In defense of Homecoming and Shattered Memories (some spoilers may apply)

[Smiley]

I find that the two most recent Silent Hill experiences are look at with idea that they simply aren't that great. That, to put it simply, it doesn't match up to the games Team Silent made.

To some degree that is true. Climax and Double Helix did do things differently, and in some cases it took different trials for them to grasp what the average 'Silent Hill' fan is looking for.

Today I'll go over both games with my opinion on their faults, but more importantly I'll discuss what they got right regarding the series.

Let's start with Homecoming or what some will call "the worst Silent Hill game". How does it fare?

Well let's talk a minute about branching off and doing things differently. To me, the worst Silent Hill game happens to be Silent Hill 4 which was Team Silent's last hoorah for Silent Hill before parting ways. It's not a 'bad game', but it only goes to show that Team Silent was trying new things for the series as well. And what better way than to take an original concept and weave it into a franchise. How do you think Die Hard and Saw sequels get made fellas?

When people discuss that it's too westernized I take a moment to sigh considering that the developers of the previous games were inspired by that very influence which brought us the first Silent Hill in the early 90s. Come Silent Hill 3 (my personal favorite) we already have the essence of the town branching out to other locations. So as far as changes go and as far as being too influenced by the western market it looks as though the past games fall under this category.

So then why are people hating on new games now? To put it simply, any ongoing franchise is doomed to have sequels that will never meet the standards of the original. And for each new sequel comes praise for an older one.

And example is Resident Evil. Looking at the series now you'll find people who prefer the classic series and hate the new direction. RE5 is looked at as the unholy abomination before RE4 came out. And before RE4 it was RE Zero that failed to capture its fans. Before that we had Code Veronica. Now when reflecting on the older titles we see that some consider Code Veronica the best. Despite this the new generation of gamers that started with RE4 will prefer RE4 and RE5 over these classics. That's how long-running franchises work. The fans of the classics most of the time were the ones that started on those and hate the departure.

Going back to Homecoming I tend to do the opposite of what most fans do. I do not compare it to the 'classics' (or rather my favorite) like SH1, 2, or even 3. I take the worst experience I've played and try to measure it to that. If I was looking for a new 'Silent Hill 2' I'd play SH2. What I want is a new SH game. I'll decide after playing if it holds up as good or not, but I weigh in my worst experience to help decide if things improved or not.

So let's start with the main character and his story. Using my least favorite SH (The Room) as a basis I look into Alex compared to Henry. This is obvious for me. I can relate to Alex more for a couple of reasons.

1. I'm an older brother and Alex's story about finding his little brother is more endearing to me. Henry has a secluded life and the people he meets barely know who he is, if any. Alex's town has people he knows. He has a family that, despite their issues, he still shares love and hate towards.

2. When it comes to personality Alex also takes the cake. Henry lacks this a great deal. It's hard to feel scared when your character isn't. Henry glares at most deaths or horrific incidents with a glare that tells me the character is bored. Alex has a foul mouth on him, but at least he displays concern, disgust and fear.

As far as the story goes I do believe the set up for 'The Room' is a fascinating premise. The idea of being locked from the inside and using holes to lead to other locations. The deal with the 21 sacraments. All of that would work if we had interesting supporting characters who cared about where they were and what they are doing so that we cared. Putting a stutter on a supporting character might single him out, but it doesn't make him unique. There needs to be some depth. When it comes to the friends and family of Alex, and the sacrifices they make in their story you can see the depth layered into how Alex responds to each one. And sometimes given the game play it's optional how you choose to behave with them. You can forgive your father or pass judgment on him. You can look at certain character's motivation and show concern or anger towards them. It's that kind of development that gives Homecoming an edge to other SH stories.

But character and story can only go so far. It's a game. That means game play is a major influence on whether the game delivers or not.

Silent Hill games are mostly third person experiences where the atmosphere takes hold of your fear. It's about not knowing what's coming rather than knowing. And even when the horrors come to surface they are unimaginable to conceive.

The atmosphere for Homecoming works just as well. You still have the foggy areas, the soundtrack by Akira delivers and the monster designs are particularly scary (I think most will agree that Scarlett caught people off guard initially). It also helps that this games doesn't shy away from the puzzles as would be expected from more recent horror titles.

What changes in terms of the game play is the combat system. Now even though I like the Silent Hill games I never found their combat controls to be their strong point. A lot of people will say this is intentional because you're pinning average joe's against these nightmarish creatures. Well make excuses all you'd like, but that doesn't take away from the controls being clunky and unresponsive. If something (or someone) comes at me with the intent to kill I'm not going to swing a stick around like a fuck-nut hoping that it'll eventually reach his weak spot. I'm either going to run or take that mofo down. And yes, the appeal of horror games is to run more than fight. I agree, but when placed in a corner (like multiple enemies or a boss fight for instance) it helps when you're not frustrated that your character is incapable of defending himself.

If you can't get the combat right then it might be best to ignore it completely (as Shattered Memories does which I'll get to later).

RE4 started the over-the-shoulder trend that most games follow. It works. The camera is behind your back, and when you aim your weapon you can target specific points on enemies for attack. Silent Hill Origins almost went that route. For Homecoming the developers acknowledged that they wanted to improve the combat. And for the most part they did. While I miss those eerie camera angles of the past I still find it to be a noteworthy sacrifice for trying out decent combat in a silent hill game. Where it falls is that it makes the exploration much less scary. The whole "not knowing what lies ahead" is partially tarnished when the camera is behind you. So how can you install fear?

The answer was being rewarded with limited supply. Yeah you can aim your gun and hit weak spots, but the ammo is scarce. Some enemies can't be killed with just the gun. You need a more direct approach. So giving certain creatures an advantage and giving limited ammo/health made sure you used the combat wisely. Having to time your dodges also made sure that if you need to slip past an enemy it was possible. Given the nature of the combat I do admit it does leave the story's twist as confusing since the developers placed a strong emphasis on Alex being a soldier returning home from war. They tried to make an excuse of their own to justify the combat even though that excuse doesn't fit in the grand scheme of things. Regardless, I'll give them a pass because I can believe anyone physically fit and with some basic training is capable of performing the skills Alex has.

Sadly Silent Hill: Homecoming wasn't looked at as the 5th entry of the series. Never even released in Japan. Which is a shame because while it isn't the best SH game out there it certainly isn't the worst one. If I had to look at faults about the game it would be this:

1. The movie references. The plot does tend to go into movie territory with an homage every once in a while to remind us about the film. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles did this as well. Regardless of what I think about the movies, I believe the games should influence the games and leave the movies out of it. Movies based on video games have a bad enough wrap as it is by being a jumbled mess of picking and choosing what the filmmaker wants to pull from the games and put in the movie. Likewise, this game does that as well including but not limited to....

2. Pyramid Head. Or "Boogeyman" as he's called here. This series seems to be relied on the idea that "Silent Hill 2 is and will always be the best thing since sex". I liked the game, but it hardly calls for trying to make each game like it in some fashion. I won't bore you with arguing that he has no place in another character's story. I could care less if he was a product of James' mind in SH2 or if he was Santa Claus. The way the game adds him in is only to remind us of another game. A much better game to a lot of fans. This is a flaw some movies do which is when they remind you of a better film you'd rather be watching. Same principle here only it's a game. How can it hold on its own legs when it is dependent on SH2's?

3. The Hostel approach. Gamers who have played this know what I am talking about. In a series that looks into psychological horror over brutality I find that the recent trend in horror over what some call to be 'torture porn' is not needed. Given the nature of the story I find the idea of a particular scene to be out of place with the idea of enjoyment out of torturing people with handy-man tools. This isn't Saw. This isn't Hostel. Some things shouldn't stray too far from the game.

So that's my say on Homecoming. Agree or disagree I thought it deserved to have someone speak in its defense. More on Shattered Memories later.

[Smiley]

Next up is Shattered Memories. This isn't a remake so I won't treat it as such. Instead it's a re-imagining of the first Silent Hill so here's what it boils down to.

Burton's 'Batman' vs. Nolan's 'The Dark Knight'. Two movies with the same characters from Batman to Joker to Harvey Dent. Just done differently. This is how I will compare and contrast the original to its re-imagining.

I don't need to retread and compare this against my worst SH experience. This game does enough differently to contrast the other SH titles, but because of its connection to the first game I think it's only fair I bring up the original as a contrast to see what they did do differently and if it works. There's no 'why' needed since it's not a remake.

So let's start with main character and story.

Harry Mason is the main character of both titles, and the set up is the same. A car crash causes Harry to wake from unconsciousness and search for his daughter. Throughout the ordeal he comes across a supporting cast of characters that brings him one step closer to finding her.

Where the two games differ is in how Harry achieves his goal. This new one was based around changing everything from the supporting characters to the town of Silent Hill itself. The 'other world' of Silent Hill is now coated in ice and the setting is modern day where Harry uses his cell phone as both his radio, map and camera. Yes these are gimmicks to support the wii features, but since the wii itself is a gimmick system they are very much welcome in a game of this caliber. Why make an emphasis on a Silent Hill game for the wii if you're not going to play to the wii's strengths? The last thing we need is another rail shooter.

This game is supported on Sony's psp and PS2, but its clear that this game was intended for the Wii system. The puzzles and movement of the character are handled fluently by wiimote and nun-chuck where Harry can use his flashlight (the player using the wiimote) to look around his environment and listen to calls on his cellphone (player putting the wiimote up to their ear to listen). Over all the wiimote is handled effectively. For a game that uses motion based controls, the sensor bar is responsive to your actions with the controls. The only time it can be a problem is when you shake enemies off you and moving your controls to push them off can sometimes lose range with the sensor bar. If you practice enough it shouldn't be too much of a problem however.

Speaking of enemies the creatures in this game are both varied and simplified. There are only one set of monsters throughout a single play through, but they aren't always the same. How can this be? As the game informs you that it will evaluate you based on your decisions you'll soon come to realize that the game plays you just as much as you play it. This is a neat feature that make replaying Shattered Memories much more fun. Part of replaying a game is that you make new decisions along the way.

Not only can the monsters change in design, but so can characters themselves and how you interact with them. The best example of this is Cybil Bennett who was that quirky police officer you met in the original game. In this game she can be a real hard ass or very compassionate to your cause. How you play the game can also determine appearance where certain characters can be covered up and look average or all dolled up looking sexy. How you're evaluated determines what environment Harry finds himself in.

But by far the ballsiest move this game makes is removing combat altogether. In a game series that was based on clunky fighting, and then shifted to a more combat based game in Homecoming, the decision to remove combat altogether was pretty risky.

Where Homecoming can be argued as action horror just like RE5 in the RE series; Shattered Memories is the complete opposite and follows horror without combat in games such as Haunting Ground/Demento.

To slip past these creatures Harry must hide in small areas like closets, but it's best to simply keep running at all times. That's where it draws its fear in. There are ways to protect yourself like finding a flare to draw them off, but those are few and far between. Sometimes your best bet is to hope you're running in the right direction because you don't have time to stop and check your map when you're being chased down.

The set up is the same, but as I've said the characters are different. The story itself does go in a different direction. Though Harry is looking for his daughter he will not reach the same conclusions as in the original.

Overall Shattered Memories is a great counter balance to Homecoming. If you tire of the combat you can play this game and indulge into running and exploring most of the time. But again it's not perfect. There are a few set of flaws that I have gripes over.

1. The game is very short. Perhaps the shortest play through I've spent on my first run with no guide. That's due in part to being linear. Even though you can replay numerous times to mix things up, the initial play through itself is linear and follows a pattern of normal-explore-otherworld-run-normal-explore-otherworld-run-repeat. I'm not someone who demands long games, but this just felt short as a game by itself. And since it grabs your attention you kind of expect more to it. Especially if you're a gamer who did play the original and for better or worse relate the play time with that.

2. While there are options to hide sometimes the game doesn't make as much use of them. Most of the time it is better to just run, but why make hiding an option if it's barely used? A game like Haunting Ground offers the player many ways to hide whether it's behind doors, under beds, behind curtains, in the bushes, etc. This would have made the game play more varied.

But other than that I did enjoy a horror game on my wii that wasn't some rail shooter. I loved that it tests you, and that it takes Silent Hill in a new direction unlike that of the past titles. Some will fault it for that reason. That this is a 'reboot' that erases all the continuity of the past titles. But I don't see it like that. I might have cared if the SH series was a solid plot straight through, but with the exception of Silent Hill 3 and Origins the rest of the games are pretty much their own story with minor ties to the others. To me, making a re-imagining is just another original story to tell with the only ties being that it tells a different approach to SH1. At the end of the day it's not much of a reboot. The next Silent Hill coming out (titled Downpour) is still going to focus on a new cast and story. And who knows. Maybe it will still have ties to the previous games in its own way.

But till then I think that the western influence of these SH games isn't perfect, but they aren't as bad as some people have claimed. This is a franchise that by all right could have died out years ago (and arguable should have). For better or worse it's still pulling its weight hoping to please the fan base by experimenting with different types of ways to scare them. In my opinion the only thing that keeps them back is by everyone placing SH2 on a pedestal. Now the developers making the next game want it to be 'the next SH2' as opposed to 'being a one of a kind SH'. Till they can breaks from the chains of pyramid head I don't know if the series can make the next big "SH2". But I will say this. The latest ones were satisfying enough for trying out new things instead of sticking to the old.

[Pikminister]

Nice read and good analysis.

One question though.... you seem to agree that taking risks is permissible when it comes to SH. Do you feel the same way about the RE franchise taking risks?

Just want to put things in its proper perspective, once I get an answer to that one.

Thanks.

[Smiley]

Nice read and good analysis.

One question though.... you seem to agree that taking risks is permissible when it comes to SH. Do you feel the same way about the RE franchise taking risks?

Just want to put things in its proper perspective, once I get an answer to that one.

Thanks.

Yes I do. A franchise will always have to face the inevitable task of keeping with the times so there's a lot of pressure in making new fans as well as pleasing the older ones.

When Resident Evil 4 came out I was very excited to try it out. Even though it was going through development hell the idea that we would be experiencing the first RE game with no zombies was interesting by itself. Let alone that the game would feature over-the-shoulder aiming and some of the best escort mission game play you can find.

When it comes to RE5 though I feel as if Capcom was trying to make it 'the next RE4' as opposed to 'the next big RE'. If you look at 'The Art of Resident Evil 5' you can see some of the different scrapped material and decide for yourself if what they added or left behind was for the best. The final game itself seems like a watered down RE4 with more shooting. And since RE4's debut a lot of games have used the third person over-the-shoulder game play so it can be pretty tiring these days. RE5 was taking steps back from what other games had evolved in the game play such as forcing you to stay still while shooting as opposed to moving around. You can tell they were stuck with how to make this game so they added different control schemes to cater to both RE4 players and Gears of War players.

Alas RE5's only real achievement to the RE4 formula was adding co-op to it, and while this works as an RE4 game for two players, if you remove the second player you just have an RE game with a poor AI partner to tag along through the entire experience. At least the Outbreak titles had a 'lone wolf' mode for single players. Even co-op games like Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker include a single player campaign. RE5 does not and once we move past the online co-op of this game I think RE5's place in the series will lessen in quality.

Now do I think RE5 is the worst RE? No. Even though it's unoriginal and uninspired it certainly isn't the worst RE game out there. Not to mention that I found the story to be more solid than RE4's in terms of being a sequel. But I know some will disagree.

Even though I tease Capcom a lot, I think the problem is that the company has lost most of its creative talent. Their new games kind of suck and so they're really trying hard to sell on the brand names of their top franchises. And while I'm all for trying something new, I do think there needs to be a balance so that you're not alienating the fans you already have. RE lost its old-school fans. Their attempt to reboot the DMC franchise that many DMC fans believed didn't need rebooting in the first place is hitting them hard. If you're going to try and do something new there's always a risk that it will either branch out or crash in burn. For Capcom RE4 branched out and Dino Crisis 3 crashed and burned.

[Pikminister]

Well, it seems that whenever "new" people take on a franchise, they usually like to shake things up. What happened with SH and DMC is an example of that. The risk they took were not as drastic with SH, though.

Anyway, if you're defending the two games that took some risks.... does that mean you want them to continue taking even more risks?

And are you more interested in how the gameplay changes? Or are you more concerned with the story/plotline or the protagonists?

A few weeks ago I was discussing Metroid Other M with a group of friends. We talked about how Nintendo fucked-up the protagonist, Samus Aran. Turning her into some sort of an emo girl with daddy issues. When before she was a badass stoic killing machine, with zero emotions.

Well, one of them said that with Shattered Memories, they almost did the same thing to Harry. Turning him into a very complex character with a lot of emotional extra baggage that didn't need to be there in the first place. Because Harry was always suppose to be just a regular dad that was totally fearless. Yet in SM they went over board trying to humanize him and make him vulnerable. Effectively turning him into a wimp. I don't necessarily agree with that opinion. But I've heard that a lot.

Well, I think the franchise def needs to stay relevant and change according to the times. But I guess there is the risk of alienating the core fanbase. Its tricky.

[Smiley]

Well just because something does take a risk doesn't guarantee it'll be good. And often times we can confuse risk taking with "pulling straight from the arse". Just as well you can loo at something that has remain consistent while others will look at it as lazy or unoriginal. There are lots of people that fear change and want the same thing every time.

I'm not a metroid fan so I can't comment on 'Other M' except to say that I don't mind adding a story or character to something as long as its good. Metal Gear started as a couple MSX games and now the series from a game play and story standpoint share similarities but have expanded a great deal since then.

And I'm no snob to remakes or loose adaptations. When it comes to games REmake is my favorite in the RE franchise for being one of the few games in the RE series that took its horror seriously. As far as movie remakes go you can't go wrong with 'The Thing'. When I think of loose adaptations I like I think of Kubrick's 'The Shining' as a film that strayed from the book yet was still satisfying. When it comes to my least favorite adaptation I look at the RE movies because I find them terrible as action films, horror films, zombie films, etc. And while I could give Paul W.S. Anderson credit for "adding something new to the table".... what he adds just seems half assed.

[Davi Redfield]

I saw Homecoming being beated til the death as the worst game in SH series in a lot of discussions through the internet, so when I bought it I expected some crap game unplayable, but when I started to play... I just thought that the game was pretty cool. The camera and combat system caught my attention, but also the story did it.

I'm also the older brother in my family, so found Alex and his motivations pretty nice ones. Also, the fate of Joshua left a bad taste in my mouth, after all, I already passed to similiar situations with both of my brothers (not ending like in the game, of course).

Boogeyman (Pyramid Head) surprised and freaks me out when I first saw him, I thought "Oh God, I will have to fight HIM?", however I found his appearance somewhat out of the place, til the end, when I had some thoughts about why he was there.

I enjoyed very much this game, and get really interested by it's story. Fortunately, I didn't left of playing it by the bad comments that I read about it previously.

Great analysis, by the way, Smiley.

Also, I downloaded the Alex's Diary in the official site and it provides very important info for the timeline that I'm making for my website.

[Canas Renvall]

I don't have a ton to add to this other than the fact that I completely agree.

Double Helix did try, I felt. Sure, they could've done better, but damn they tried. I dunno about all of you, but the Hell Descent (in the doctor's office) scared the shit out of me.

Same goes for Shattered Memories. It had wonderful atmosphere and the chases were intense, though again, could've improved. However, Climax also tried to make something new for themselves, and the story was a mindbending twist and I'm sorry, I think it's the best since SH2 (the story, I mean). I'm a sucker for twists.

[Shugotenshi]

Here's some material against Homecoming and Shattered Memories, also explains succintly why I'm against both: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5-XhBpfqMM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W4sHJGQzZ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LSQrzZdBck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-fLXS9S4GM

Of course, the entire TRSHE (The Real Silent Hill Experience) series is worth watching.

[GuardhouseMusic]

While I also think that Homecoming's control change is arbitrary, these mooks talk about how much they didn't enjoy the new interface, then they say to the critics of the tank controls: "If you don't like 'em, get used to 'em!"

Hypocritical and biased, much?

[Smiley]

Agreed, and this is coming from a fan of tank controls.

[Smiley]

Also I think their justification for why Shattered Memories failed as a re-imagining is bogus. And saying that Silent Hill 4 is more of a Silent Hill game simply because it has the mythology and the like is just silly. That was a game that wasn't originally meant to be a Silent Hill game. Shattered Memories at its core wouldn't have been made without influence from the first game.

[GuardhouseMusic]

Also I think their justification for why Shattered Memories failed as a re-imagining is bogus. And saying that Silent Hill 4 is more of a Silent Hill game simply because it has the mythology and the like is just silly. That was a game that wasn't originally meant to be a Silent Hill game. Shattered Memories at its core wouldn't have been made without influence from the first game.

I don't understand why people keep putting over this fact as if it detracts from the overall experience SH4 offers as a standalone game and as a part of the overall SH canon. It sheds light on characters mentioned in the previous games and it furthers some notions which SH3 introduced, i.e. the power that manifests someone's subconscious isn't restricted to just Silent Hill. Whether or not it would be considered a Gaiden-type affair because of the core mechanics or the setting doesn't really matter to me, because I think the series' spirit is in SH4. For that matter, we don't know at what stage of development it took for what remained of Team Silent to change it from a standalone title to SH4.

I agree that to fully expect a "re-imagining" (which is a useless word anyway, as there are no restrictions on what a remake can change regarding the original narrative base) to be any degree faithful to the original story is potentially setting yourself up for disappointment. One may not enjoy the lack of "SH mythology" in Shattered Memories, of course, I'm in that camp. However, that isn't a legitimate con for that game.

Getting back to Twin-Perfect's videos, they leave a bad taste in my mouth, specifically because their analyses are little more than suckfests with redundant and unoriginal points. Watch their video for the first SH and note how much they harp on REs inferiority through the use of edited footage to ridiculously tailor their arguments. I mean, I've always considered Silent Hill a superior series from a mythological perspective but god damn.

[Smiley]

I don't understand why people keep putting over this fact as if it detracts from the overall experience SH4 offers as a standalone game and as a part of the overall SH canon.

Maybe because it explains the detract from the overall experience SH4 offers as a standalone game and as a part of the overall SH canon? Just saying.

Throwing some mythology into it doesn't just retract what it once was. Regardless how I feel about that entry if you enjoy Silent Hill 4 then that sentence shouldn't make you feel cheated out of a game you enjoy. Lots of great games have been made that were once going to be something else. Devil May Cry for example.

[jimmyjoejangles]

I thought they were decent games. homecoming didn't make me wanna play it again. and i sold it to buy alone in the dark (what a waste). AS for the worst silent hill game my vote goes to the room. There was a part where i couldn't get up the escalator and i kept getting killed. I hated it.