Silent Hill Origins Review

By Kristan Reed Published 23 November, 2007

Enjoy the silence.

Version tested: PSP

Sometimes you have to back to go forward, or at least that seems to be the rationale behind Climax's somewhat by the numbers take on the Silent Hill franchise. Origins acts as the starting point for the entire series, taking us back to events before the 1999 PlayStation classic and helping to shed a little more light on the mysteries surrounding this fog-bound town.

The latest unfortunate to run the gauntlet from twisted apparitions, bald, headless bovine and manic showroom dummies is Travis Grady, a lone trucker who finds himself almost running over a young girl on a rain swept night. But rather than drive on and be thankful for this piece of fortune, he chases after her, and finds himself the latest poor unfortunate to try the handles of 900 locked doors in Silent Hill. Like everyone else who find themselves wandering this doomed place, crippling memories of a troubled past come flooding back, and so begins another chilling jaunt through a series of hellish locations and scenarios before he can resolve matters.

No doubt mindful of remaining faithful to the series' legacy, Climax pays such close attention to the ingredients of the first three Silent Hill games that it's basically an unapologetic homage to them. As such, it makes very little attempt to innovate, or take the series forward to any meaningful degree whatsoever, so as long as you're cool with that, you'll get on with Origins just fine. For those of you who've already tired of the increasingly dated formula, though, it's time to move on - nothing new to see here.

Condemnation

With that in mind, it's absolutely no surprise to see the gameplay formula reprised to such an extent that there's a permanent sense of deja vu as you traipse through the foggy streets of Silent Hill. Apart from wondering, again,when the earthquake hit, you'll positively roll your eyes when you find yourself working your way through another disgustingly grimy hospital or gloomy sanitarium. As usual, it's a game of patience and persistence, with an awful lot of time spent clicking on everything, trying door handles, flicking to the map screen and trying to work out where you haven't been. It's a curiously moreish experience, but a rather obsessive compulsive oddity - a bit like finding the urge to empty out your sock drawer to pair up all the odd ones.

'Silent Hill Origins' Screenshot 1

Hands free: Incredibly, Travis also had room for a TV, toaster, 4 hammers, a drip stand, rifle, shogun, pistol, and other random tat upon his person.

Along the way, you'll pick up mysterious objects, solve the odd mildly taxing riddle, read a few sheets of discarded journals (which act as the main narrative device), and dodge a plethora of writhing, slimy monsters with slow, predictable attack patterns. But because you're also pretty cack in the combat stakes, it's just as well that the whole affair is plodding and as unwieldy as ever. Melee combat has been tweaked a touch, and you'll appreciate the fact that you can dish some meaty punches if called upon, while a ludicrous inventory system allows you to carry any number of TVs, hammers, scalpels, drip stands and other assorted guff to wield at said monsters when the moment takes you.

As for armed combat, your infinite backpack also allows Travis to pick up a service pistol, shotgun, rifle and others, and dish out the pain more effectively than trying to swish a jagged bit of wood around. With an auto-aim system, all you have to do is point and shoot, regardless of how helpful the dynamic camera angle is being. It's just as well, really, as you'd have no chance of getting a shot on target otherwise. But, as with all survival horror games, exceptionally limited ammo forces you to pick and choose what you want to blast into chunks - and, in most cases, you're often better off just running past your slow-moving adversaries until you face-off against the inevitable boss monster. Sometimes, though, if you let a monster get too close, or one takes you by surprise, you'll find yourself having to hammer the X button to fend them off. Yeuch.

Get the balance right

During your travels you'll also nip between a light (well, ok then, gloomy) and dark world every time you touch a mirror, which means you're constantly poking around hellish versions of the same location, getting new keys to unlock doors in the 'other world' and popping back and forth before you can finally get all the bits you need to solve whatever riddle is holding you back. And then you face a boss. And then get to explore a new area. And so the formula goes on until it's finally over.

And given the game is very much a reprise of everything Silent Hill fans have already experienced several times over, little old-school design decisions like badly spaced save points make it slightly less fun than it could be. Numerous times, I found myself having replay large sections because I overlooked saving it before a facing a particularly dangerous part. Why on Earth could they not have introduced automatic checkpointing pre-boss fights, for example? Being faithful to the gameplay, puzzles and combat is one thing. Being faithful to old school flaws for the sake of authenticity is misguided at best.

'Silent Hill Origins' Screenshot 2

Fog off: draw distance has never been an issue with Silent Hill games.

Visually, Origins also stays very true to the Silent Hill legacy, with delightfully detailed environments, gruesome character designs and that omnipresent atmosphere of rank decay. Sadly, where is doesn't quite hit the mark is in the human characters, which are nowhere near as detailed or as stunningly lifelike as Team Silent managed on Silent Hill 2 and 3 (4 was a Silent Hill game in name only). To an extent you can blame this on the PSP's relative limitations, but there's no reason Climax couldn't have gone that extra mile to maintain the standards. Still, despite Travis' low poly head, it's not a total deal breaker, but does remove some of the classy style synonymous with all the other games to date.

Just can't get enough

Perhaps the true saving grace for Origins is the involvement of audio wunderkind Akira Yamaoka. It cannot be overstated how important his chilling, ethereal soundtrack contributions add something utterly unique to the game, and Origins is no exception. Even when you're coldly reflecting on a rather samey gameplay experience, the fact that he's got yet more audio tricks up his sleeve transforms the atmosphere into something quite terrifying. Playing the game, as recommended, in the dark with headphones on, is sinister beyond belief if you're also on your own while playing it.

While Silent Hill Origins cannot offer its legions of fans anything they haven't seen done before (and done better), it still represents a solid stop-gap release, and is worth checking out if you're a series die-hard with a desire to fill in some gaps in the story. And even if you're not an aficionado, scary, intriguing survival horror titles such as these don't come along very often - least of all on the PSP. Although it's easy to dismiss Origins as a rather needless stop-gap release, viewed in the context of the platform, it's a quality offering that fans of survival horror should check out.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • dirigiblebill #1 4 years ago

    Seems a fair enough score on the basis of my two hours' playtime. Silent Hill never fails to be compelling, but the series badly needs an overhaul for the PS3.

    (4 was a Silent Hill game in name only)

    How do you reckon? Same combat, broadly the same locales, similarly icky monsters, similar soundtrack...

  • krudster #2 4 years ago

    It was originally intended to be called Room 302. They admitted that the Silent Hill name was only added late in the day. It wasn't even set in Silent Hill, either, which is a moot point.

    Quote from the interview I did in 2004:
    "Originally this development was started from what we named Room 302, rather than Silent Hill, so the original concept wasn't from Silent Hill." Presumably that was to give the game a better chance commercially? He nods. "We started off with the title Room 302, but if the Silent Hill didn't exist then we still had the idea of Room 302. Without Silent Hill we didn't have this title, but because we did have Silent Hill we wanted to have something different, but it's kind of a mixture of ideas."

    http://ww w.eurogamer.net/article.php?art...
    Edited by 2 at 23/11/07 @ 12:39

  • GamesConnoisseur #3 4 years ago

    The review was mostly giving me impression of a lower score than a 7 as not much positives, however as a Silent Hill fan and played Origins twice already. Thought it was a reasonable interpretation given the platform and it clearly tried to emulate Silent Hill 2 (best in series) and (only)one new feature is ability to transfer between two worlds by touching the mirrors.

    Its does have great use of lighting and a real time shadows, for PSP this rocks and need to be seen to be believed. Textures can be bland but that is the hardware and generally graphically its stand up well, gameplay it could be better but Silent Hill fans would enjoy this in my view.

    For me 7 is a reasonable score and would give it no higher than a 8.
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/07 @ 12:05

  • M83J01P97 #4 4 years ago

    Well, seeing as the developers are taking the recent Silent Hill film as one of their main influences for Silent Hill 5, I think we can see this superb series moving into tired, cliched territory thats all about substance and not enough about surrealist horror which the originals did so well.

  • Murbal #5 4 years ago

    Another one for the list then!

  • dirigiblebill #6 4 years ago

    It was originally intended to be called Room 512. They admitted that the Silent Hill name was only added late in the day.

    Hmmm, okay. I'd still say the experience is very recognisably Silent Hill.

    Shame Climax didn't try to extend some of The Room's more successful contributions to the formula- that first person viewpoint, for instance, and the way your apartment decayed as the game progressed.
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/07 @ 11:58

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #7 4 years ago

    +1 for the Depeche Mode reference

  • Goffee #8 4 years ago

    And what score would you give it if you've never played a Silent Hill game before?????? I tried a PC demo ages ago but this would be my first full experience

  • dirigiblebill #9 4 years ago

    Goffee- play them in this order if you can.

    Silent Hill or Silent Hill 2
    Silent Hill 3
    Origins
    Silent Hill 4

  • Goffee #10 4 years ago

    @dirigiblebill

    Cheers, hope they come out on Playstation Store...

  • the_dudefather #11 4 years ago

    Room 512?

    is that some kind of bizzarro hotel dusk: room 215?

  • TheDifficult3rdAlbum #12 4 years ago

    "Room 512" - ooh, one of my favourite Wonderstuff songs!

    \0/

  • Bragelonne #13 4 years ago

    Silent Hill 4 wasn't tied in heavily into the series mythology at all. They took a character mentioned in a memo in Silent Hill 2 and adapted the game's nemesis around it. Konami simply lost faith that the "Room 302" brand would sell and tacked on the Silent Hill name.

    Replenishing health? Virtually invincible ghost enemies? The entire second half of the game being a spirit-crushing escort quest? These elements, thankfully, never featured in its three predecessors.

    If this is half the game that Silent Hill 2 is, then I'll be glad when I finally get around to playing it.

    edit: changed to 512 to 302 ;)
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/07 @ 13:04

  • ZuluHero #14 4 years ago

    @Goffee

    Have to disagree with dirigiblebill on the play order. If you play 2 first there's no point really playing 3 until you have played 1 as 3 is the direct carry on of the story from 1. Hope that's easy enough to understand :)

    Edit: can't speel today :)
    Edited by 2 at 23/11/07 @ 12:41

  • krudster #15 4 years ago

    Sorry, it was 302, not 512. I must have Wonderstuff B-sides residually stored in my brain somewhere :)

  • dirigiblebill #16 4 years ago

    ZuluHero- I wasn't suggesting Goffee skip the original, just that it wouldn't hurt if he played the sequel first. Both should take precedence over Silent Hill 3. Wasn't being clear enough, my bad :)

    Bragelonne- The Room had a lot to differentiate it, for better or worse, but surely you have to admit that the look and feel were essentially consistent with the other games in the series?

  • Blerk #17 4 years ago

    This has turned out better than I expected, I suspect. Anyone, do a PS2 port and I'll buy it, Konami. ^_^

  • Bragelonne #18 4 years ago

    @dirigiblebill

    I don't think I'll ever agree with the feel being consistent. In certain stages, I will concede that the look was faithful.

    The Room touches a raw nerve because the series has fallen in quality since Silent Hill 2. After the third game, which in my opinion was too combat-centric, I had high hopes for the next offering; sadly, those hopes were dashed.

    edit: I can't seem to pluralise my nouns today.
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/07 @ 17:00

  • Abscido #19 4 years ago

    +1 for the Depeche Mode reference

    Words are very unneccesary - they can only do harm.

    ;-)

  • JonFE #20 4 years ago

    I've been intrigued by the Silent Hill saga, even though my experience with it lies in a short encounter with the Xbox version of SH2, so I'll probably get this...

  • NickJD #21 4 years ago

    Does anyone even buy PSP games?, sales of PSP games say you're all pirating them. Once I can be bothered to learn how to flash one of those new PSP slims I will probably join all you thieves.

    And don't say you actually buy PSP games, we're not fucking stupid here mate.

  • Mr_Dodger #22 4 years ago

    Of course. That's why War Of The Lions sold 520,000 in Japan alone. Those silly Japanese must not know how to flash their PSP's huh?

    Not saying it doesn't go on - of course it does. But it shows how a quality title will always sell.

    Most pre-owned stuff can be found at Blockbuster for £12-15 anyway, which is pretty good.

  • presbyterrorion #23 4 years ago

    "Does anyone even buy PSP games?, sales of PSP games say you're all pirating them. Once I can be bothered to learn how to flash one of those new PSP slims I will probably join all you thieves.

    And don't say you actually buy PSP games, we're not fucking stupid here mate."

    So, do you understand that if everyone is pirating the games, then developers will stop making them?

  • SeesThroughAll #24 4 years ago

    And don't say you actually buy PSP games, we're not fucking stupid here mate.

    Yes I actually buy games, in order to support a few games I want to see more of in the future. Shit games however, those I pirate every now and then.

  • ZuluHero #25 4 years ago

    see now i feel like i should take my freshly bought copy of SH:o back to the shops now :(

    *because i should have pirated it like the filthy pirate everyone seems to be - not because of the review ;)
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/07 @ 14:02

  • Zachm #26 4 years ago

    Square-Enixs' best selling game of the year was a PSP game, so clearly people are buying them.

  • krudster #27 4 years ago

    Dabo, I did make the point in the closing summary that it's as good as you'll find on a handheld, but in the context of it being an important new Silent Hill game it takes the series precisely nowhere.

  • krudster #28 4 years ago

    It's 7 as a game, not marked down because of the platform. Just because it's the best survival horror game on a handheld doesn't mean it suddenly deserves an extra mark.

  • Agent_Llama #29 4 years ago

    Bragelonne: "I don't think I'll ever agree with the feel being consistent. In certain stages, I will concede that the look was faithful.

    The Room touches a raw nerve because the series has fallen in quality since Silent Hill 2. After the third game, which in my opinion was too combat-centric, I had high hopes for the next offering; sadly, those hope were dashed."

    I agree completely. 4 didn't feel like Silent Hill. You were never in the dark with your flashlight, there was too much irritating combat, the characters weren't engaging. It was a shambles. I gave up during the escort bit because I was sick of Walter Sullivan shooting at me constantly and me being unable to do much about it, it wasn't fun, it was thoroughly unpleasant.
    Edited by 2 at 23/11/07 @ 15:54

  • tnomad #30 4 years ago

    I finally picked up a PSP to play this and so far I agree with Kristan's review. You could say it's a homage to classic Hill but it's almost like fanfic made by fans for fans. No attempt to do anything new, just to get in all the ingredients to make other fans happy.

    I love Silent Hill especially 2 but this series really needs the kind of rejuvenation that Resi 4 gave to that series. I wasn't massively impressed by the story of Hill 4 but I was impressed that it was trying different things. I don't really agree it was Hill name because despite it's development history Yamaoka really brought the Hill feel to it.

    But right now the series doesn't need more games revolving around people getting caught up in the Silent Hill cult, carrying around a radio and a flashlight constantly checking maps to mark one one of hundreds of locked doors. It's just not as scary anymore after the 5th time.

    I'm going to finish Origins because it seems to be really well made, and playing it with headphones in the dark is quite a spooky and intimate experience. However we really need something new to stop this amazing franchise slipping into mediocrity.
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/07 @ 16:33

  • Feanor #31 4 years ago

    "How the hell do footy games on the DS get an 8 when compared to their big console couterparts they're worth about a 2?"

    It's for great points like these that I still read EG's comments threads, despite them so often being full of complete fanboy crap.

  • VMerken #32 4 years ago

    I am one of the few who liked SH4 - I prefer it over 3, in fact, because the first part where you're locked up and slowly "discover" the apartment was great. The apparitions later on spooked me, too (much more than SH3's ghost house, for example). Combat was disappointing, though, but overall, I was disturbed by quite a few scenes (creepy hospital room, prison tower, hidden apartment room, anyone?).

    Neither 3 nor 4 come close to 1 and 2, though. There should be a return to the underlying, Lovecraftian horror to rekindle the series, I feel. Turning it into an action-oriented game a la Resident Evil 4 would be a disastrous move.

    Oh, and I will be stop-gapping my PSP S&L with a store-bought copy tonight =)
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/07 @ 17:23

  • Grom #33 4 years ago

    @dabo

    I think he was on your side dude (unless he was being cunningly sarcastic...)

    ...

    "Konami were very hands-on in ensuring that the game lived up to the technical standards of its predecessors"

    hehe

  • ZuluHero #34 4 years ago

    I find it really odd that a lot of people rank SH3 as a low point in the series. Yes, it did away with multiple endings and yes it wasn't as puzzle-centric as its predecessors - but as a piece of story telling it was excellent, and IS the definite conclusion to the original Silent Hill story and arguably the whole SH conundrum. SH1 and 3 is the main story arc, integral to whole series, while everything else is just side-stories added to the proceedings.

    Like I said earlier I have a brand new copy of SH:o sitting on my desk, if it helps to further explain the events leading to the first game in greater detail (even though I am fully versed in the lore) I will be overjoyed.


  • VMerken #35 4 years ago

    Zuluhero, I don't think 3 and 4 are perceived as a "low point", as in bad or disappointing - they're good (story-wise, definitely), but 1 and 2 really tower over 3 and 4. They simply are at a lower point compared to the titles that started it all and where the character count was small and eerie enough to leave things to the imagination, where the true horror happens =)

    Did you read the plot synopsis on GameFAQs? I think that, if 5 (or 6, more likely) can somehow flesh out the underlying philosophy, we'd be back at the quality of old.

  • Monkey-Wizard-Ken #36 4 years ago

    What’s with the Depeche Mode references?

    - shit someone else beat me to it :(

    Is there a room 101?
    Edited by 2 at 23/11/07 @ 18:55

  • EmiliasHorse #37 4 years ago

    I am an honest little horsey, I admit to being an Xbox fanhorse. Sure I buy all the consoles but love is fickle and my MS passion is always beating. BUT...I love the PSP, it is about a million times more useful than the DS; music, mp4, homebrew, cheap cheap cheap UMD discs and games....well....That is the sticky point. Thank god for games like this.

    PSP has more than double the user base of the 360 yet precious little in the way of good exclusives. Come on Sony stop flogging the PS3 horse and dish a little love for the rather spiffing little PSP.

  • slivir #38 4 years ago

    SH1: Best plot & puzzles
    SH2: Best music
    SH3: Best action/gameplay
    SH4: Most original
    Origins: ???

    I wonder if it's worth picking up a psp for just one game. I don't think it's worth it tbh.

  • Nikanoru #39 4 years ago

    Wow, how did I miss this review? I'd very nearly buy a PSP for a new SH game (especially now that the new one has a TV connector). Not quite though. Maybe if I can find one on ebay for under 80 euros.

    Climax pays such close attention to the ingredients of the first three Silent Hill games that it's basically an unapologetic homage to them. As such, it makes very little attempt to innovate, or take the series forward to any meaningful degree whatsoever


    Seeing how "taking the series forward" these days only means "dumbing it the fuck down so it sells better", that actually sounds pretty good.

    Is it linear like SH3? Or more free mess-around-in-town, like SH1?

  • VMerken #40 4 years ago

    Grrr. Just checked in the stores. For some inane reason, 0rigins will not be out in Belgium until the first quarter of 2008. Grrr.

  • 7creature #41 4 years ago

    Hmm. Does EU version differ from US one? I checked the e-shops and there are apparently displayed two variants of of box arts (so I am not exactly sure whether they are the same or not)...

    This one: [link url=http://www.gamehoof.com/images/s ilent-hill-origins/Silent-Hill-Origins-Cover.jpg
    ]http://ww w.gamehoof.com/images/silent-hi...[/link]
    and this one: http://ww w.djuegos.com.ar/fotos/silenthi...

    EDIT: Yet another one title picture????
    http://ww w.consoleshop.be/product/47073/...
    Edited by 1 at 09/12/07 @ 17:19

  • VMerken #42 4 years ago

    I think the first picture was a concept version for the US release, since it has the "RP" rating (Rating Pending) which then got canned in favour of the second picture. The third picture would be for the Euro release, as evidenced by the rating.
    Edited by 1 at 09/12/07 @ 19:14

  • 7creature #43 4 years ago

    Thank you.

    But aside the box art, US and EU versions are the same? I haven't found any info about differences so I assumed so (though I am not absolutely sure).

    I am usually buying US releases of new games (because shops here import from US quite often it seems and EU releases are really delayed). I am quite new into console gaming so I was (and quite often still am) confused about these region issues.
    Edited by 1 at 09/12/07 @ 20:40

  • VMerken #44 4 years ago

    I don't think there will be a lot of differences, although it's probable that the German version will be censored in one way or the other.

    Region differences used to be a problem since there have been two region-locked formats for SDTVs: PAL (50Hz) and NTSC (60HZ, with less scanlines). Since most console games were originally developed for the NTSC regions and porting was often very rudimentary, we (PAL region) would almost always end up with a slower, black bordered game. You wouldn't complain if you never played NTSC games, but once you went NTSC, it was extremely difficult to swallow the PAL version of a game. Be glad that (I suspect) you weren't around back then.

    Luckily, things are much better now, with True HD becoming the universal standard. Therefore, a game released in region X should display and run properly in region Y. So basically, a gamer can buy his poison from anywhere and it'll run, so he/she can try to import as early and cheaply as possible.

    However, unfortunately, developers/companies are noticing this and thus we are seeing things like artificial region locking, Valve disabling Steam accounts if you had the audacity to buy a game like the Orange Box cheaply from a certain region, etc. And of course, we're still stuck with the dreaded Japan -> US -> Europe + Aus -> Rest of World release cycle (for Japanese games, games by western producers are distributed in a much better way, thankfully) which cause those ghastly, months-long delays or the game not appearing in Europe in the first place.

  • 7creature #45 4 years ago

    Ok :-)

    So I can safely assume that US releases are (in most cases and when not specifically told otherwise) either the same (or superior to) EU ones?

    If I recall correctly, then (as an example) Disgaea: Hour of Darkness EU was released without japanese audio, wasn't it? While US one had JPN audio. So those not immediatelly apparent differences left me kind of uneasy.

    Hmm, I am heading way off topic here, so I'll better stop.

    SH Origins definitelly looks interesting (well, and now, give me finally some PSP Resident Evil game, Campcom .-)

  • WSXHT #46 4 years ago

    Ok, Eurogamer... So, we'll roll our eyes at the hospitals and sanitariums, shall we? I highly doubt that; these things defined Silent Hill, it's how we recognise it. And I for one will never get tired of the atmosphere these places create.

    However, some people think the games are getting repetative... and then bash SH 4 for it being 'unlike the others'? I thought it was a brilliant game. So we're not actually in Silent Hill; big deal. It's the atmosphere. It's ALL ABOUT THE ATMOSPHERE!1!! Besides, we get plenty of references. And awesome new enemies- HELLO PEOPLE?!

    Also- At least this game is coming out for PS2. That gets rid of the only reason- yes, the ONLY reason- to buy a PSP.

    Now, all you boys and girls be thankful for the nice games you have.
    Edited by 1 at 12/03/08 @ 21:31