Silent Hill Homecoming-Short Review

*Minor Spoilers Ahead!

Welcome home, Soldier...

I don't want to do a whole review for this. Quite frankly, I like it a lot. Yes, we all saw the end coming. I think it's more pertinent to make Alex realize the truth, and the player needs to find out why Alex can’t see it like we can. The graphics are great, I liked the interaction with The Order, and I liked the story with Shepherd’s Glen. I’m tired of people exclaiming, “OMG YOU LIKED THIS GAME?!” Yes, I do. It’s why I got all the achievements for it. It’s why I’ll play it a billion more times before I die.

There are a few things I'd like to post though. You know who my favourite character is? This guy:

Curtis Ackers

People cite him as one of the main antagonists, second to Judge Halloway. I don’t really consider him a main, more like a mini-boss, and I’m not convinced he’s always been evil. I don’t think he was part of The Order until after you find his shop all locked up. I think they took him then and he converted.

What I find intriguing about him is his focus on fixing and maintaining. He runs the scrap yard/repair shop and he sees how people can neglect their possessions. With The Order, he “finds clarity.” I’ve been wondering what his clarity is. He isn’t part of the four families of Shepherd’s Glen, so I am uncertain if he was part of that religion too. His clarity might have been religion. And since he seems to be a grumpy guy who prefers to be alone, perhaps he found the people of religion to be of his social taste. And they gave him a new job-to fix...broken people. With a circular saw.

You know who I hate? This lady:

I'm busy looking for my son. Oh, wait..no I'm not.

Totally useless. Yes, I get her emotional trauma. She had to pick one son, but she gave birth to both. She’s mentally unstable now, but you know how short/different the game would be if she was like, “Oh, hey, about your brother...you know [insert plot reveal], right? Remember? Oh yeah, I guess you’ve forgotten [other big plot reveal]. Guess you have to go to Silent Hill now instead of meandering all over this town. Bye!”  

I could go on, but I think I'll leave it at that. 

Silent Hill: HD Collection-No Xbox 360 Patch Rage

(Updated with new from August 12th 2012 at the bottom of the page.)
(Updated August 22nd 2012 below the previous update.)

I originally found the news here at Inner Fear and double-checked with Joystick over here.

The Xbox 360 version of Silent Hill: HD will NOT be getting a patch. But the PS3 version will. What the flying ass fucking fuck?

They can’t because of "technical issues and resources."

Ok, let me take this over. I got this one. You can all thank me later.  

Dear Konami,

Are you telling me that I used my resources (money) and traded for a product, a flawed product at best, and now you're telling me that you don't have the resources to fix this? But you have the resources to fix it for the PS3? 

Fuck you.

Love,
Ester York.

If the fact that SH3, my favourite, most beloved SH game of all time, got the SHITTIEST, MOST ANNOYING redub WITHOUT the option of switching to the original voices was bad enough, this is. SH3 of the HD Collection is broken as fuck. Not unplayable, no. Some will say that it is, but it isn't. But I'll tell you one thing. I WILL be playing my PS2 version. It is my "go-to" game that never gets old. I don't particularly give many shits about it being HD. Maybe just one shit, but definitely not two. If it never happened I would not have noticed. I'm not one of these pre-pubescent pansies who have nervous break downs over pre-HD quality game graphics. SH2 of the HD Collection is broken to a shit- filled hell too.  Unlike most of the Silent Hill fan base, SH2 isn’t my favourite SH game. Not my least favourite, but it’s down there. It doesn’t hold a particularly special place in my heart. Do I still want to see a glitch filled pathetic HD update of it? No. If you’re going to make something, do it right.   

Why the fuck do game companies release broken as fuck games? Yes, we can download patches. Though I have to remind you that there are, in fact, places in the world that have shitty internet connections. Up until a few months ago my parents, and therefore my younger siblings, had dial- up, and it was the slowest dial-up I’ve seen and completely unreliable. For a while they had no internet at all. They bought a game and played it as is. Game companies have to stop releasing games full of bugs to patch it later. Why don’t they, I don’t know, make a product to the best of their ability? Something that they can be proud of? If a game is rife with bugs, here’s a radical idea: DON’T FUCKING RELEASE IT. DON’T TAKE MY MONEY. Hang your head in shame and hold it back. Let’s face it, SH games are pushed back all the time. Video games in general are pushed back all the time.

What also pisses me off is that they don’t have the fucking RESOURCES. Oh, and there are fucking TECHNICAL ISSUES. Well then. Those are totally good reasons </sarcasm>.

#1. RESOURCES. I gave you my fucking money. You gave me a piece of shit not worth my time (as stated, I’ll be playing my PS2 version instead). I gave you my fucking resources in exchange for goods. Suck it the fuck up. At this point, this is your fucking fault. When I worked in a coffee place, if I made your coffee wrong and you brought it back, I apologized and made another one. You eat the fucking cost because YOU royally fucked up. I didn’t go “Shit, no can do, yo. That would cost more money.” You know, I didn’t shrug my shoulders and give up because I have an IQ above a fucking shoe box full of rocks. And because I’m not a morally deplorable dip-shit.   

#2. TECHNICAL ISSUES. The whole fucking product is a technical issue. IT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RELEASE A PIECE OF SHIT. Did they port it and not even test it? Did they get a four-year-old to test it? Who the fuck can’t see these glaring issues? Who the fuck at Konami looked at the final product and thought it was passable? Fuck you and your technical issues. Oh, these are just too fucking hard to fix, eh? Boo fucking hoo. Why don’t you release a game FREE OF ISSUES so you don’t have to fix these TECHNICAL ISSUES AFTER WE GAVE YOU OUR MONEY? Oh, fuck, is this concept just too hard?      

So what, all Xbox 360 owners are shit out of luck? Sure, we could trade in (taking a loss, btw, because trading in NEVER gets a decent return) and get a PS3 version. Except, you know, for those of us who don't own a PS3. And I guaran-fucking-tee that if they don't have the RESOURCES to fix these issues, they don't have the fucking RESOURCES to buy me a PS3.

Conclusion: Making a patch just for the PS3 and not the Xbox 360 is ass-fucking Xbox 360 owners with something long and sand-papery. Don't release broken pieces of shit to begin with. Thank you Konami for taking my money and giving me a piece of flaming rat shit in return.     

Update: Konami has released that they will exchange the Xbox 360 version. IF YOU HAVE YOUR RECEIPT AND BOUGHT IT NEW. Not only that, it isn't a refund. It's an exchange. 90% of the games on the list (you can find it here along with the news) are crap (at least to me). It's like you buy a new TV. You get it home and it's ok, but you look at the resolution and it just isn't that great. Not as sharp as it claims to be. The audio kind of sucks. It's not worth the money you paid. Maybe it's just broken. You bring it back and instead of giving you your money back or fixing it, they offer to give you something else. A radio. Well, fuck me, that's not what I want. If I wanted a crappy game from your list, I would have bought them myself. Hell, some of the games, like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, I already have and it was a disappointment too. If I order a burger and you make it wrong, don't offer to take my burger and give me only an apple pie. Apple pie is fantastic, but it isn't what I paid for. It isn't what you promised to deliver when I gave you my money.

Update: Konami still has not offered to buy me a PS3. 

FEAR Files, FEAR 2, and Fear 2: Reborn Rant

A while ago I finally finished up Perseus Mandate, FEAR 2, and FEAR 2: Reborn. And I am finally making myself post this before I forget.  

Perseus Mandate

Perseus Mandate was definitely better than Extraction Point, in my opinion. At least PM tries to give the player a different experience, though it is ultimately very similar to FEAR 1. This one has a different FEAR team investigating Armacham's Perseus Project with the unnamed protagonist (this time he is a Sergeant, but he is basically the same as Point Man from FEAR 1) and two AIs, Captain Raynes and Lieutenant Chen. What I like about this is that your comrades do not make the whole game an escort mission. For an expansion pack, I liked the two characters. I especially liked the end and what takes place on the helicopter...for those who know, yeah, I bet you think it was corny. I liked it. It gave me goose bumps. While this game is not cannon, it is not terribly deviant like Extraction Point was (by killing, oh, everyone). Yes, I do question why the Sergeant has the special abilities that the Point Man has. And quite frankly, it is because this system is what the FEAR series is based on (or was, until FEAR 3). When I scoffed and said that the Sergeant was a (game play) clone of Point Man, he might as well be a clone by the grace of the story as well. It’s not explained why he has the ability, though the Nightcrawlers say some things like “He’s been augmented!” Uh....really? Ok, fine.

Spoilers Ahead!

Things That Irk Me:

Fettel’s glowing green genetic material. Really? You know, it would look more believable if it were in a vial or something besides THE GREEN LANTERN. The real ending to the game is when the Green Lantern walks in at the end and punches them in the face to get his lantern back.

Not even trying to explain the protagonist’s abilities. JUST SAY HE IS A CLONE OF POINT MAN. After FEAR 2: Reborn, you know what? IT MAKES SENSE.

I actually do not mind that Fettel makes some ghost/apparition/ash guy appearances. I know that in FEAR 2: Reborn we hear that he is dead, but dreaming, and waiting to be reborn in a physical body. To say he is only dreaming means that he has not been “in” the world since he died, in my opinion. But seeing him like he appeared in EP and FEAR 1 did not bother me too much. It was not much of a stretch to think that his psychic presence allowed him to briefly reappear. Though I like Paxton just a little too much...    

I can’t recall which instalment of the FEAR Files this took place in, but in one of them I could grab items through glass. That’s right. I did not have to break it. I guess I was a ghost. Or Shadowcat. 

FEAR 2: Project Origin

I remember submitting an entry to the Name Your Fear contest in 2007. Funny, because I was hyped enough to do that but ultimately I did not play it for the first time until last summer (2010). In a strange occurrence, I enjoyed the game much more the second time around. It is probably because I played FEAR 1 on the computer and then went to FEAR 2 on the Xbox 360. Bad idea for someone who can’t really play FPSs. Anyway, the protagonist actually has a name! Michael Becket, part of a Delta Force unit called Dark Signal. Yup, he even has a little bit of a back story too, though not much (he was bad in school but rocked in the military). While he is not part of a FEAR team, he gets his reflexes (or perhaps enhances what he already has?) when he is captured and made to be part of project Harbinger, which is meant to make candidates for the telepathic Replica commanders without being born from Alma. Pretty cool...but you know, you would think Armacham would rethink making random military people capable of controlling THIER ARMY. Although he does not appear to be in control of the Replica soldiers (the game would be totally different if you could), it would be difficult to abduct people and make them subservient when they can psychically tell some big buff army guys with guns to shoot their captors and help them escape. This game gives the player some glimpses into Alma’s tree swing, her music box, and the moment they took her away. You see the image enough, and although it makes me sad, I would like to see more of Alma as a child, especially the dynamics of her and her father, Harland Wade.

 

Spoilers Ahead-ESPECIALLY THE ENDING!

Stuff that Irked Me:

The aiming system. Yes, I know it is probably more realistic to actually see through the gun’s scope or...whatever they have (I am certainly not a gun person. I am a lazy person too lazy to look at Wikipedia). But it was so much easier in FEAR 1! /Whine.

At the end of a mech sequence where you have to get out, I pressed X and hopped out...and...my character was suck in some rubble or something. Could not move or jump or get back in the mech. I killed myself with a grenade. While this game wasn’t as bad as its predecessors for getting stuck on random things, I had never gotten stuck to the point where I had to commit suicide.    

So the ending...Becket gets raped by Alma, who becomes pregnant. Wait, what? How is that possible? She does not have a real body anymore. She is like...disembodied psychic energy. When she appears as a child, she is making a psychic manifestation of her body as it was. When she appears as the emaciated woman, that is the psychic manifestation of her real body. She also goes into the manifestation of the beautiful woman, whom she has never really been, though she might have if she was never locked away in The Vault. My point is that without a physical body, she should not be able to get pregnant. I would really like to discuss this with some fans who know more than me, because I would like to understand this! 

FEAR 2: Reborn

DLC that rocked my socks. You are Foxtrot 813 (I call him Foxy because we’re pals), a Replica soldier. Yes, the protagonist, you, are that cool. Becket is still with Alma (presumed) and you are dropped in Auburn to reinforce a unit. Then you go crazy and accidently kill your other Foxtrot guys! “Opps, sorry, my bad, guys. You guys mad?” Oh yes, yes they are.

I know that intro was short. But it is a short DLC. But at least it is explained why Foxy is different and has special abilities! This takes ONE HOUR to complete and it explained more than PM did! AND THE ENDING WAS AWESOME.

Things That Irked Me:

TOO DAMN SHORT. I had fun. I know it was only 800 points, but seriously, I would have paid for a full game of Foxy trying to outrun his former allies, listening to Fettel guide him.  

Extra Ranty Goodness!!

Why I like the FEAR series: Alma and Paxton Fettel.

At first I am always all “DAMN RIGHT, ALMA. GET YOUR REVENGE YOU SCARY, SCARY LITTLE GHOST GIRL.” But then she tries to basically infect the world with her...scary world? Seems a little Silent Hillish to me (though Alyessa only bends the Otherworld), but that’s ok. Two days before her eighth birthday she is put into The Vault, made to have two children, and basically left to die in The Vault. Yes, she is totally a candidate for revenge, in my opinion. In my mind, she is like Samara from The Ring. Go get revenge on the people who hurt you. Then she starts killing everyone in Armacham, even the maintenance people. And then she is destroying vast amounts of land in FEAR 3 and killing more people. Uh...nope, I take it back! Revenge is bad! BAD GHOST GIRL!    

   

I like Paxton Fettel just a little too much. For some reason, I just think he is so bad ass. “Won’t tell me your secrets? Fine, I’LL JUST EAT YOUR FACE.” Having someone eat your face AND learn all your dark secrets while doing it is pretty scary. But I find his sheer presence to be interesting. I like his dialogue. I like his back story. I like his voice (his terribly sexy voice). Is there a Paxton Fettel anonymous group for addicts that I should be aware of?

Thoughts on FEAR 3:

Sounds like bad fan fiction.

I’ve been watching  LtMkilla’s Let’s Plays of it on Youtube (Part1 here) and it seems even more FPS.

I’ll pick it up when it is not still $70-80 used. Right now I’m playing Alice: Madness Returns, and it’s not making me miss FEAR 3, anyway.