Silent Hill Origins

I'm a huge fan of this series since the first one hit the original Playstation. I was actually a bit worried that this game wouldn't be good due to it being done by an outside source rather than the series normal development team. Also the PSP tends to render games a little short and of course this has already been ported to the Playstation 2...

Fans were promised that the towns beginnings would finally come to life and we would see where the plot started for the first and third games (two and four aren't connected to the story line). A lot is explained in this title so that is a major plus and I enjoyed the story more so than 4's.

Travis is a trucker who sees a girl i the road and goes looking for her. He winds up in the town of Silent Hill and sees a house is on fire. He rushes in and brings a badly burnt girl out. He passes out and wakes on a bench. He then finds a map and decides the girl must have gone to the hospital so he heads there. The game continues on and takes the normal dark turns. My only problem with the story is that Travis' own background isn't as big of an influence to the natur of the town, like the previous games used. This is more about creating a beginning to what is now a strong trilogy.

The psp is very capable of handling some amazing graphical power and this title shows. I was put off by the static look of the game but it grew on me after 10 minutes or so. It creates a nervousness and with the fog it's just a lot creepier. The character models are both interesting in design and look great to boot. The movements are creepy and combined with the excellent lighting effects we get perhaps the creepiest looking game in a long time.

Like in the previous games sound plays a strong role and I would highly recommend playing this with the headphones on as it creates such a tense environment and I'm not sure if the psp's speaker and recreate it.

The music is haunting and beautiful at the same time and the vocal songs are rather good as well, I actually sat around outside Silent Hill listening to the games opening song. You also need to listen to normal sounds as well. Due to the fog you may not always see an enemy right away but your trusty radio will make sounds when a creature is near, or you may even hear one shuffling up. The new creatures in the theater section of the game make some really creepy noises as well and they always seemed to eb waiting right outside a door.

Much like the fourth game in this series, this one feels more heavy on the combat and the team behind this game have taken some ideas from some more recent horror titles. We can now pick up a lot of random items like portable tv units and knives. They are quick to use but they have their own life span as you can only use it so much before it breaks. Normal weapons on the other hand don't wear down.

Enemies pollute the streets and buildings and it's up to you if you want to fight or dodge them. For your first play through I would recommend dodging them and saving your bullets (close combat is a bit too tricky at times). Plus the bosses are big and bad and can kick some major ass if you're not careful.

The game pays attention to how you play though. Killing lots of enemies will cause it to respawn them as you travel back and forth. Not only that but if you're prone to taking damage the game wll alter its healing items. What may be a health drink in one play through may become a first aid kit in the next, if that is what you need. I wish more games worked like this because it makes it feel like the game is working with you rather than against you.

Silent Hill has never been known for its combat though so don't expect perfection but it's solid and entertaining enough and once you unlock some bonus weapons you can really mow the enemies down.

The game controls nicely as well. Travis moves briskly with the analog nub and I had the control scheme down within minutes. X button allows you to interact with objects and if you hold the R trigger and hit X you'll fire the gun. I believe square allows you to run as well but you can run for a limited time before your energy drains and you'll need to walk until it builds back up.

Puzzles tend to be the theme of the Silent Hill games and while this game does have some puzzles, none are really that hard. I do like that they feel more natural this time around and some are amusing like the pillbox. The puzzles do require a good amount of backtrack, like in any survival horror game, but you can avoid a lot fo backtracking if you just try every door and keep track of your map.

Once you finish the game, which is only a few hours long, you'll get a stat screen and you'll unlock some sweet new outfits. These give you new skills and abilities but upon starting a second game you gain access to the bad ending and of course the classic UFO ending which is always worth getting but takes place later in this game than most. You need to meet certain criteria for both of those endings and for getting the new outfits. Be it beating the game in under two hours or just not viewing your map most of the time (I viewed my map almost 200 times in my first play through).

Fans should rush out and grab this game because it was made for them. I really don't think it matters which system you get it on but it was nice to be able to take this to work and finish it up. For those looking to start at this title, you could do worse. I would recommend playing the games as 1, 3 and then Origins as I feel you'll get more out of it but I also think you should check out Silent Hill 2 before Origins as you'll see some interesting connections as well (the fourth title also has some minor references as well).

Story - 9/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 10/10
Control - 10/10
Game Play - 9/10
Replay Value - 7/10

Final Score - 10/10