Silent Hill Origins

The first, if not the original...

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Not just any "next instalment" - this game represents a few important firsts for the Silent Hill series. The first portable title, the first new release since last year's film, and also the first in the series with regards to the overarching story - hence the Origins subtitle.

The protagonist this time around is Travis Grady, a trucker who is passing near Silent Hill when he nearly hits a girl in the middle of the road. She runs off, and Travis runs after her to investigate - foolish man!

Of course, I am completely unable to comment further on the story. Just like any other Silent Hill title, the suspense of the plot is absolutely central to the player's enjoyment. I'll just say that long-time fans of the series will not be let down, there are almost too many links to other games to keep track of.

So let's concentrate on the gameplay, it is the usual mix of slightly freaky puzzles to figure out and extremely freaky monsters to avoid. There is a warning at the start of the game that you need to play the game with the lights out and headphones on to enjoy it at its fullest. I would agree with this totally, I did play some of the game on the go and it just wasn't the same. However, when in its element, the music is very much in keeping with the mood. The same graphical feel as previous titles is reprised - the misty town of Silent Hill and the hellish Otherworld are both present and correct with their familiar styles.

Travis Grady is the first character that is actually able to take care of himself in a fight - he can easily go toe-to-toe with monsters one on one with just his fists. When being swarmed, however, he needs to resort to weaponry - and you will be pleased to know that there is plenty of the stuff lying around. Whether it is a sledgehammer or a surgical scalpel, you can easily lay a bit of hurt onto the monsters. There are also some one-shot weapons around, such as bottles or televisions - you can chuck these at the baddies for a lot of damage, enough to knock out all but the toughest monsters. You also find some guns later on, with a fair amount of ammo available. Unfortunately, it does sometimes seem like weapons and ammo are too readily offered, I completed the game still completely tooled up and ready for action. Also, it is faintly ridiculous that Travis has no inventory limit, happily carrying enough stuff around to open his own branch of B&Q, but this is a small quibble.

Origins has a new lock-on system for combat, if you hold down the right shoulder button, Travis locks on to the nearest monster and all his attacks are directed that way. This makes Travis very skilful with the ranged weaponry; a marked difference from previous games. All of this does reinforce what I said before - Travis is a tough cookie. Some people may not like this deviation from the norm of previous titles - other stars of the games have definitely been fragile - but (without revealing too much) I did feel it was in-keeping with this particular game's story.

In actual fact, apart from that point there is next to nothing in terms of gameplay to differentiate this title from the previous games - the camera is still designed to heighten the atmosphere rather than ease the player's experience. It is frustrating to not always be able to see who is attacking you, but I have always felt that this adds to your sense of helplessness in such games.

Of course, no one claimed that Silent Hill: Origins was about innovation, the developers set out to bring a Silent Hill title to the PSP and they have succeeded. As previously discussed, the atmosphere does not transfer well to "on the road" gaming, but story-wise it is a true classic of the series. Maybe a later PS2 release might be in order, like the PSP versions of Grand Theft Auto; I think it would sit quite comfortably in the catalogue with the other PS2 titles. In the meantime, anyone who is interested in the mythos of Silent Hill will do very well to buy this game, settle back, turn the lights off, and enjoy some good old-fashioned psychological horror.

80%

By Richard Bright