
• Silent Hill Homecoming features an all-new soundtrack by acclaimed series composer Akira Yamaoka

System Requirements

• • OS: Windows XP / Vista
  • Processor: Dual core CPU such as Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
  • Memory: 1 GB (XP) or 2 GB (Vista)
  • Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compliant video card such as ATI Radeon HD-series graphics card (minimum 256 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 7800-series graphics card (minimum 256 MB)
  • Sound:DirectX®: 9.0c compatible sound card
  • Hard Drive: 10 GB Free space
  • Controller Support:Mouse, Keyboard, Xbox 360 controller

This is Scarlet, and thats the crowbar to take her down !



Siam doesn't like you seeing his her side

About The Enemies

Nurse (when you see jiggling jugs then its them ) [3 Light Knife attack + 1 Heavy Knife Attack]- Use the knife combo, it works flawless without any damage taken. Oh and just remember to switch off your flash light and if possible that noisy radio too if you spot nurses, they don't like lights and noise much. But if you miss the magic combo then prepare yourself to get laid by their insane combo unless you dodge or retreat. I died when one of them pushed the knife through my heart A heat breaking death

Feral (Dogs without a fur or skin) [3 Light Knife Attacks] - Do not go for a Heavy knife attack unless you wants to get bitten. Just use Light Attacks and you should be able to deal with them withing half a minute
Btw you get "Eddie's Legacy" achievement award in console version for killing it. It was all started by Eddie when he killed a dog in SIlent hill 2 :/


Lurker (the water loving) [Use Pipe or Knife]: this one is easy but looks intimidating. Perhaps I do need to master a fool proof strategy against it. But remember a Pipe is good against it, just follow a Light + Heavy combo. And remember to dodge. Sometimes you will be given a hint for lethal move too.


Needler (one with blades as appendages) [Use Pipe or Knife]- Pipe works well here too, though he may grapple you for a head knife kill. Better left or right dodge him and then use the same combo as for leaper. Though it will take more time but you will be guaranteed with a satisfying lethal kill.

Siam (the one with large Cylindrical arms and a woman at the back side) [3 shots from Shotgun ]- These are the most aggressive ones. Make a clear distance so that you can fire 3 shotgun rounds easily. Make sure you don't get plummeted by him+her, its the worst thing that you can expect. Have ammo for shotgun always.


Schim (the one with sharp hammer heads) [1 shot of Shotgun + 1 Heavy attack using Axe]- Do not make a distance when you are fighting it as it can lunge towards you and grapple you for a mid torso dismemberment (the worst kind of death I have seen in Silent Hill till now). Else if you are capable of running then you can avoid it in Police Station part. It may be necessary to fight it later levels, I will update the first post after having a solid encounter with it Though have some shotgun ammo as they go down with one shot generally, then if you are not sure then just flip out Axe and do a Heavy Attack.


Sepulcher (First Boss with meat sacs balancing it) - It's fairly easy boss fight just keep on running circularly and take cover at the 3 shelf. Shoot the sacs three times with pistol to blast them off, rinse and repeat. The Boss will come down and will do swipe attacks with both arms, one at a time, dodge or roll. The pounding attack on floor is the second type of attack which will be your advantage as his hands will get stuck in floor. Time to whip out Axe and do a Heavy attack on the hand. His head will fall down to floor, then do another Heavy attack to his head. Now run away as it will gain control soon, do the same strategy of Heavy attack again, it will die

Glitches

Alex with one hand - one of the funniest glitch ever, epic win
Link: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=UzV6rJFkGGQ

Schim using telekinesis - epic kill !
Link: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=uq9274YauCo

Invisible Alex - But monster know where you are
Link: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=AY4hfb7snFQ

[Psychosocial]

^^LOL @ cover .

Anyways, I will be getting it soon .

[Ethan_Hunt]

The game for the PC has been plagued by a few console port issues. It still has that stupid 30 frames cap which seem to be a forte for ports these days. Not to mention AA effect or any other higher graphic setting missing. A 16:9 widescreen mess. But this must be the best looking Silent Hill game on PC right now. I had played SH3 & SH4 for the PC which looked total garbage. People said that it looked & played far better on the PS2. But didn't get the time to try them out.

I am at the level where Alex (the protagonist) reaches his home in Shepard's Glen. I saved at a point in the Cemetery just after being attacked by a strange mutated dog. The game is good. Engaging enough to be played. The soundtrack is very very creepy. The intro tune still isn't going off from my head. The gameplay elements are pretty similar to the previous SH series. But this time round you'll not only have a navigational map but also the objectives put forth as well. Which I suppose was not present in earlier games. Weapons so far are knife & steel pipe. Enemies are deformed Nurses (with big jugs ), few flying bugs, a lurker & a mutated dog. Combat mechanics are pretty straight forward. Shift to get into attack position & left mouse button for basic attacks & right mouse button for strong attacks. You can also dodge/evade by pressing space I suppose.

The story, so far, is pretty good. You play the role of a war veteran Alex Shepard who has just been released from a hospital after being wounded in a battle. From what I understand it's about finding his missing brother Joshua. The first level just showed a brief memory of Alex's memories for finding his brother in the hospital he is brought in. He wakes up in a truck where he realises it was a dream & he is travelling to his hometown. After being dropped off in his hometown he finds his house & his mother informs him that his younger brother is missing. Alex promises he will find him & off we go. During the game we have some audio logs & also flashbacks which allow us to know Alex's interactions with his father & his bother.

This is only the initial thoughts. Very small but I got more ground to cover. Will update you as & when it completes. Sorry but forgot to take screenies. Will post them later. But this is a must play for all SH fans (& non-SH fans as well).

[Faun]

Well I have played Sh 3 and Sh 4 on PC too and they looked awesome, the details to chars were astounding. The series is famous for the graphical art, music score and storylines that are too deep and figurative to understand.
I can post some screenies from SH 3 if you wish. There is a similar discussion going abt the char details in Silenthill5.net forum.

As for storyline, its quite similar to SH 2 but not as good as SH 2 execution.

Music has always been the strong point for SH series. Thanks to Akira Yamaoka.

The gameplay elements are taken from Silent Hill movie, like realtime transition to otherworld and nurses model. Attraction towards light etc.

Best thing is that there are many endings depending upon how you play. And this time its also abt action, you cannot escape monsters by running like you did in other Silent Hill series.

One good thing about the game is that there is no copy protection, you can even found video files in bik format, audio files in installation folder and then the archive are simple .pak files which are not encrypted. So there is possibility for some good mods too.

The bad is that its a console port, capped at 30fps. Controls can be bad at times, people are having problem fighting the first boss to evolve into second form with PC.

[Ethan_Hunt]

I have compared the images for the earlier SH games for PC & PS2. The PS2 models look more vibrant & the textures looks pretty acceptable. I guess I didn't stay up much longer for completing the earlier games on both platforms. So I'll have nothing but empty fizzle for those games.

Anyway yes the Nurses are attracted by flash light which is why most of the time I keep switching it on & OFF. I didn't realise that until the loading menu screen informed me with that tip. Sweet!

What I like about this SH is that it's not very slow paced compared to earlier SH series. Don't get me wrong but in the earlier version the movement were very crooked & this one seems to be very fluid & directional movements are a breeze. The characters have better detail. The textures are decent enough but the look is given keeping in mind the style of the game.

The audio seems to be another problem in the PC version. The cut-scenes experience vocal drops which doesn't relay proper speech sounds. Thank god for the subs. The ingame sounds are proper though. Puzzles are very tricky. Again one has to be very patient with this game. It's not all about running through the area collecting ammo & weapons & shooting things up. All the clues are hidden, so are the audio tapes & the notes which need to be collected to get a good insight on the story.

I need to encounter one boss fight atleast. I have never survived long enough for a boss fight in any SH game.

[Faun]

lol...boss fights were never tough in SH games, atleast if you drop out SH 1 (had some tricky boss fights). But this time its gonna be tough.

Earlier version were more concentrated over storyline, combat was not necessary (u can easily outrun many enemies, they wont follow you). Puzzles were engaging, and with hard difficulties puzzle level too cranks up.

Homecoming has got those tricky puzzles too. And yeah just for fun, try to get pwned by those hammer head (schism) enemies. You will be surprised by the death.


As for lipsync, its like as if Double Helix left it unfinished in this department.

Here are two screenies from SH3



I didn't like SH 4 much, for saving you have to go back to room everytime and those ghosts were immortal suckers. SH 2 is the best ever, SH 3 rates second. I never finished SH 1 (it crashes at one point).

[xtremegforce]

look like its gonna be more scarier n trickery than the previous versions. i have always loved the character detailing in sh. one can always feel the chill while playing this game i hope they just maintain their same old legacy.

[Faun]

Originally Posted by Psychosocial

^^LOL @ cover .

Anyways, I will be getting it soon .

its 17+

[Psychosocial]

Originally Posted by T159

its 17+

So was GTA, RE4 and many games I loved. Heck if I go by the ESRB rating, I wouldnt be playing 70% of the games coming out .

[Faun]

Originally Posted by xtremegforce

look like its gonna be more scarier n trickery than the previous versions. i have always loved the character detailing in sh. one can always feel the chill while playing this game i hope they just maintain their same old legacy.

Yup thats the reason I like it. Hope it delivers well.

[SunnyChahal]

Is it out?

[Ethan_Hunt]

^Yep it's out on steam only.

Screenshots as promised:




























Just fought the first boss in the game & was pretty easy once you know how to kill him. What's more if you die & respawn watch the loading screen & it will show you hints how to kill the boss.

[Psychosocial]

Got the game. Going to play.

BTW, XFire still does not support it .

[Ethan_Hunt]

Woah! Just beat the Scarlet boss & it was amazing. The music is something to die for. T, dude better get the game ASAP. You don't want to miss this one. I'm almost half way through.

[Psychosocial]

I have my exams tomorrow. Still was not able to stop. 2hrs at a stretch in the morning. Blown away by the game. Never knew Silent Hill was so good. The 30FPS cap is a bad thing but you can ignore that as the game runs smoothly even at 25FPS .

[SunnyChahal]

Got the game.Will install right away!

[arijit_2404]

This game is looking awesome.
hmmm!
Need to get it!

[Faun]

Originally Posted by Psychosocial

I have my exams tomorrow. Still was not able to stop. 2hrs at a stretch in the morning. Blown away by the game. Never knew Silent Hill was so good. The 30FPS cap is a bad thing but you can ignore that as the game runs smoothly even at 25FPS .

its a cult classic. But to know what it is actually, you will have to play SIlent Hill2.

And for the origin of the town you have to play Silent Hill 3 and if you can play Silent Hill 1 too as its the point where it all started.

Silent Hill 4 is just for namesake and is not actually set in SIlent Hill but in South Ashfield town.

Originally Posted by Ethan_Hunt

Woah! Just beat the Scarlet boss & it was amazing. The music is something to die for. T, dude better get the game ASAP. You don't want to miss this one. I'm almost half way through.

oh yeah, looks like your first SH game that you are enjoying
It will take some time for me to play this as my HDD has gone kaput, I did too much asteroid shooting and HDD couldn't bear it :/ Will take another week to get it RMAed.

Thanks for the screenies.

[Ethan_Hunt]

oh yeah, looks like your first SH game that you are enjoying
It will take some time for me to play this as my HDD has gone kaput, I did too much asteroid shooting and HDD couldn't bear it :/ Will take another week to get it RMAed.

Thanks for the screenies.

Man what a bummer. I thought we could complete the game on the same lines & make this thread more lively. This is the only Silent Hill whose gameplay & story has interested me enough to keep going this far. I couldn't play the first SH on PSone. SH 3 & SH 4 were meh for the PC. But this is something really different. You gotta try it out.

Anyway I was stuck for an hour on a sliding puzzle yesterday night. I hate puzzle solving especially the ones that involve moving slides to form a proper image.

[Psychosocial]

^I too hate puzzles .

[Faun]

^^Well SH is known for it's cryptic puzzles, if you don't feel like bashing heads then consider reading a walkthrough.

There was this Shakespearian poetic puzzle in SH 3 which was kind of Latin and Greek for those who do not have any interest in literature. I ended up reading a walkthrough to get through that part.

But that didn't stop me from feeling the awesome twists/storyline and graphic otheworld.

I heard there are some tricky puzzles in it too that depends upon the clues given in from the starting of the game

[Psychosocial]

^

[Ethan_Hunt]

I so feel like using the walkthrough but don't want to give up before trying my best. It seems very confusing & the blocks are really frustrating. Reminds me of RE4's puzzle solving.

[Psychosocial]

I made my dad solve the RE4 puzzles. He is good at puzzle solving .

[quan chi]

last two tomb raider series have quide good puzzle solving.in this new version i have read they do not have any boss fights.but extreme puzzle solving.

i loved those two previous tomb raider specially the music.

btw i have never played any sh series.is it good.

[SunnyChahal]

Was playing for the last two hours.One word....awesome!!!Badly addicted to it.Will finish the game in the upcoming weekend

[Ethan_Hunt]

Originally Posted by quan chi

btw i have never played any sh series.is it good.

Then better try this one. It has a fresh new approach in terms of gameplay. Dodging to be specific. The atmosphere is made up brilliantly. The spook factor of this game is nothing like Doom III & it's clones but more of "What's going to happen next?" kind of thing. The entire town is nearly empty, so you'll have a very tough time dealing with lonely environments & those creepy monsters. It's really exciting. Even if you haven't played any previous SH games, pick this one up.

[quan chi]

well is it out on dvds yet.

[Ethan_Hunt]

Nope. The retail isn't out yet. You can get it over Steam though.

[Psychosocial]

Damn. XFire dosent recognize. I tried the manual way too but it needs steam.exe ... . But who cares, the game is fun!