• Posted January 16th, 2008 at 17:01 EDT by
• 13 Comments

It’s time to turn the lights off, throw on the headphones and delve into the dark and twisted town of Silent Hill once again. Climax Studios in unison with Konami have decided to bring you another step in the beloved and suspenseful series. With the release of four titles to consoles and a major motion film, it’s no shock to see them release a title for the PlayStation Portable. Silent Hill 0rigins finally brings some answers to your questions as to how Silent Hill truly came about and why things happen the way they do.

In 0rigins you’ll assume the role of Travis Grady. Travis happens to be a brute truck driver who seems to have a slight case of insomnia and a trouble past to go along with it. Unlike previous characters in Silent Hill, Travis is more than capable of holding his own and stepping into combat prepared. Grady is headed on his way to Brahms but decides to save on time and take a quick detour through Silent Hill, if only he knew what we all knew, this won’t save much time at all.

On his way towards Silent Hill, Travis starts to have flashbacks that aren’t so clear about his very own past that he has trouble discussing. From the side of a road a little girl falls in the middle of his path as he must slam on the brakes in order to stop in time; however, when Grady gets out of his vehicle to check what happened, the girl is gone and ends up appearing in his rearview mirror with the approaching fog. Confused as to what is going on around him, Travis takes one last look to the front of his truck and sees the lonesome girl walking away.

You’re then forced to chase after her when you come upon a home on fire. With screams from a girl inside, you dash in to play the hero. After finding the badly burned child inside, you must make your way out with a little invisible help from some ritualistic sealing. As you lay the child down, you pass out and wake up in the middle of Silent Hill and so your journey begins to unveil the answers of your past and another chapter behind the 0rigin of Silent Hill.

One of the more welcoming features that we noticed took place at the Main Menu. Unlike other games where you’re just given the abilities to check options or start/continue a game, Silent Hill offers you an entire section filled with 13 tips that will give you an edge inside their world. These tips range from combat tips to ways of exploring Silent Hill to its full potential. We feel that more games should give you this type of option to check out, especially for newcomers of a particularly popular series.

The gameplay elements of the title happen to be far from perfect; however, veteran Silent Hill fans will probably not be so concerned about these issues, but we’d wish they’d take a different approach with them sometimes.

0rigins still features its challenging puzzles and the ability to open new areas by piecing a couple of puzzles together as well. These will inevitably give you access to locked doors, as well as other areas you couldn't get into before. Not all puzzles are mandatory though, so don't think if you can't figure one out, that you'll have to sit there and finish it. This has been a long time enjoyment for the fans of the series and 0rigins will not disappoint you at all with theirs.

Camera angles are laid out in order to build suspense and you can align the camera directly behind your character by simply tapping the L trigger; however, the camera still has plenty of flaws. Sometimes while you’re fighting, due to the angle it forces you to take you’ll be unable to see what is hitting you or who is attacking you for that matter. Although the design is meant for you to feel as though you’re always in tight spots and enclosed in a claustrophobic environment, they could have still done a better job with the overall camera ... (continued on next page)