Silent Hill: Homecoming

The point of all survival horror games is to create a hopeless, almost depressive mood that is filled with violence. In fact, if you don't have mood in this genre, you've failed. The first moment of the game isn't scary, though. You're tied to gurney, being pushed through a dark, dank hospital. You see scenes of torture in rooms and you're screaming. It's too over the top, though, fake-y. Once you're left alone, you break your bonds and begin to search the lonely rooms, and that's when the suspense and tension builds. The game gets more difficult midway through when save points and first aid become less available.

But the suspense flows more than it ebbs. Within a few hours you're exhausted, almost as if you've sloshed through the buckets of blood and the violence that's been laid upon you (along with the slicing and cutting you've been forced to commit to stay alive). Admittedly, gamers who play horror-oriented offerings have seen pretty much every monster clone imaginable. Demons like Lurkers, Smogs, and Needlers have been seen in some form elsewhere. But the crazed, blood-soaked Pyramid Head, who made his first appearance in Silent Hill 2, is somewhat unique, dragging his heavy sword as if it were a psychological burden as he limps along. But it's not the monsters that make the game work; it's the terrifying, tension-filled steps that lead up to the meeting. That's where Homecoming shines.