Silent Hill: Homecoming (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

While the game has some new developers who live stateside instead of in Japan, the game mechanics are pretty much similar to those in previous iterations of the series. As you search for clues and solve puzzles, you use buttons to attack and slash, pick up items (like first aid for your inventory), shine a flashlight, and check out a map to see where you are in the Silent Hill universe. New within Homecoming is the ability to dodge, strafe, and roll out of the way of the many monsters and bugs which constantly shiver your timbers. Yet because of the strength and speed of some beings, you wish you could move with more alacrity.

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.