Silent Hill Origins details
| Formats: | 15 PSP, 18 PS2 |
|---|---|
| Players: | 1 |
| Genres: | Adventure, Role-playing |
| Developers: | CLIMAX |
| Rental release: | 16 Nov 2007 |
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This town, is coming like a ghost town...
By ChrisBarraclough (15 reviews) from London , 27 Apr 2008[Highly rated reviewer]
I've always liked Silent Hill, ever since I first got torn apart by teddy bears with knives for fingernails back in Midwich Elementary School. The second one brought a whole new story and range of slightly psychotic characters to the town, while the third made a sometimes-clumsy attempt at tying events and plot points together, but the style of the game fundamentally remained the same - run about nasty, freakish environments full of scary monsters, and then cry salty tears of despair as you realise the underwear you have on were your last clean pair. Four attempted to do something different, with portals and ghosts and a power meter, and it was about as successful as a Jade Goody workout DVD.
And so enter Origins, the first survival horror on PSP. As the name suggests, the story goes back to the beginning - it could just as well be called Silent Hill 0. I won't go into details, but it revolves around a trucker called Travis who stumbles into the affairs of the Gillespie family, who are as far removed from the Brady Bunch as you could possibly imagine. You will discover more about Travis and his own family as the game progresses, and although it all feels familar, it's reasonably interesting. The gameplay too returns to the form of the original, which is a semi-blessing after number four, although it falls into the more-of-the-same pitfall after a while. You'll almost immediately venture into the hospital, which seasoned veterans know is a Very Bad Thing, followed by various other locations which are mostly creepy and atmospheric and do their job well.
There's a couple of unusual additions, such as the ability to pick up household objects to use as weapons. There seems to be no limit to what you can pick up, so by the end I was carrying the entire contents of a small branch of Ikea. Not to mention that, to get the full effect from this game, you have to play in the dark, which makes the portability all but redundant - unless you're off on a spelunking trip in the next week or so. I always preferred playing with friends too, which isn't possible on the PSP, unless you hook it up to your TV - again, rendering the portable element redundant. But fans will be serviced, and it is definitely worthy of a rental, especially given the short length.
Check out more at ChrisBarraclough dot co dot uk.- Was this review helpful to you?
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(3)This town, is coming like a ghost town...
By ChrisBarraclough (15 reviews) from London , 27 Apr 2008I've always liked Silent Hill, ever since I first got torn apart by teddy bears with knives for fingernails back in Midwich Elementary School. The second one brought a whole new story and range of slightly psychotic characters to the town, while the third made a sometimes-clumsy attempt at tying events and plot points together, but the style of the game fundamentally remained the same - run about nasty, freakish environments full of scary monsters, and then cry salty tears of despair as you realise the underwear you have on were your last clean pair. Four attempted to do something different, with portals and ghosts and a power meter, and it was about as successful as a Jade Goody workout DVD.
And so enter Origins, the first survival horror on PSP. As the name suggests, the story goes back to the beginning - it could just as well be called Silent Hill 0. I won't go into details, but it revolves around a trucker called Travis who stumbles into the affairs of the Gillespie family, who are as far removed from the Brady Bunch as you could possibly imagine. You will discover more about Travis and his own family as the game progresses, and although it all feels familar, it's reasonably interesting. The gameplay too returns to the form of the original, which is a semi-blessing after number four, although it falls into the more-of-the-same pitfall after a while. You'll almost immediately venture into the hospital, which seasoned veterans know is a Very Bad Thing, followed by various other locations which are mostly creepy and atmospheric and do their job well.
There's a couple of unusual additions, such as the ability to pick up household objects to use as weapons. There seems to be no limit to what you can pick up, so by the end I was carrying the entire contents of a small branch of Ikea. Not to mention that, to get the full effect from this game, you have to play in the dark, which makes the portability all but redundant - unless you're off on a spelunking trip in the next week or so. I always preferred playing with friends too, which isn't possible on the PSP, unless you hook it up to your TV - again, rendering the portable element redundant. But fans will be serviced, and it is definitely worthy of a rental, especially given the short length.
Check out more at ChrisBarraclough dot co dot uk.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Absolutely Brilliant
By juliogeordio (67 reviews) from Raynes Park , 08 Feb 2008As a huge fan of the Silent Hill games, approached this with trepidation as how could they fit a whole town into a psp. Don't know how but they have and created a memorable and fulfilling game. The puzzles are tricky but not impossible and the extras unlocked the first time you play, mean you are happy to play through again. I actually think this is better than some of the other games in the Silent Hill series on the smallest platform. Bravo to the programmers.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Short & fun.
By Adrian from Newcastle, England , 22 Jan 2008If you've played and enjoyed previous silent hill games and own a PSP system, then its definetly worth giving this a rental.
The sound on the game is of high quality as usual and the music creates a decent creepy atmosphere, which is rare on a portable.
The controls on the game are simple to use, with the dpad allowing for instant access to health pickups and quick weapon switching.
The graphics on the game are some of the best on PSP and the game features a large town, slightly smaller than on silent hill 1 on the playstation.
I havent played much of the last silent hill game (4), but this game is quite interesting in the weapons department with many many melee weapons available for pickup from tv's to drip stands to ninja swords and all can be stored with no item limit. The game also features several firearms which are quite satisfying to use. All the weaponry is utilised in a similar way to older silent hill games even with the added stomp/killing blow required for certain enemies. Enemies will also jump onto your character if you're unlucky and the game gives you an additional chance to escape their grasp with a little button combo system similar to god of war's.
The game is quite short so keep that in mind if you're the type that likes to run straight thru a game and I say this being the type that'll explore every nook and cranny. Other little things you might find annoying might be the lack of save points (especially if your psp doesn't have a power adaptor nearby). There's also a weird effect going on with the map screen whereby you move the map and its lines blur and it give me sore eyes, but maybe thats just me.
I won't give much else away about the game but if you're a fan and you're still a little confused about the town of silent hill, then maybe this might explain a few things.- Was this review helpful to you?
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