Metareview - Silent Hill Homecoming (PC, PS3, 360)

Within the circle of paranoid and traumatized Silent Hill fans, there are two fundamental truths that must be embraced upon the release of each new entry in Konami's survival-horror franchise. The first, and more difficult to accept, is that the core gameplay in Silent Hill is sort of awful. Oh, but that gripping atmosphere! That inescapable miasma of melancholy! That's where the second truth comes in: if series sound maestro, Akira Yamaoka, composed the soundtrack (and he did for Homecoming), then it's probably an experience worth having. What say you, early reviews?

• 1UP (B): "Homecoming stays true to the macabre Silent Hill atmosphere without feeling stagnant. Exploration's perfectly in line with previous games, complete with tons of locked doors, decaying structures, and doubling back between the real world and its hellish counterpart -- but some little nuances intrigue."

• Cheat Code Central (84/100): "This game delivers on the experience you have come to expect from the franchise. It will also give you reason to begin clamoring for the next installment. The folks at Double Helix gave me the Silent Hill I wanted: a nerve-racking, scary as hell experience to hold me over this Halloween season."

• IGN (67/100): "Unfortunately, I admit that the game feels like a bit of a letdown. The gameplay has been reduced from a tense psychological experience fraught with spine tingling jumps and scares to a generic, predictable action title set in the location with good graphics and a great soundtrack."