Silent Hill: Origins

For me, this game was a very spur-of-the-moment buy. I was in the mall with my brother and a friend, and we decided to stop by Gamestop. He bought the new Contra for the DS, and, deciding that I might as well get something too, I looked over at the PSP section, wanting to get a game and expand my miniscule PSP library. I searched about fruitlessly, and, just as I was turning around-- I saw it.

Silent Hill: Origins.

My experience with the Silent Hill series, has, until now, been a very brief one; not because the games are bad by any stretch of the imagination-- in fact, they're too good. I consider myself a survival/horror fan, but I've never gotten too into any of the SH games just because they're too creepy. After attempting to play SH3, I found myself avoiding mirrors, checking behind shower curtains, and hiding under the covers before I went to sleep. In real life, mind you. And from what I've heard, the third outing in the series was the weakest of the bunch.

Well, let me tell you-- in the thrills department, SH: O still doesn't dissapoint. In the right atmosphere (the game actually flashes a warning screen that reccomends playing in the dark, with headphones on), this game can score some serious jump-out-of-your-seat moments. SH: O utilizes an admittedly cliche'd mechanic of allowing you to travel into a strange, alternate universe via mirrors-- this creepier, "other world" is where the stronger monsters call home, and I actually found myself fruitlessly trying to solve puzzles in the normal world, knowing I had to change worlds in order to progress but dreading actually doing the deed.

Adding to the scare factor is the combat system-- ammo for guns is limited, and, as such, you'll often find yourself relying on the game's wealth of melee weapons: throughout your stay in Silent Hill, you'll find yourself bashing enemies with everything from wooden planks and meat hooks to toasters and televisions. Having to get in close to the monstrosities that roam both the 'light' and 'dark' worlds adds an incredible tension to the game, and causes you to often find yourself in Resident Evil 4-style, button mashing minigames in order to escape your adversaries' clutches.

I've always been impressed with the PSP's graphical capabilities, but SH: O puts the rest of the system's titles to shame. The normal world is clean, steryl, and covered in an enemy-obscuring mist, while the Other World is rusty, ruined, and almost pitch-black. Character models are suprisingly detailed, and enemies are as bloody, slimy, and gruesome as ever.

While the sounds and music of the game are appropriately eerie, the voice acting leaves something to be desired. I don't really feel any empathy for the game's trucker/protagonist, Travis, nor do I feel that any of the rest of the game's frightening posse are particularly believable. The voices also seem to be rather quieter than the rest of the game's sounds-- fortunately, an optional subtitle feature means that you won't miss a word anyway.

Another gripe is the controls: they're kinda lame, and you can't change them. I say "kinda lame" because they're more inconvenient than bad-- I always try to push triangle to open the menu, but the map opens instead. You hold down square to run, which just feels odd no matter how many times I've done it, and, rather than being able to fully adjust the camera, you can only push L to change it to whatever direction Travis is facing.

Ah, yes-- the camera. Easily my least favorite aspect of the game. Sometimes, it'll lock in place a la Resident Evil: Code Veronica, and others, it'll essentially do whatever it pleases. It seems that no matter how many times I try to adjust the camera, it always winds up in whatever the least convenient position is. This is especially true in small hallways and corridors, and there are a lot of those in Origins; generally, I'll find that the camera has somehow wound up against the ceiling, facing me, leaving me entirely helpless as posessed nurses and demonic who-knows-whats scratch, claw, and bite at me.

Negatives aside, though, Silent Hill: Origins is a mostly-excellent game, and will be especially appreciated by the survival/horror crowd. What it lacks in convenience and acting prowess it more than makes up for in thrills, chills, and more than a few sleep-with-the-lights-on nights.

The Rundown
Graphics: 10/10. Very impressive.
Audio: 8/10. Lost two points for generally abysmal voice acting.
Controls: 5/10. Not very convenient, and the camera is terrible.
Gameplay: 9/10. The mix of tense, close-quarters combat and puzzle-solving is quite addicting.
Overall: 8/10. Worth a buy if you like getting the pants scared off of you, and can tolerate a few technical hitches.