The success of Silent Hill titles in the past alone have been enough to build up a good level of anticipation for Silent Hill Homecoming, but living up to the high expectations of the genre’s fan base is no easy feat.

The games’ developers, Double Helix, have certainly been working on Silent Hill Homecoming long enough to give you some good expectations, such as a fresh plot, new chilling creatures and maybe even more gruesome ways to take out whatever crosses your path. Unfortunately, the game fails to deliver on all fronts and within the survival horror genre, Silent Hill Homecoming will be considered forgettable by most people - due in no small part to the recent success of Dead Space which has raised the bar for the entire genre.

Silent Hill Homecoming is by no means a bad title in it’s own right, though, as it is arguably as atmospheric as Dead Space and just as graphically grotesque throughout - but the majority of what you see in this latest installment of the Silent Hill series will have been seen before in some form. It is ultimately that lack of evolution of the series which make it forgettable, but if you are prepared to settle for what is pretty much a visually enhanced version of previous Silent Hill titles, then you will not go far wrong with Silent Hill Homecoming.

You play the part of Alex Shepard who is a bit down on his luck. As an infantry soldier he was wounded in battle and sent home to the United States where he spends much of his time in hospital - but during his stay he begins to have recurring nightmares which suggest his brother Joshua is in some kind of danger. As he is discharged from hospital, he sets off to track down his younger brother before the danger that stalks him reaches him first. This takes Alex back to his home town of Shepards Glen, which he left long ago, and upon arrival he finds the town has been gripped by evil - and with the whereabouts of the town’s residents unknown, including Alex’s father and brother, you are tasked with unveiling the shady truth behind the happenings in Shepards Glen.

Unfortunately once the original introductory sequences have passed you begin to get lost as you, Alex, travel through the streets coming across a combination of old and new events which will leave you confused in a short space of time, and once you feel confused, there seems to be no way of grasping what on earth is going on around you - even fans of the series will find this baffling. You will spend a lot of time wandering streets, coming across nothing and getting nowhere - the game develops far too slowly and it is very easy to lose interest before you even reach anything which is in any way interesting.

When you do finally manage to stumble across some kind of creature, monster, or whatever you want to call them you will find disposing of them far easier than ever before thanks to the military background Alex has. This has it’s benefits of course, but in all honesty it makes what is the heart of the game a little too simple, and it somehow detracts from the seedy feeling of the game that you would typically experience when the presence of these mutated creatures approaches.

Fans of the survival horror genre are more than likely to be disappointed with Silent Hill Homecoming, as it certainly does not live up to the expectations that we all had for it. It is a good action thriller in it’s own right, but will not give you chills throughout like the previous titles in the series. Instead you find yourself knowing what is coming, when it is coming, and will be fully prepared in advance to dispose of it in seconds.

If you want survival horror and want it now, go buy Dead Space instead.

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