Silent Hill Origins PSP
The game is in brand new condition but unsealed. The disc, manual and casing are all included and in excellent condition. Please contact me should you require any further information or additional images.
The renowned Silent Hill survival horror series comes to PSP with a new Silent Hill adventure, Silent Hill: Origins. Taking full advantage of PSP's graphics, sound, and portability, Silent Hill: Origins will be the most terrifying game to arrive on a handheld system.
Features:
* Spooky Silent Hill look and feel: effects and visuals never before seen in a Silent Hill game.
* New "Barricade System": allows players the ability to block off rooms from enemies
* Enhanced camera system: Improves the Silent Hill action with controls designed specifically for the PSP
* Brand new puzzles: Original Silent Hill mysteries to uncover
Review by Mojo (2008-02-25)
Prior to playing Silent Hill Origins, my only previous experience with the Silent Hill franchise was the surprisingly good movie that was based on the video game series - Silent Hill (2006). Having never played a Silent Hill title before, I wasn't too sure what to expect. My only previous encounter with a horror-based video game was Resident Evil 2 for the PS-One.
Silent Hill Origins plays similarly to Resident Evil, but the method of instilling fear in the player is entirely different to Resident Evil. The RE series relies heavily on suspense and surprise to scare the player. Soft quiet sounds interrupted by loud noises and springing monsters create the effect of shocking the player. The SH series however, relies on creating an atmosphere of dread. This is accomplished by having parallel dimensions where one is relatively bright and clean, while the other is dark and filled with destruction. Overall, the game's atmosphere is successful in achieving its purpose, and its world is much more foreboding than that of Resident Evil.
Story: 8/10
You play as a trucker named Travis Grady. Travis is driving on route to a town called Brahms late at night, and decides to take a shortcut past Silent Hill. As he approaches Silent Hill, he sees a girl run across the road ahead of him, and slams the brakes. He avoids a collision, but leaves his truck to check up on the girl. He follows her trail to a burning house, from which he rescues her, before passing out from the smoke fumes. When he wakes up, he finds that he is trapped in the town. He goes on to explore various buildings while piecing together bits of information about his sinister past. Very gripping and intriguing stuff indeed.
Gameplay: 7/10
The controls are simple and intuitive. You use the PSP's analog stub to control Travis. The X button is the action button for exploring and interacting. The R shoulder button enables combat-mode, in which the X button is now used for attacking. Triangle brings up the map, Circle toggles his torch, Square is used to run (which uses up stamina) and the D-pad is used to quick-select weapons. There are a few issues though. Firstly, and most noticeably, you cannot control the camera. Yes, the L shoulder button allows you to re-centre the camera behind Travis, but this only works in wide-open areas. If you're close to a wall, you will have trouble seeing anything except your own character. Secondly, your path in the game is extremely linear, so much so that the puzzles in the game are no longer challenging. There's not much exploring to be done, apart from the path that you're forced to take. Lastly, the bosses in the game are way too simple. The smaller enemies provide a much tougher challenge. It pretty much takes away from the fear factor of the game.
Graphics: 9/10
The detail of the game is very good. Silent Hill looks and feels exactly how a ghost town should feel. Fog-shrouded streets, dilapidated buildings, abominations roaming the streets, and a static-noise effect like bad tv reception. It does tend to get very dark and hard to see inside some of the buildings, but this is to tempt you to switch on your torch, which attracts monsters. The torch's lighting effect is very impressive, and shadows fall realistically on the walls. The static effect does dampen the graphical splendour a bit, but one of the perks of completing the game is the ability to switch that effect off, which improves the graphics a lot. But overall, there's very little to complain about, apart from the frustrating camera.
Sound: 10/10
The music in the game is very subtle, but sets the mood of each scene quite nicely. The fog world has slow, sad tunes played while you're exploring, but once you enter the dark world, the sound becomes distinctly more sinister and disturbing. The sound effects are very realistic, and the squeaks and creaks against the soft music sounds very creepy indeed. Be sure to use earphone, as the game recommends.
Overall: 8/10
Despite the few gameplay quirks that Silent Hill Origins has, it is still a very good game. You will most likely find yourself playing this game to completion more than once, because the game does offer multiple endings, as well as accolades for playing the game in a certain way, eg: complete the game within a certain time-limit, or without looking at your map, etc. The story is good enough to keep you playing, and the atmosphere is very absorbing. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a decent adventure title.
