Very good things come to those who wait, bludgeon, and patiently endure the sixth chapter in the Silent Hill series. But right from its plodding start, Homecoming’s stab in the soupy fog does itself no favors by committing a number of grievous sins. From its leaden, cheap-shots-aplenty combat to its wild-goose chase through gray, same-y hallways filled with useless, placebo doorways to a story that takes much too long to get off the ground, its entire first half feels like a death march through a clunky hot mess.

Yes, we get that we’re Alex Shepherd, a discharged soldier hot on the trail of his missing brother. In his path is a spaced-out mom and his mysteriously deserted hometown of Shepherd’s Glen — a town with the motto “Where family comes first” rather than the more appropriate “Where broken locks and respawning enemies come first.” And we appreciate that there’s something bigger and more sinister going on behind the occult-happy scenes that somehow involves the dark neighboring city of Silent Hill. But Homecoming puts all the intrigue and genuine spooks on hold until its second half, which genuinely ramps up the creep factor.

And thankfully, by then, you may have gotten a grasp on the game’s revamped combat scheme — one that forces you to avoid as much conflict as possible due to quick enemy patterns and a somewhat slow-to-respond dodging/counterattack mechanic that usually ends in your taking cheap hits galore. Put those fights in cramped quarters with a protagonist that controls too much like a circa 2000, Lara Croft–ian tank, and we’ve suddenly got the urge to punch our TV set in the low-hanging you-know-whats.

But the good…no, great news is that Homecoming’s second half saves its bloodied bacon by more thoughtfully pacing out enemy encounters, giving you more than just one health drink and one box of pistol rounds to survive, and cranking up the foreboding atmosphere to breaking point. Once this happens, you’ll immediately know — and from that moment on, it’s a tense, bloodcurdling trip to tear the curtains off of Alex’s unhappy, plot-twisty ride into hell. Sure, your enjoyment relies heavily on whether you guess the story’s big end-reveal within its first 30 minutes (we didn’t), but Homecoming’s half-hidden, melancholy little heart is shown only to those who look past its incredibly M-rated gory kicks and often frustratingly lopsided, questionably balanced exterior.

On Xbox 360

+ Gotta love that super-creepy atmosphere!

- First half feels uneven and unbalanced.

- Cheap hits and respawning enemies? Argh!

? Isn’t Joshua too old to be drawing like a 4-year-old? Just sayin’.

6.5