Silent Hill: Homecoming -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Silent Hill: Homecoming and unlocked all the achievements in the process. Yes, that means I completed the game enough times for the five endings. I played through the game three full times and then used a save right before the first major choice that determines the ending. I used another save right before the second major choice. So it took roughly forty minutes to achieve ending four, and another twenty for ending five. I do have to say that overall I'm very impressed with Double Helix's take on Silent Hill. As stated in a previous post, I loved the combat. It's just much more intense and feels far more like a fight to survive than previous games. The graphics are a mixed bag on a technical level. Some of the character facial models are just bad. But at other times they look good. The environmental graphics also range from bad to great. The bad is a water texture that fails to pull off what they were going for. And the good being anything having to do with the Otherside aspects of Silent Hill. The fog effect is good and it becomes awesome in Otherside segments. The creature designs are what I would call the overall best in the series. The Feral being the only one that fails to impress. And that's more from how it animates than the concept. Its animation allows for some cheap hits. The other creatures are all great. The creatures of Silent Hill have always been closely tied to a character's psyche and Homecoming's are exceptionally well done. The bosses in the game are the best the series has seen as far as execution is concerned. And they're conceptually among the best, if not the best. The final boss is easily my favorite of the series. The voice work in the game is exceptional all around. And good voice work always helps with a story. The story of Homecoming is also a highpoint. While not as impressive as Silent Hill or Silent Hill 2, the story is great. And it's easily the most coherent of the series. Every last thing makes perfect sense. And the story gets more impressive as you play through it a second time. Seeing all the little hints and knowing exactly what they mean this time around. The game manages to take bits and pieces from all over the Silent Hill series and still manages to feel fresh. It's interesting to note how much inspiration comes from the movie. Not only in the flip to Otherside but in the designs of certain characters and the look of the town itself. The score is what I would call a subdued Yamaoka classic Silent Hill score. All the elements are there. Everything sounds as it should. I really enjoyed Silent Hill: Homecoming. I hope it sells well enough to see another in the series from Double Helix. They've done well with the series in my opinion. I'm giving Silent Hill: Homecoming a 9.