homecoming

Kind of old. Dr. Sirge, from a page I never finished.

Maybe it's just because I'm not very far into the game yet, but so far, I'm not really understanding why everyone bashed Silent Hill: Homecoming so badly. The graphics are amazing, the music is nice (but I'm sure you guys were expecting me to say that, since I am such a loyal SH OST fan), the voice acting is WAY better than most SH games, ALEX ACTUALLY HAS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS (is it just me or do SH protagonists usually seem kind of dead/emotionless?), etc etc.
I think the use of shadows in this game is incredibly impressive. The shadows on the walls and ground are often so blatant that you can't help but take notice of them, and they're frequently a bit startling. The shadows have forced me to glance around the area on numerous occasions, making me think there was someone else in the room, but it turned out to be nothing other than Alex's own shadow. This is kind of an interesting psychological effect that people commonly experience in the real world when they're scared (thinking you heard someone behind you but it was only your own footsteps, thinking you saw something move but it was just your own shadow, etc.) and yet it's something I haven't seen incorporated in other horror games much, despite it being a pretty prominent aspect of fear (or, at least, I haven't seen it incorporated very effectively). It's nice to see it being used in this game.
The fact that the main character actually appears to have emotions is a great addition as well. James Sunderland and Henry Townshend both seemed particularly emotionless throughout their games. They were in some really horrific situations, but they always had these like... completely dead, fearless, emotionless facial expressions. Right from the start, Alex has been the opposite. He doesn't come across as totally terrified (playing as a character who's a complete chicken would be kinda obnoxious), but he does widen his eyes or raise/furrow his eyebrows in frightening situations. REALISTIC HUMAN REACTIONS = GOOD THING. Use it more, Silent Hill!
Maybe I will come to see some of the things people dislike about this game once I'm further into the storyline, but as of right now, I actually like it. The only severe complaint I have is the outright lack of save points. I don't know if I was just somehow prancing right by them and not noticing them or what, but I went a good 30-45 minutes without a save point in one part of the game, which completely annoyed me, since I was really needing to quit playing LOL 8(