Q&A With Twisted Pixel Games

Hey folks, I just got word back from Twisted Pixel regarding your questions. Now, not everyone got their questions answered, but I want you guys to thank Jay Stuckwisch for getting our questions out there and thank CEO of the company, Mike Wilford, for taking the time to answer our questions. I was going to send off another set of questions, but hey, it's the holidays. We got our questions answered just in time for Christmas, so I think we're good. But hey, no need to stall, let's get down to business...

Before we get started, just tell us a little about yourself. What do you do at Twisted Pixel, exactly?

My name is Michael Wilford, and I’m a co-founder of Twisted Pixel. I wear a lot of hats, but I primarily work as the company’s CEO and producer.

Where's your studio located?

We are in Austin, Texas, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Also, the tacos are damn good.

What got you guys together and making games in the first place? Just share any information you think fans might find interesting.

The other founders, Josh Bear and Frank Wilson, and I were all working together for a studio in Chicago, and we started hanging out and becoming close friends and realized that we shared the same thoughts about going off on our own to make games. The more we talked the more we discovered that we made a good fit together, and ultimately we took the plunge and quit our jobs to start Twisted Pixel. It was a scary time, especially since it took over a year of writing pitches and building demos in a freezing brick room with fingerless gloves before we landed our first project greenlight.

Unfortunately, not everybody's getting credited for their question, sorry, but g1 GameJudge gets a special mention here for being kind enough to nominate me for g1 of the year here on ScrewAttack. So what, I'm an attention *****, is that so wrong?

Hey man, who am I to judge, I’m the one being interviewed like as if I have something important to say.

Anyway, GameJudge wants to know about your name. What made you guys settle on Twisted Pixel? Was it something that just sounded cool to you, or is there some kind of story behind it?

We struggled with this quite a bit. It took a few days where we sat and talked and threw out ideas. We wanted a name that could be taken seriously but also show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. It needed to be a name that someone could easily remember, but not be too goofy. Nothing sounded quite right, so we almost went with “Metal Guitars” just because it made us laugh. But finally, right before we wrapped up another meeting, my screen saver went off, which is basically millions of tiny multi-colored particles swirling around, and the name “Twisted Pixel” sprang to mind.

A raging Canadian friend of mine was a little particular about his question. To be safe, I'm just going to copy and paste his message here...

"You might want to ask them something along the lines of how to get a small indie studio going. Not "Hey, how did you guys get into developing indie titles?" but something more along the lines of how to get involved in indie development, as it's often the best place to start for those of us interested in development."

There’s really only one answer to this question, and I think most developers would agree... just start making stuff. In today’s day and age, with so many platforms with massive user bases and almost zero barrier of entry, there’s no one to blame but yourself for not firing up your computer, making your own games, and getting them out there. The more you do it, the better you’ll get, the more developers you’ll meet, and the closer you’ll get to living off the games you make. Just go do it.

I got a lot of questions from PS3 owners who haven't had a chance to play your games. Do you guys have some kind of contract with Microsoft or do you just prefer developing for the 360 right now? Do you have any plans for multiplatform releases in the future? Do you have anything to say to the PS3 fans who are waving their cash around begging for your games?

Hahah, we love the PS3 and would totally love to give everyone access to our games. But yes, the reality is that each game has it’s own distribution agreements, and in some cases we are required to give up some amount of exclusivity. Combine that with the fact that we are a small shop that likes to work on new stuff all the time, and it’s hard for us to find the time and the ability to port all of our games to other platforms.

Comic Jumper and its characters were created long before Twisted Pixel was even around, but what exactly gave you guys the ideas for The Maw and 'Splosion Man?

The Maw was an idea that our CCO Josh Bear and Art Director Dave Leung came up with when they were trying to think of cool things you could do with the Nintendo DS when it first came out. The idea was to call to Maw and use the stylus to control the leash. When we started Twisted Pixel, we adapted the idea for WiiWare first, actually. But Microsoft ended up liking the idea first.

Splosion Man came about from a group lunch that we had in the office. We bought everyone some pizza and just threw out crazy ideas for what would make for a cool new 2D platformer. Our lead designer Sean Riley tossed out the idea of a character that just splodes around and shatters a lot of glass, and we all thought it was hilarious. But it quickly went from being a joke to something we thought could be a really cool game.

Speaking of Comic Jumper. I have to say, it's probably my personal favorite of the games you've released. Can you talk about any future plans for the game or its character? I'd love to see some DLC or a full blown sequel.

Comic Jumper holds a special place in our heart since it was in many ways the game that we set out to create when we first formed Twisted Pixel. I’m sure we’ll find a way to use those characters again someday.

Another personal question... I'm a toy collector - do feel free to check out some of my toy reviews /advertisement - so I've been wondering about the stuff you sell on the site. The statues and plushes look great, but have you ever considered some regular action figures? I know I'd love to see a mini 'Splosion Man, Smiley, or Frank and Maw figure sitting on my shelf.

Almost everyone at the studio is a huge fan of action figures too, and we’d love to make some. But it’s hard to make them awesome without costing a ton of money, and not everyone would be interested in buying them.

Someone asked how you respond to criticism when it comes to your game. To me, it seems like Star in Comic Jumper was sort of a light jab at some complaints about your past games, especially with his comments about The Maw's length and DLC. Is it safe to say that you guys tend to keep a comedic attitude about things like that?

Yeah definitely, we don’t take anything too seriously. Making video games is supposed to be fun.

In the wake of a few video from an infamous ScrewAttack poster (Hi, MovieBob), a lot of g1s have been claiming that creativity is dead when it comes to modern gaming. Being the only team who's made a character with the gimmick of spontaneous combustion, had one of your protagonists eating a planet, and brought to life a gun slinging smiley face, how do you feel about that claim? Do you think smaller teams like yourselves, Team Meat, and others tend to get ignored when it comes to things like this?

Great question. Yeah, I think that comment is more relevant for retail games by bigger publishers. There’s a lot of creative innovation going on in the indie dev scene these days. But unfortunately, it’s hard for smaller teams like ours to get the word out about our projects, especially when it’s original IP that no one has ever heard of before. That’s why we love going to PAX and doing Q&A’s like this where we can talk directly with fans and help spread the word.

Someone had a question about Star from Comic Jumper,and I'm a bit curious about this one myself. What's his connection with Smiley, exactly? Is he fused to Smiley or just a sentient costume decoration?

Hahah, all we say is that he’s part of the costume, and he’s sentient. We don’t really explain it more than that. I think if we did, it would probably be a big let down, like midichlorians.

Lots of folks are hyped for Ms. 'Splosion Man. Can you tell us a little bit about the project?

We’re not getting into many specifics right now, but I can tell you it’s going to be quite a bit different from the original game. That’s why we’re calling it Ms. Splosion Man with a different protagonist, and not just making Splosion Man 2 or some DLC packs.

While we're on the subject, are we going to see a 'Splosion Man Junior one of these days?

You never know what will happen once the Mr. and Ms. get together.

Oh, here's a good one. If you had a chance to take over any established video game series and make your own game with it, which series would it be?

For me personally, it would be Castlevania. Some of my fondest gaming memories are with that series, and it has so much potential, but there hasn’t been a good 3D Castlevania game yet.

If you could, would you make an animated series based on any of your properties?

Heck yeah! I think all of our properties would make great cartoons. Know anyone at Cartoon Network?

There were plenty of clear shout outs to comics like The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, and more in Comic Jumper; what other comics does the staff tend to read? Would you like to see any of your characters make the jump to comics?

A lot of us are life-long comic fans. I’m currently catching up on The Walking Dead, and I’ve been following Invincible for a while. I’ll pretty much buy anything that Jim Lee draws too. It’d be awesome to see our characters in comics.

What'd you do with that 'Splosion Man costume from the 'Splosion Man credit sequence? I know some people who'd sell vital organs to get that thing.

Hahah, we still have it, but I doubt anyone would want to wear it at this point. It has had a lot of big sweaty dudes inside of it for hours at a time. And if that doesn’t sound gross, I don’t know what does.

As great as you guys are, I doubt even you could answer this, but the public wants to know... Magnets. How the **** do they work? Also, forced memes. How do you get rid of them?

Dude, everyone knows that magnets aren’t real. That’s just some crap the government made up and is trying to force a meme. The only way to fight forced memes is with more forced memes.

A certain fan wants to know if you'll bear his children... I don't think that's a question we can really linger on, but I thought you might want to know.

There are a lot of things we would do for our fans, but you may have found our limit. Mostly because I don’t have a uterus.

Have you ever considered releasing a full retail game? Or, at the very least, a compilation disc of your downloadable games?

Yeah, that’s a great idea, and we’d love to do something like that. Going retail is a lot more complicated and costly, though, so there are a lot of parties that need to all get on the same page about it before that can happen. We’re interested though! A Twisted Pixel compilation that had a bunch of specials in it would rock.

We've all got our personal heroes. Me? I'm a follower of the Church of Bruce Campbell. What about you? Are there any people you guys would like to work with eventually? Anyone you would consider your hero?

There are a lot of people I admire, and I’ve had the good fortune of being able to meet a lot of them, even talk about working on things together. For me, I’d much rather have the opportunity to discuss working on something with one of my heroes than I would stand in line just to say hi. Some of my heroes are Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, and lot of other comic icons. Also Robert Rodriguez, Christopher Nolan, Spielberg, the Coen brothers, and a lot of kickass film makers. Huge fan of the Bruce Campbell as well. And of course there are a lot of game developers I admire

I'm gonna close this out with some lovin'. At least five or six people have simply asked me to tell you that they love you, love your work, and want to see you making these great games for years to come. To put it simply, we love you, Twisted Pixel. Do you have any messages for your adoring fans before we part ways for now?

You guys are awesome! If you help spread the word for us, we promise to keep the games coming, and to work with all of you to figure out how our games can be better. And if you hate our stuff, keep the flames stoked high and let us hear you, we think that ****’s pretty funny.

So, there we go, our questions answered by the CEO of Twisted Pixel games. Hopefully some of you learned something today. I think one thing that resonates here is Mike's comment about getting the word out about smaller games and developers to help get them noticed. So do all us Twisted Pixel fans a favor if you aren't really into their stuff, at least give their games a try and get the word out. In fact, do the same for all indie devs that you happen to have a fondness for. These people work hard, they deserve some attention.

Sorry about the lack of a second part, really, but hopefully everyone had fun. I'd like to personally thank Jay and Mike for taking the time to speak to us, and I'd like to thank everyone at Twisted Pixel for the great games they've put out so far. Thanks a lot, guys. If you're interested in hearing anything the team might have to say and what to keep up with their stuff, follow them on Twitter at @twisted_pixel. Thanks a ton for reading.(A Q&A session with Twisted Pixel games from a little while ago. Had a lot of fun talking to these guys.)

Five Widely Praised Movies That I Can't Stand

Sometimes we hear nothing but good things about a movie. Sometimes we go into a film expecting something amazing. We go into a film expecting an artistic, soul stirring masterpiece, because countless people have labeled it as such. Ever so often, I feel like I've seen everything that mainstream film making has to offer, so I dig a little deeper into slightly more obscure movies, relying only on word of mouth and some Wiki exploration. Sometimes I end up with something like Videodrome or Mary and Max, and other times I stumble upon the garbage featured on today's list.

(NOTE: I know the tone of this list may seem a bit more serious and to the point, but trust me, I understand that every movie is enjoyed by someone, and I have no right to kill someone's enjoyment. Everything said here is simply my opinion, I'm not trying to convince any of you that happen to enjoy these movies that they're bad. We good? Read on.)

#5 - Gummo ('97)

Let me say one thing here that may completely discredit my opinion of this movie... I've never finished it. Nope, I never plan to. I honestly couldn't justify wasting an hour and a half of my life on this thing. It's an ugly, nonsensical "artsy" film that is praised for its supposedly realistic depiction of white trash in rural America. Apparently it's hateful and offensive to portray "white trash" as ignorant, cruel, mentally disabled, and violent in a film, but a movie that centers around a group of ignorant, mentally disabled, cruel, violent rednecks is worthy of praise when its shot on shitty film stock and directed by a pretentious twat. Go figure.

Okay, I suppose I should at least make an attempt to explain the movie. Keep in mind, I haven't finished it, and I know that makes me seem like an ass for not giving it a chance, but trust me, simply reading a synopsis will make you lose the will to see it, too. The film is... Really about nothing. It's simply a collage of scenes cut from the every day lives of people living in a rural Ohio town that was hit by a tornado in the seventies. You'll see characters fondling each other and discovering that they have cancer, drowning kittens, selling stray cats to butchers, wearing bunny ears for no real reason, and performing countless other pointless actions. I suppose the ending is worth mentioning for being exceptionally stupid...



...that scene is really a nice summary of the movie, from what I understand. It's an hour and a half of a derpy kid yelling "HURRR DURRR KITTEH!" while swinging a dead cat over his head. But that's not really why I'm showing you the ending, oh no. Let's take a look at some comments on the video...

the part at the end of the movie where Bunny Boy makes out with the two blonde girls in the above-ground pool while it rains...as Cryin playin in the background
that the single most beautiful to ever appear on film. it has such a haunting grace to it

Let it be known that fans of Gummo find bunny hood wearing, pre-pubescent boys making out with naked teenagers in a pool beautiful.

Yes it does, it's quite obvious for a person observing the Movie..even if it doesn't makes sense, it stills has a mysterious message.

Ah, this is the one I really need to highlight. You see, the film's director Harmony Korine is, in fact, a pretentious "hipster" who fills his movies with so much "style" that there's no room for any substance. But here's the thing... He's actually admitted that there's no message in Gummo. It exists simply to show off how bleak and nihilistic life can get for some people, there's no hidden meaning buried in it. To be fair, I really respect the guy for admitting this, and you have no idea how hard it is for me to respect someone who directed a film called Trash Humpers. But regardless of this fact, fans still cling to the idea of an underlying meaning hidden in the movie. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and something a shitty movie is just a shitty movie.

#4 - Paranormal Activity ('09)

Paranormal Activity isn't really as "underground" or obscure as the others featured on this list, but it's just as pointless. Honestly, I love mockumentary style horror, the genre has endless potential if the stories presented are even partially believable. Unfortunately, Paranormal Activity doesn't live up to that potential. It tries to go the lost tape route ala Cloverfield, Noroi, or Blair Witch, but leaves quite a few gaps in the tape's origin and really feels redundant all around.

It's the story of a couple, Micah and Katie, and their first days living together in their new San Diego home. Katie has, supposedly, been followed by paranormal events throughout her entire life, and when odd happenings startle the couple, Micah decides to film every waking moment in hopes of catching the creature responsible. The setup is actually interesting, in my opinion, but the execution is so redundant and boring that it loses all its impact barely twenty minutes in. Really, it's a screamer, that's all it is. You spend two hours watching this couple prance about, hear some explanations about the haunting, then something jumps out at you. What's really sad is, it couldn't even get that simple concept right.

There are several points in the movie that are never addressed, and that bugs me. For one, they claim that the creature has been following Katie, so they can't escape it. But if that's the case, why wasn't it manifesting itself before? Why didn't Micah know about it until the movie started? Did Katie just forget to mention that she's haunted for the first few months they were dating? I don't get that, does it just lay dormant for a random amount of time then start ominously closing doors and shit? For that matter, why are we even seeing this tape? At the end of the movie, Micah had the camera mounted on the wall, and a demon possessed Katie kills him and a group of cops who enter the house. Did demon-Katie just take the tape out and send it to America's Funniest Home Videos or something? The tape's origins are kind of important in the lost tape subgenre.

The movie itself isn't terrible, honestly. It's just... Boring. It's comparable to watching paint dry for a few hours, then just before it all hardens, you realize that there's an abstract face forming in it. There's so much build up that by the time the pay off comes around, it has no impact whatsoever. This was called the scariest movie of all time, the trailers have people shitting themselves in terror when a door knob turns or a blanket gets hit with a breeze, and there's a sequel coming... Where did we go wrong with our horror movies, exactly?

#3 - We Are the Strange ('07)

We Are the Strange... With a title like that, you can instantly see which audience the movie is pandering to. The "nobody understands me, I'm so different" crowd that just happens to be comprised almost entirely of pretentious twelve year olds. But, upon seeing the trailer, you might think it was aiming for the gamer crowd. The use of Sinistar voice samples and the gorgeous chiptune music just screams "this is for you, gamers." Hell, there's even a mention of a giant robot! But then you see the movie...

To put it simply, I saw the trailer, and I was like this...



"A surreal, dark, tongue-in-cheek animated film that pokes fun at those who look for deeper meaning in shallow entertainment while referencing retro gaming? Fuck and yes."

But then, I was all...



"What the fuck was that? Why are my eyes bleeding? Where am I? What just happened?"

So, the story... Well, we open on a woman named Blue being abused by a primitive CG model of a man that wouldn't look out of place in ReBoot. We notice that the character's actor speaks like a dyslexic Speak and Spell. That's because he's voiced by our director, MDotStrange, a pretentious weeaboo whose only talent involves splicing together random, shaky footage shot with a handy cam. But I digress... Blue has a strange disease that makes her skin harden into scales under certain circumstances, and director dude doesn't like this so he tosses her out.

She runs off, depressed by the fact that she just escaped someone she hated, because apparently that's sad. She runs into a semi-aborted monstrosity made out of paper clips and a baby doll head, he's called eMMM, because we needed more proof that our director, "M," is self absorbed beyond reason. The two team up, because eMMM wants ice cream... What? Anyway... The pair ends up in a seemingly abandoned city, and after an impromptu dance number that would make even Bollywood blush, they're attacked by poorly designs monsters that look like inside-out weasels with nails hammered into them.

Meanwhile, a pair of criminals named Rain and Origami are fighting creatures for some unknown reason. Rain is a rather dumb looking Kabuki mask wearing fighter with whip-like claws, and Origami is essentially the Annoying Orange's special cousin, the Derptastic Post-It Note, who has the ability to fold himself into different shapes. Turns out, Rain is eMMM's father. I know, the resemblance is uncanny. Apparently he was also a giant robot creator, and was training his malformed son to pilot one by making him play a Gameboy for years on end. The two groups meet up, there's a nonsensical giant robot fight, and the movie fizzles out with no real explanation for anything you just witnessed or closure. But hey, maybe I'm being too hard on Strange here. Maybe We Are the Strange isn't his masterpiece like I've heard. Maybe his other movies are great.



...Six minutes of awful CGI, someone in a mask going "durrrrr" while picking up a phone, and a clown-faced cowboy doin' the monkey. Why am I not surprised?

#2 - Eraserhead ('76)

I'm gonna lose a lot of you right here, and I understand why. Eraserhead is the premiere feature length film by beloved director David Lynch. Admittedly, Lynch has improved by leaps and bounds over the years, but many people seem to forget that in his early years he did nonsensical short films like The Alphabet and Six Men Getting Sick. If you haven't seen Eraserhead, trust me, it's more The Alphabet than it is Twin Peaks. This is the only film on this list that isn't just loved by fans, but by the god damn US Library of Congress. I must really be in the minority here...

Eraserhead is the tale of a man named Henry Spencer. Spencer lives in an industrial wasteland of sorts, and he leads a rather mundane life with his girlfriend, Mary X. (Because X is the coolest letter ever!) But after an awkward dinner with the X family - involving at least one old lady orgasm and some bleeding Cornish hens - Mary drops a rather dramatic bomb on Henry. She's pregnant. A bit later, the "baby" is born, way too early, in fact.

The baby is a strange, sheep headed abomination wrapped in bandages. Sure, it's fugly, but it's the cry it lets out that really makes the thing unlikable. It sounds like a bee hive crammed into a vuvuzela being played with the ass of a wolverine that's viciously clawing at a chalkboard. Being the one apparently intelligent human in the movie, Mary leaves her big haired baby-daddy and the creature he made her spawn. So now Henry's alone with his demon brood, and he begins escaping its whining by hallucinating a random singing chick with cheeks the size of tennis balls, who's giving him personal concerts inside his radiator while stomping on falling sperm cells.

That's pretty much all there is. The rest of the movie revolves around Henry's insanity and some off the wall dream sequences. The only moderately interesting scene involves Henry finally snapping at his "son" and cutting its bandages, revealing nothing underneath but a pulsating pile of goo and organs. What's sad is that the idea of a parent taking care of a child that they didn't want, a child that was born with a serious disfigurement and condition that made the parent's life harder and the baby's life unbearable is a great idea. It could be touching, dramatic, and disturbing all at once. But, of course, Lynch has to inject a simple but charming idea with copious amounts of his trademark "style," which made the whole thing devolve into an eighty nine minute acid trip. But hey, on the plus side, a good horror-drama about childbirth came out three years later - David Cronenberg's The Brood.

#1 - Begotten ('91)

Oh, man, this movie. This one is fresh in my mind. This is the movie that inspired this list. Much like Eraserhead, ninety percent of the reviews I see of this movie are unbelievably positive. Hell, look at that trailer, it's nothing but footage with a narrator reading exerts from reviewers who were practically gargling the movie's balls. So I go in expecting a dark, gory, surreal, interesting story with striking visuals and a unique design. But ten minutes in, I finally understand one reviewer's quote. "Makes Eraserhead look like Earnest Saves Christmas." It makes an ugly, nonsensical movie with no discernible plot and no rhyme or reason look like a mediocre but watchable comedy. It makes Eraserhead look decent. God help us all.

Speaking of God, our story opens with a fairly interesting shot of a bandaged man representing God. The first five minutes fill you with hope. Sure, the picture is awful, you can barely make things out, there's no dialogue, and there's no music... But hey, at least it looks kind of cool. God is apparently depressed, and he decides to end it all with a straight razor in his gut. After the one gory scene that you'll actually be able to make out, God is dead.

Descriptions of the "plot" say that a new character, Mother Earth, is born from God's corpse. In reality, she simply crawls out from under a sheet that was draped over him. Whimsical descriptions of mundane things can do wonders, can't they? Mother Earth is apparently a bit of a slut, as her first instinct is to rape God's corpse. Classy. I think she grabs the corpse's hand and fingers herself with it, but between the untamed 'pubes of the nineties, the terrible film quality, and the extreme contrast, I can't tell if she's going necrophile on us or if I'm watching a close up of a chinchilla that wandered in front of the camera while the director was on a lunch break.

Apparently she breeds through osmosis, because slight touch left her pregnant. Then, after ten minutes of a random coffin dissolve wiping across the desert, she gives birth to a fully grown man. Assuming the barely conscious, twitching pile of man-meat she just squirted out can fend for itself, she vanishes until later in the movie. Those sand people from Star Wars kidnap the guy, who is known as Son of the Earth - Flesh on Bone. They're a bit cruel at first, but after he coughs up some delicious tumors for them, they warm up to him awfully quick. Naturally, to thank him for his "gifts," they hunt down his mother, rape her, then proceed to dismember her. Now it's his turn. So, everyone's dead. Movie over? Nope. We get one more shot of the mother and son wandering around a forest. How? Who knows, and honestly, who cares?

You know what's really sad? My description condensed the movie down to its most basic form. It's actually an hour and fifteen minutes long. But you know what? Nothing. Happens. There are a handful of events, and they cover about twenty minutes altogether. The rest of the movie is comprised of drawn out scenes that serve no purpose. For every semi-interesting scene, there are ten scenes of rocks, or a dozen scenes of a sun in the background, twenty minutes of the Son being dragged through the desert... Nothing happens.

To make matters worse, when things do happen, you can't fucking see what's going on. I don't know if the director thought he was being clever when he decided to turn the contrast up high enough to reduce every scene to something comparable to a Rorschach test on a brick Gameboy or what, but that decision has killed this movie. This is an arthouse film, I expected a pointless, shallow story. But if the visuals were neat, I'd forgive it. After the visually striking opening, you might expect something special as far as the designs and style go, but no, by the end you won't be able to tell where one character ends and the other begins. It's ugly, plain and simple, offensive to the eyes.

It's not offensive to the ears, though, that much is certain. No, don't take that as a positive point. What I mean is... There's practically no sound. Not one word of dialogue is spoken during the entire film. Hell, there's barely three notes of music. In fact, the only sound you'll hear consistently - and by that I mean, through the whole damn movie - is a chorus of chirping crickets. No, I won't lie, I honestly don't get that. What on earth do crickets have to do with gore-tastic creation myths?

Honestly, I can't understand why this movie is thought of so highly. I mean, I don't like Eraserhead, but at least stuff happened in it. This is one of the ugliest, most poorly made, heinous movies that has ever assaulted my retinas. Surely the man behind this garbage ended up dead after getting high and trying to pork a bear, right? There's no way he could do anything significant after this travesty, right?



...He made what?



This Shadow of the Vampire?



I guess saying film makers could improve was an understatement.

(Hey people, thanks for reading. I know this wasn't as good as my usual stuff, it's 5:04am as I'm adding the final touches here, and I know everything I write when sleep deprived ends up hilariously bad. But despite that, I hope you at least got some enjoyment out this. I've got a metric ton of toy reviews piling up, including one of MacFarlene's Halo Reach figures, a sequel to an older list of mine, and some horror reviews for Awesomesauce Productions, so keep an eye out for all that nonsense. Thanks again for reading, and have a great day.)

Welcome Home, Alex - In Defense of Silent Hill: Homecoming

Silent Hill: Homecoming... It's been seen as a sort of black sheep amongst its sister games since its release in 2008. It's gained a reputation as a convoluted, poorly made stain on a generally well received series. Does its reputation proceed it? Does it live up to the hype as a terrible game? Honestly... No, I really don't think so. Put down your great knife, Silent Hill fans, I'm going to explain.

(SPOILERS! SPOILERS! Oh god, spoilers all up in here! We're discussing the game in its entirety here, if you don't want the game spoiled for you, you may want to read on. We may be discussing a few other games in the series, but with less detail. Just understand that spoilers are inevitable, read at your own risk. By the way, thanks for the spotlight, guys.)





So, Homecoming... What's it about? For those of you haven't played this supposed stinker, it began development around '04 as Silent Hill V, despite being the sixth main entry in the series. (Origins being the fifth) It was the second game to be developed by a western studio, Double Helix Games. Composer Akira Yamaoka began dropping hints about the game, dismissing the claims about its supposed subtitles, pointing out that it may not end up as Silent Hill V at all. Eventually, the game was finished and released for the PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 in 2008. It was met with average to above-average reviews, but immense hatred from fans of the series.

The story feels a little odd to me, honestly. In some ways, it feels like a bizarre mash up of Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2, and we'll get to that later. To sum it all up, you're a soldier named Alex Shepherd. The game opens with a nightmare that, hilariously enough, feels ripped right out of Jacob's Ladder. While exploring a hellish infirmary, Alex comes across his younger brother, Joshua. After a few puzzles, a fetch quest, and a trip to what appears to be the Otherworld of Silent Hill, Alex wakes up from his nightmare and the story begins proper...


Why hello there, Travis!

Apparently Silent Hill characters like to car pool, as Alex has been hitching a ride with Origins' star Travis Grady, offering a little closure Travis's story. Alex is dropped off in his hometown, Shepherd's Glen. Coincidentally, Shepherd's Glen just happens to a neighboring town of, you guessed it... Silent Hill. The town has gone to Hell. Fog covers the streets, stores and homes are boarded up and abandoned, and the few people left are shocked to see Alex. What happened? Where is everyone? More importantly, where's Josh? You start your investigation by heading to your house to speak with your parents.



Speaking to your mother, you notice something's off. Your mom is sitting alone, no lights on, eerily rocking in an old creaky chair barely aware of your presence. You ask her about your dad and Joshua, and all she says is "I miss your brother, Alex..." This is a recurring theme that gives you a bit of foreshadowing for the one oddly predicable plot point revealed later in the game - no one responds to you directly when you ask about Josh or your past. There's a good reason for this, and we'll get to it later. For now, though, Alex notices the gun in his mother's lap and, not getting the best feeling about the distraught woman carrying a fire arm, takes it form her. Then he notices that her dress is wet, and there are wet footprints coming from  the basement. He asks what happened, and she only replies with "the basement..."



Once in the basement, we see our first monster - The Lurker. I've seen quite a few examinations of this creature, and my favorite involves a huge spoiler, so we'll come back to that. You kill the Lurker, travel around in search of gas for a pump to drain the flooded basement. Here we get a look at one of the more subtle moments in the game that people simply ignore. As you quickly learn, this was your father's space. There's a large piece of plastic blocking your entry into the room adjacent to the room where he would dress the animals he had killed while hunting, and we get a rather ominous flashback about this. But before you cut this plastic, take a good look at it. You'll notice the silhouette of Alex's dad, Adam, standing in your way. Slice the plastic and it's revealed to be a dismembered mannequin. With that done, Alex takes to the streets to look for information regarding Josh and his father.


A closer look at the Lurker

Now, I can't provide a play by play examination for the entire game, so now that the opening is out of the way, I'll just start summarizing the more important moments. Let's start with my favorite aspect, the bosses...



Now, I can't really analyze these monstrosities without getting a little back story. You see, Shepherd's Glen was founded by a group of Silent Hill residents, and members of The Order, who wanted to escape the town. To keep its evil aura from reaching their new home, the founding families - Shepherd, Fitch, Bartlett, and Holloway - must sacrifice a child of their family every fifty years to please the god of The Order.

• The Bartlett family must bury their child alive.
• The Fitch family must dismember their child.
• The Holloway family must strangle their child.
• The Shepherd family must drown their child.

The bosses in Silent Hill: Homecoming are the monstrous manifestations of the latest batch of sacrifices. Their forms represent their interests in life as well as their cause of death. While I personally find the overall story of the game interesting enough, its this aspect that kept me playing. You learn more about the children as you collect photographs from Josh's collection scattered across Shepherd's Glen and, later, Silent Hill. These photographs give you a chance to learn about these kids, the relationship with their parents, and, worst of all, the things that may shape their appearance once you finally meet them face to face.

The first child was Joey Bartlett. According to his photo, he and Josh were known to play around in their tree house. He had a love of plant life, and when it was once again time for the sacrifice, the mayor of Shepherd's Glen, Sam Bartlett, took him to Silent Hill and buried him alive in the greenhouse. When the manifestation of Joey appears, it attacks and kills Mayor Bartlett - either for revenge, or because Bartlett's own guilt had summoned it.

This creature is known as Sepulcher, and its appearance is that of a body fused to a tree-like trunk. Its mouth seems to be clogged with dirt or a root-like growth. This is Joey - a plant loving, tree climbing kid who felt at home among dirt and flora, buried alive at nine years old. This is what I love about the bosses. They're so intricately designed, but their symbolic nature is simultaneously simple and complex. If you hadn't found the photographs up to this point, you may only partially understand Sepulcher's design, namely his representation of Joey's death.

We also get to see how the parents have been effected by this sacrifice. After Joey's death, Mayor Bartlett became a bit of an alcoholic and spent his days digging up the graves in the Shepherd's Glen cemetery. He clearly felt guilty about what he had done, and unearthing other corpses was his way of dealing with his guilt. When we see him in the green house, he reveals a bit of information in his drunken ramblings. He had given Joey a great life before his sacrifice. He mentions giving him every gift he possibly could, and this is another recurring theme we'll explore later. But he isn't the only guilty party here, let's move on to the Fitch family...



Scarlet Fitch was a young girl seemingly obsessed with dolls. Like Joey, Scarlet's father, Dr. Martin Fitch, tried his best to give her a perfect childhood, supplying her with constant love and a steady supply of the dolls she loved so much. Scarlet lived a good life, but when it was his turn to sacrifice his beloved daughter, Fitch had no choice but to comply or risk the town's safety.

He dismembered Scarlet with a scalpel and, as punishment for himself, began cutting himself constantly. Notes scattered around Fitch's home indicate that he was seeking help for his depression but had recently missed several appointments. He seems to be the only guilt ridden parent that did try to move on after the sacrifice.

When you find Fitch in the Otherworld, he begins pouring blood from his old wounds, and in a bit ripped right out of Eraserhead (And believe me, it hurts making that connection), the doll Alex had brought to him falls into his pooling blood and slowly sinks into it. Scarlet's manifestation emerges. Fitch tries to apologize and stress the fact that he's sorry and feels guilty about his actions. For a moment, she does hold him like her doll as if she forgives him, but then she feels the need to punish him for his actions and stretches her mouth open wide to snap his head off, tossing his beheaded body to the side.

As said, Scarlet was obsessed with dolls. Her photograph points out that she never came outside to play with the other kids, choosing to isolate herself with her dolls instead. On the surface, that's about the only thing influencing her monstrous appearance. But take a closer look at her limbs. While jointed like her beloved dolls, they also represent her dismemberment. The joints represent the points at which Fitch cut her, and applying this twisted image to the girl herself makes this boss more disturbing than it already was. But that isn't all Fitch's story has to offer...



Much like Adam's shadow in the basement, this detail was outright ignored. It's nothing significant, mind you, but it is rather creepy. Examine the bed in Scarlet's room when you're exploring the Fitch residence. You're able to see a shadow or imprint of scarlet's body. For all the claims about Homecoming lacking subtle scares, there sure are a lot of eerie moments that you could just walk right by without noticing, huh? Anyway, it's time for the Holloway family...



The Holloways had to sacrifice their child through strangulation, and this boss purely embodies that in every way possible, right down to the name - Asphyxia. As in, asphyxiation. In life, Nora Holloway was a bit of a bookworm - no pun intended. While Joey and Josh were playing outside and Scarlet was with her dolls, Nora was holed up in her room studying and reading. Her favorite book was Alice in Wonderland, according to Josh's photograph. Josh comments that she loved the caterpillar character, and this fact is reflected quite brutally in her appearance.

Nora wasn't given the pampered life that Joey and Scarlet were, but no notes or documents point to her living a poor life, either, despite her mother's later actions. Her oldest daughter, Elle, was passed over for the sacrifice for reasons unknown. When the time for sacrifice came, as said above, her mother strangled her with her bare hands.

While the other parents felt guilty about their actions, judge Margaret Holloway showed no remorse in killing her daughter. In fact, Judge Holloway ends up becoming the major human antagonist of the game, attempting to kill Alex personally at one point and having her other daughter, Elle, packed off to be killed by another Order member. Alex intervenes, of course, and the satisfaction of bringing this loon down belongs to Alex rather than Nora. But that didn't stop her from trying - Asphyxia did go after Margaret before her boss battle, but Alex, not knowing about Holloway's actions behind the scenes, saves her.
In another bit of subtle foreshadowing, when Alex is exploring the hospital in the beginning of the game (Said to be Alchemilla), he comes across an X-ray of a human head with a spike driven into it from the chin. When Alex finishes off Holloway, he does so by turning her power drill on her and ramming it into skull through her chin and jaw.

Nora's manifestation takes the form of a caterpillar-like creature composed of human body parts linked together in a chain. It has no feet, only hands, putting an emphasis on the fact that she was strangled. An extra set of hands jutting from its shoulders constantly cups is mouth or grasps at its neck, driving the point home. This is, without a doubt, one of the most disturbing monsters I've ever seen in a video game. Period. But maybe that's just me. Things get a bit complicated with the Shepherd family, so try not to get lost...



This boy is the illusive Joshua Shepherd. He's nine years old, loves photography and insects, and seems to idolize his older brother Alex despite his constant teasing. One night, his father called to him and said he needed to show him something. He handed him a ring and told him that it's a priceless family heirloom held by him, his father, his grandfather, and so on. He can keep the ring now on one condition - he doesn't tell anyone, and that includes his brother.

One night, Alex wakes him up to go out onto Toluca Lake in their dad's boat. It seems like Alex just wanted to give him a bit of a scare, but what started as innocent teasing quickly turns dangerous when Josh decides to show his brother up by flaunting his new gift. Alex snatches the ring and taunts him with it. Josh starts to pull on the chain attached to the ring in an attempt to reclaim it, but when Alex lets go, he stumbles off the boat, snapping his neck and sinking into the lake. This also accounts for the Lurker's supposed mermaid-like appearance.

Alex's father manages to get out to the lake quick enough to find his son's body, and Alex doesn't quite understand the gravity of the situation. Josh is dead. Here's the problem... Joshua wasn't meant to be the sacrifice for the Shepherd family. Alex was chosen before Josh was even born, and with Josh dead, Adam can't go through with his sacrifice. Alex had a breakdown and lost his mind. Adam couldn't kill him, so he shipped him out to Silent Hill for treatment at Alchemilla Hospital.

Alex was never wounded in battle, he was never even a soldier. The jacket and dog tags he's wearing? They belong to his father, who was a decorated war veteran. No one could answer your questions about Josh because the few who knew about his fate knew that he was dead, and no one mentioned your past because they either thought you really were in the military (Supposedly because Adam spread this story to the kids and people who weren't in the Order, though I don't agree with this theory), or they knew where you really were all this time. In fact, when you talk with Kurtis Ackers early in the game, he says something along the lines of "hey, weren't you... Nevermind." hinting that some people did know about Alex's treatment and decided not to explain. The final boss is rather interesting, but before we get to that, let's talk about the Shepherd family a bit more...



When exploring the Shepherd home during one of your several visits, take a look at all the pictures hanging around. Notice anything odd? There isn't a single one featuring Alex. There's a reason for this, and it plays an integral role in the plot. Rather than trying to give his sacrificial offspring a perfect or even normal life, Adam Shepherd decided to completely neglect his son to make the sacrifice easier on himself and his wife, Lillian. This is expanded upon when you meet Adam in the church toward the end of the game.

You first run into him in a confessional booth. He doesn't realize who's on the other side, and he tells his story. The player is given a choice here - either they allow Alex to forgive his father or condemn him for what he had done. This decision will impact the ending received, and since we don't quite know which ending is canon at this point, we'll go with the good ending. Alex comes across Adam tied down later on in the church. He drops the bomb on Alex and explains his past actions, assuring him that he did love him as much as Josh, but couldn't allow himself to show that love.

Here, it's explained why Alex immediately turned to the soldier persona when he cracked. "I'm a soldier, like you always wanted." Adam may've loved him, but Alex didn't know it. He was raised on hatred, and that bred a hatred of his father. When he finally snapped, he tried to appeal to his father by emulating him - he became a soldier in his own mind, hoping to help people like Josh and win his father's love as a soldier. Unfortunately, as the two are coming to an understanding, a certain creature appears to punish his father for his misdeeds - either due to his attitude toward Alex, or his failure to complete the ritual. I won't reveal this creature for a little while, though. He'll come up when we discuss the complaints people have with the game.

That said, there's another small bit that people failed to notice here. Like basically every other major even in the story, Adam's death is foreshadowed earlier in the game. During the opening where Alex is being wheeled through the hellish infirmary, the doctor pushing him actually uses the same model as Adam. Just before you wake up, when this doctor leaves the room, you see him stop in front of a window and the weapon the aforementioned creature uses kills him in the same way Adam dies later.

In another emotional scene, Alex is given the chance to give his mother a release from her psychological and physical pain. You come across Lillian on a rack-like device later in the game. As it slowly stretches her beyond her limits, she pleads to Alex, asking him to finish her before the contraption rips her in two. For the good ending, you end her suffering  and get a rather emotional scene. With all that out of the way, let's look at the final boss. I'm warning you, this thing is just plain disgusting...



This... Thing... Is known as Amnion. While it may look like a jumbled mess at first, analyzing its individual parts will make its symbolic nature much easier to grasp. As I said, Josh had a love for insects, as evidenced by his bug collection in the Shepherd home. As such, Amnion has eight spider-like legs.

Once again, this aspect of the fight was foreshadowed through one of Josh's photographs. In the part toward the beginning of the game, you'll find a picture of a toy soldier posed as if fighting the spider seen in frame with it. Probably the least subtle of the photograph hints, but if you didn't have an epiphany upon seeing Amnion's spider-like appendages coming at your soldier-like avatar... You probably didn't find the picture.

Beyond the legs, Amnion also has a strange, telescoping neck. This is said to represent the lens of Joshua's camera, which telescoped in and out when focusing. The fact that it disconnects Amnion's head from its shoulders may also represent his broken neck. Finally, there's the strange tube connected to its mouth and body. This supposedly represents Josh's drowning, as it's said to be a tube constantly sending water or God-knows-what liquid through its body.

On a more creepy note, the name is said to refer to the amniotic sack that covers a fetus in the womb, and that may mean that the aforementioned tube symbolizes an umbilical cord. This may sound far fetched, but childbirth is actually a very strong recurring theme in the game. Many monsters, the Lurker in particular, have features that evoke vaginal imagery, and the countless fleshy roadblocks Alex encounters in his adventures invoke rather disturbing images of birth when he slices them down the middle and crawls through them.
To drive this point home, when Alex finishes Amnion off, he cuts its bloated belly open in a way reminiscent of a cesarean section procedure and Josh's corpse slides out. Alex says his goodbyes, asks his brother for forgiveness and leaves Silent Hill with Elle. (And the cop, Wheeler, depending on whether or not you save him.)

"What'd you see down there, Alex?"

"What I needed to..."

With that, the game ends. We aren't done, though! Oh, no. Now we're going to address some specific complaints with the games, and I'm going to try my best to weigh in on these complaints without coming off as a bit of an ass. First of all, let me say that I have no issues with people disliking this game, I understand that it's not for everyone. Let me also point out that some of these complaints come from a few internet personalities whom I respect and whose work I do enjoy. I won't point fingers out of respect, but any viewer of Channel Awesome's few remaining talented, humble posters will instantly know who they are. That said, let's get to work...

It Borrows From the Movie...

Y'know what? Homecoming does borrow from the movie, I'm not here to argue otherwise. What I want to know is... Why is this a bad thing? Yes, the movie butchered the first game's story, that goes without saying. But can you really argue that the movie got the visuals wrong? The transition to the Otherworld is absolutely amazing. Seeing the real world flake off to expose the rust covered, fleshy Otherworld is just plain creepy.

A few enemies fell into this argument, too. Most notably the nurses. The nurse's designs are ripped right out of the movie, which were straight from Silent Hill 2, disregarding the bubble head design. While I agree that this was an odd choice, it was justified, and it does make sense. Let's take a look at the nurses, as well as an excerpt from Alex's diary, which was published in blog form as a promotion for the game before its release... (Hey, if people bring up the Book of Lost Memories all the time, I can bring in an outside source, too. )

August 25

The food here is terrible. My bed is stiff. There's only one thing that makes it bearable: The nurses.

These girls are incredible. They have these pristine white uniforms cut right above the knee, their breasts spilling out from their shirts. Look, I don't want to sound like a dirtbag or anything, I'm just saying I appreciate the military providing us with this one thing to brighten our days. Maybe it's sort of like payback for getting us stuck in this place to begin with. I don't know. All I can say is, “thank you.”

Now, I've had an argument about this. As stated before, Alex was never really in a war, he never really came in contact with any military nurses. However, he was hospitalized for quite a while. To me, this was Alex's twisted view of the nurses who were caring for him at the hospital. That seems to be the most accepted theory. He makes mention of their breasts and skimpy outfits, and that's obviously what influences their sexual appearance. By the way, the pregnancy imagery? Shine a flashlight onto one of them. In the right light, you can see a fetus' silhouette on their belly. Subtle, but it makes perfect sense in context.

Next up are the cult soldiers who appear later in the game. Though the designs are largely different, they do wear mining gear similar to the cult members in the film. However, you have to keep in mind that these aren't residents of Silent Hill, these are people from Shepherd's Glen, including Curtis from earlier in the game. Supposedly, the Order's gods give some protection to the cult members in the Otherworld, which would explain why Dahlia was there in the original toward the end without being directly attacked, and this has happened with other members throughout the series. But the entire plot of Homecoming revolves around sacrifices to keep the town safe. From what I understand, the equipment is used as a sort of "armor" to protect the now unsafe Order members of Shepherd's Glen safe when  traversing the Otherworld. Speaking of the Order Soldiers... Can we stop complaining about Alex killing humans? Remember that poor schmuck, Eddie? The guy who couldn't even defend himself after he ran out of ammo?

It's Just Too Western and Too Violent

This is one complaint that just gets under my skin. Partly because I'm a fan of horror in general, whether it's from the US, Spain, Japan, Canada, the Moon, whatever. When people claim that the western world doesn't understand horror, they're not only ignoring countless great horror movies, they're ignoring Silent Hill's greatest inspiration...



So, how about that Jacob's Ladder? Y'know, that one film that's the known inspiration for much of Silent Hill's imagery, plot, twists (And that goes double here), and general vibe. Yeah, that was directed by Adrian Lyne, an English born director. Hell, Jacob's Ladder practically invented that creepy, high speed head bobble that the monsters in Silent Hill are known for. On top of that, next time you're playing, take a look at a map of Silent Hill or Shepherd's Glen... Notice how all the streets are named after famous names in western horror - Barker, King, Kubrick, etc. My point is, the series has always had a strong western influence. Homecoming is no more western than any other entry in the series.

As for the violence... Do I even need to go into that? Silent Hill has had bodies wrapped in barbed wire suspended from walls, violent rape of monsters by bigger monsters, grilled dogs, coughed up fetuses and more. And let's not forget the insanely violent deaths in Silent Hill 4. I still feel sorry for old Braintree... The series has been plenty violent from its inception, and I hope that never changes. No, I know what people are referring to here.

The scene with Judge Holloway's death toward the end of the game is often compared to Hostel or Saw due to the graphic nature and focus on torture. For all I know, the writers may've been influenced by said films, but to me, this scene is a standard torture scene. It's Holloway and Curtis trying to punish Alex, Elle, and other residents of the city. Regardless of whether it was truly inspired by these movies, I have to ask... Does this three second scene really justify damning the entire game? I don't think so.

Pyramid Head!

Yep, that monster I mentioned in Adam's section was, indeed, Pyramid Head. Or, to be more accurate, the Bogeyman, as he's known in Homecoming. Honestly, I agree with the opposition on this point. Really, he's just fanservice. Unlike the nurses, I can't really see any reason for him to be here beyond the fact that people seem to like him quite a bit. But though I disagree with many theories on Pyramid Head's appearance here, it's unfair for me to ignore the theories people have come up with to explain it...

One theory revolves around one of the Child's Drawings collectables. One mentions that something - a creature - is taking the residents of Shepherd's Glen. This could mean that Pyramid Head is a punisher in general, punishing Shepherd's Glen for failing to complete the ritual. This makes sense, considering Pyramid Head's origins are based on the executioners of Silent Hill's past. The people of this town are descendants of Silent Hill dwellers, there's a very strong chance that they saw the same painting of the executioner that James had seen. Makes sense to me.

Another theory is that he's the manifestation of Alex's hatred of his father, which we detailed above. Others say that he may be Adam's personal punishment, a manifestation of his guilt over his treatment of Alex. Again, this could make sense, as Adam has a history in Silent Hill and hides out there for the entirety of the game. Justified or not, I do understand the complaint here. Though he has been in other - seemingly canon - material like a comic packaged with the Silent Hill Origins soundtrack, he is the iconic monster of Silent Hill 2. But despite his iconic status, he could very well be a creature of the town itself, similar to Valtiel. It's obvious that some entities within Silent Hill are creatures all to themselves rather than manifestations of one particular person's guilt, anger, etc. Pyramid Head could be a sentient entity that punishes those who step out against the cult or impede the town.

I won't argue that Pyramid Head isn't overused, though. I mean, most of his appearances are in spin offs and crossovers - The movie, Silent Hill: The Arcade, Konami Krazy Racers, New International Track and Field - but he has taken an odd position as the series' go-to guy for marketing, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. That said, he WAS featured prominently in Homecoming, and I do understand why people may have a problem with this. I'm not saying it's wrong to complain here, I'm just throwing out some explanations for this appearance.

The Combat Sucks

This an entirely subjective point, so I won't attempt to force my opinion as fact here. I will say that it doesn't look like people will ever be pleased with the combat in this series. It was called stiff and clunky in the earlier games, people complained that Origins' combat relied too much on breakable objects, people complained that Shattered Memories had no combat, they complained that Homecoming's combat was too easy and action oriented, and I've already seen complaints about Downpour's potential inventory system allowing only one weapon at a time. You may prefer the early combat, I may prefer Homecoming's, but there's one thing we can all agree with... No one will ever agree on this topic.

It's a Silent Hill 2 Clone

Picture unrelated... I just like seeing that Lurker take one in the throat.

I don't have much to say here... Not because I have no argument, but because I see no reason to justify this complaint. The twist at the end is very similar to Silent Hill 2's. James killed Mary, Alex killed Josh... That aside, what do the games really have in common? I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, I'm just genuinely curious. Beyond the twist - which is similar, despite the fact that the two characters had entirely different motivations - what is so similar?

After a year of trying to stay neutral on this subject, I've had a change of heart. I'm actually going to argue about this... Okay, like I said before, the twist is similar... But I thought about this, and I'm changing my stance. Josh's death? It's not a twist. At all. It's made blatantly obvious that Josh is dead from the game's outset. He's practically a ghost when you do see him, no characters seem to mention him, he's constantly impeding your progress as some sort of sick revenge against his brother... No, that's not the twist. The twist is Alex's supposed stint on the front line. Josh being among the... Living impaired... was simply a red herring to throw players off the trail of the real twist.

Then we have the use of similar monsters. I've already touched upon the nurses and Pyramid Head personally, but I do have a bit of a bone to pick here. Remember those big ass bugs you fought in SH2? Creepers. The same Creepers you fought in the first game, only with slight design changes. Then there are the Closers from SH3, which are eerily similar to the Mandarins from SH2. Dogs are constantly used in the series, too, with only minor design tweaks. (SH3's being my personal favorites...) Rather than complaining about a handful of monsters throughout the series that bare a resemblance to each other, let's take the time to appreciate the original, horrifying monsters.

It Lacks Subtlety and Symbolism, It's Too Shallow

Well, here's the thing about this one... It's wrong. Plain and simple. I'm not trying to be an ass or anything like that, but come on, this one is full of shit and we all know it. Let me be straight; Silent Hill is known for its subtlety, eeriness, and general creepy vibe. Yes, the gore and creepy monsters may attract some people and give us all a good scare ever so often, but it's the subtle scares that really grab us, right? Some people claim that Homecoming lacks these subtle moments and... Well, like I said, that's bull. 

 Lets take a look back at some of the earlier points... First of all, the opening area of the game is filled to brim with symbolism and foreshadowing. We have the X-ray forecasting Holloway's death, we have Adam's model being used for a doctor that intends to torture and hurt Alex being killed by a great knife, etc, etc. But the silliest thing I've ever seen said about this game was something along the lines of "You can tell it's not a Silent Game within the first ten minutes. 'Hey, I know, let's have it open with a bunch of people dieing!' Really subtle..." 

Why's this so silly? Well, to understand, you have to look at this scene a bit closer...

 

(Credit goes to Youtube user Bundeswehr007)

You see, those people that are dieing? They're being killed the same ways the kids are meant to be sacrificed. More importantly, this hearkens back to a previous point of mine; Josh's death isn't meant to be the big twist of the game, rather a simple distraction. Pay attention to the kids' models. Notice anything? That's right, they're all Josh. 

 But it doesn't end there. Notice the instruments positioned over Alex's head. Those are the same torturous doodads that appear on Amnion's model. This is all the very first area of the game, people. As we progress, we do see a lot more small hints at future events and such. The aforementioned absence of Alex in all the Shepherd family photos really is the most potent. But take a closer look at the above example of this. Notice that the jacket Adam is wearing in that photo is the same one Alex wears now. A bit of foreshadowing for the real twist, compounded when Adam points out how glad he is that Alex still wears his old dog tags.

Josh's photographs as well as his drawings also shed some light on things. The photos of the sacrificed children give us a look into their history and give us clues that help explain their monstrous forms. The photograph of Alex that he doesn't seem to remember foreshadows the secret ending. We already touched upon the photo in the playground bringing up the battle with Amnion. 

The Drawings are a beast all their own, and terrifying just based on appearance. Some are water damaged, referencing Josh's death by drowning or the method of sacrifice for his family. The drawings show us everything from Scarlet's sacrifice to the predicted deaths of Josh himself as well as the possible deaths of Lillian and Adam - All illustrated by Robbie caricatures, for added creepiness. They even shed some more light on Pyramid Head's involvement. When collected, they complete a poem that tells the story of the Boogeyman punishing bad boys and girls. Sound familiar? This indicates that the theory of Pyramid Head manifesting as both a punisher for Adam and an extended hand of the Order's god reaching out to collectively punish the citizens of Shepherd's Glen for failing to complete the ritual does, no pun intended, hold some water.

The monsters manage to be fairly symbolic, as well. I hate to get repetitive, but I realize how long this has gotten, a recap can't hurt. The nurse's are with child, and you can see this upon shining a light on their belly. The Lurker has a mouth reminiscent of a vagina dentata. The Schism is split down the middle and has a twisted, broken arm on one side - it's easy to assume that it's a call back to Alex's dementia and delusions. Family, birth, and insanity seem to running themes, and they're well represented. To really drive the point home, we have the Needlers. 

 When the Needler isn't climbing walls and ceilings while making me shit my pants in terror, it's standing in a rather awkward, yet symbolic, way. Its front legs - the bladed ones, FYI - are positioned in a way that mimics legs in stirrups. The head is seemingly being forced out of its... Well, birth symbolism, you get the picture. Gets the job done. Beautifully, I might add.

So, sure, we've got the usual bugs and dogs that don't seem to mean a thing in any of the games, but we've got some fantastic and very fitting designs and design changes that really drive this particular game's themes deep into our skulls. It's not the deepest game in the world, but between the well thought out foreshadowing and the oft beautifully morbid creature designs, Homecoming is in no way inferior to the past games in its subtlety or symbolism. 

Closing...

Alex is confused by your complaints...

I could keep going, but this crossing out of blog territory and into editorial land, so I'll cut it off here. I'm not saying Homecoming is a fantastic game, I'm not saying it's better than the Team Silent games. I'm simply saying that it gets nowhere near enough credit. Its story, though a bit vague at times, is well told and beautifully foreshadowed. Its characters, Alex in particular, are quite likable. It houses quite a few scares. Its atmosphere is pure Silent Hill. It simply isn't half as bad as people like to think. Clearly, more thought and effort went into it than many want to admit.

Am I writing this to justify my love of this hated gem? Maybe, but there's more to it than that. With yet another western studio taking a crack at Silent Hill with Downpour, I want everyone open their mind a bit. Don't ignore another potentially horrifying Silent Hill game just because it's being handled by a western developer. Go back and really play the games from Climax and Double Helix, and I mean really play them. Don't go in with an extreme bias toward the Team Silent games and write off any fun you could have with the games. Go in fresh, and actually look for the more subtle nods and scares. I'm not asking for the moon here, I just want people to really give Downpour a chance, and maybe pick Homecoming back up with a fresh look at it. Who knows, maybe you'll really enjoy it this time.

(I apologize for the length here. I just couldn't find a nice place to stop. If enough people want me to, I'll split it up into two blogs in a bit. Hopefully some of you stuck with me here, this is one blog I put far more effort into than I usually do. Thanks to everyone who read, Silent Hill fans in particular. Please rate, comment, subscribe, and if at all possible get this thing featured so I'm not preaching at a brick wall. Thanks again for reading, have a great night... And watch out for the fog, okay?By the way, huge thanks to Youtube user nickq2006 for his video pointing out a few of the more subtle moments in the game. - This is, unfortunately, one of my less polished blogs from the old site. Shame, considering I like the content quite a bit. But hey, lots of people have enjoyed it in the past, maybe it'll find a new audience here.)

An Introduction and Welcome

Hi, everyone. You've... Probably never heard of me, and rightfully so. I'm just as much of an internet nobody as you or anyone else out there. But hey, gotta give myself a little credit here, I was a fairly popular blogger on ScrewAttack.com. Apparently, according to a friend of mine from said site, a lot of user content is about to be wiped out, and that includes my past blogs. So, that's why I'm here, basically. This is my way of simultaneously cataloging the ScrewAttack entries that I enjoyed writing and branching out on my own without the crutch of a hugely popular site to hold me up. Will that amount to anything? Who knows. Stick around if you're interested, I've got a lot of old articles coming up soon and, if all goes well, some new content on the horizon. Thanks for dropping by and please leave a comment or two so I know someone out there is reading.