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Why Silent Hill: Homecoming Failed As A Horror Game

June 13, 2009 in Blog comments 8

Konami thought that they could spice up the Silent Hill series by handing the fifth installment over to a new team of developers. What we ended up with was Silent Hill: Homecoming, arguably one of the worst games in the series.
And yet it had all the elements of a Silent Hill game. It had all the elements of a good horror game. So what went wrong?

Silent Hill: Homecoming had all the elements of a psychological survival-horror game but didn’t know how to use them properly.

Silent Hill: Homecoming was largely seen as a departure from the survival-horror genre when it was released last October. However, this entry in the long running series remained true to its genre roots in many ways. Guns were sparse and ammo even more so, there were plenty of puzzles and dark environments, and while the new combat system bothered many long-time fans because it didn’t actively discourage fighting, since it emphasized dodging over attacking, players still felt weak and disadvantaged in each confrontation. But Silent Hill: Homecoming was a departure from form. It took more inspiration from the Silent Hill movie than from the previous games and ended up with many of the same flaws. It had all the elements of a psychological survival-horror game, but didn’t know how to use them properly, and as a result, it felt like more of a departure than it actually was.
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  • 0
    chautemoc Jun 14, 09
    Well, it's like asking fans of say, Led Zeppelin, to make a new Led Zeppelin record.
    Even if they're talented..it just ain't gonna turn out nice.
    I'd say the same thing of Fallout 3, based on what I know.
  • 1
    Seeker X Jun 14, 09
    Fallout 3 is a bad example. FO3 was a huge success, SH: H is a godamned disaster that not even newcomers would like. Movement was purposely crippled and slowed, even more so than before. Gameplay consists of fighting...though they cripple the combat too...for some reason, go figure. The atmosphere, straight off the movie (which, if anyone missed it, WAS NOT SCARY). Graphics were just horrible...Silent Hill 2/3 used Mo-Cap for character animations with real-time cutscenes, Homecoming uses pre-recorded cutscenes with below average character animations.

    I could literally go on.

    I'm just asking myself, why the *bleep* did someone wait so long to do this anyways, this should've been out along with the game. Instead it was getting praised along with Dead Space because those 2 were the only horror games at the time.
    • 0
      chautemoc Jun 14, 09
      It being popular doesn't make it great (subjective), or true to the creators' games.

      I'm sure those reviews were paid for..
    • 1
      Daweii Jun 14, 09
      Huge success is nothing. Fallout 1 and 2 were twice the game Fallout 3 was, far better in everyway and the developers were lucky to shift 300,000 units. Sales mean nothing when it comes to the quality of a product. Fallout 3 was fun but i had to bury my emotions when it came to story they *bleep*ed over the whole legacy of Fallout for a quick buck... What is done is done, i just hope Obsidian Entertainment can right all wrongs with Fallout: New Vegas considering they made the original games under the name of Black Isle Studios.
      • 0
        Dragoshi1 Jun 14, 09
        Fallout 3 is still pushing out DLC, and it has hit the kost popular downloads on the 360, and soon the ps3
  • 0
    Seeker X Jun 14, 09
    Whether you believe that FO3 is inferior to its predecessors is WAY more subjective than sales. If it sold and was Game of the Year material, there's no discussion about it, it was a success.

    I could say the same thing about Resident Evil 5 being inferior to the classic games but it doesn't change the fact that RE5 is HUGE, and one of the biggest mainstream games out there. Homecoming hardly sold, and it doesn't even have a cult following unlike the past games.
  • 0
    Mr Gray Jun 15, 09
    This is why they're pulling hard to make the SH1 remake really good. It's 'move it lose it', and if they fail again the series will quickly be removed from Climax hands, (and likely thrown at Kojima, as was Castlevania).
  • 1
    Killosity Jun 15, 09
    Because it wasn't scary.
    It wasn't compelling.
    Characters were a drag.

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