Silent Hill: Origins: Breathing Life Into a Dead Series

Over the years I have wondered when the gaming industry would start to listen to its customer base instead of trying to force feed us the things we don't want. It seems that my questions have been answered to a small degree. I have seen this coming, the lackluster slew of games that felt like they were being force fed. I have stated for years that the industry has been turning its back o gamers for the money. In steps Silent Hill Origins for the PSP, just when I thought it may be hopeless. After he first Silent Hill and the 2^nd Silent Hill the games have gone downhill very quickly trying to keep up with some imaginary horror game race.

Silent Hill Origins is the answer to many questions from gamers and many requests from gamers. It takes the series back to Silent Hill and gives back the grainy look, the grainy feel and the unbridled fear and unknowing that the original Silent Hill gave us. No longer are you locked within a room like in Silent Hill the Room. You are back on the streets fighting for your life just like it should be. Although the weapons have changed.

In this Silent Hill you play as a truck driver, naturally his fall back weapon is his fists and being able to grapple. That is stop certain attacks if close enough to grab them. The weapons other than his fists are breakable, every weapon you find can and will break. Some will break after 1 hit like a TV, toaster, or bottle. But some will last some time like the meat cleaver, meat hook, or hammer. With breakable weapons it is important to have a fall back unbreakable weapon, this is why they have created the grappling mode. This gives you some options to use, No more running around with the steel pipe for everyone. Each monster has its pros and cons, and certain weapons will exploit those weaknesses. If a monster has a nasty ranged attack, throw a toaster at him. If close range is the way to attack then get your fists ready or pull out a scalpel.

Along with weapons the graphics have had a huge overhaul from the original Silent Hill. Just like almost every other game the PSP version is like a Playstation 2.5. Then there are the sounds, oh god the sounds. In the original Silent Hill the thing that made the game so damn scar was the sounds. The things that when played at night in a dark room really made the game come to life was the sounds. These sounds unfortunately had taken on a bland feel over the past couple of games in the series. Here in Silent Hill Origins the sounds have been re-done and almost concentrated for maximum fear. Between your characters slowish walk and run to the noise on wood to the slightly squishy sound after walking through blood, you will find yourself stopping to listen for the sounds of monsters. Not the just the static on the radio sounds but for the physical movement of them. Going through this game without the flashlight is even more important than ever since the flashlight is horrible as it should be but also instantly attracts nearby monsters. even if the flashlight does not reach them fully. For this simple reason stopping to listen for the physically does play an important part. The series has needed a re-vamping for years. Re-working the sounds was probably the biggest thing, by re-mastering the sounds the game has re-centered on the audible portion of the game.

As the game is centered back on true audio visual horror with mind games in between and horrible twisted figures, I feel the Silent Hill series is now once again far from dead. Lets all remember, it's never fully dead until you see the blood flowing from under their fallen bodies!