So, here is my Silent Hill Origins review.
Silent Hill origins PSP
To begin, I can safely say that I feel like a young girl in love all over again! XD This is not the best survival horror game ever, nor is it the best of the series; you shall hear me complain-but in the end, it is easily enjoyed, especially if you are a fan of the series. You can forgive its many flaws if you enjoy buggered up monsters and lonely, depressing streets and hallways.
The game seems to take place before the events of the first game, in a town setting which highly resembles that of the first installment. Characters from the original return-in younger form! Actually, it begins a lot like the first game, in which you are stranded in the town after avoiding hitting a mystery girl on the highway with your truck.
The mood of the game is as disturbing and tense as I remember it to be, and traveling around is a pain-a good kind of pain. Fog, monsters at every corner...(Missing some darkness though.) ...but the entire imagery seems a little bare boned compared to the other titles. I really did not find anything all that interesting aside from the mundane placement of houses, and strewn objects here and there. No real detail, even though the boring looked nice.
Very nice looking indeed, and some very good effects, like fog and light. Also, the alternate universe is gorgeous-if I can use that word. Blood and metal ftw!
Fighting is as sluggish as ever, however now we do have different kinds of attacks-mainly a charging dash which deals good damage, but must be timed carefully.
Another addition is the melee weapon break-basically, all your melee weapons will break after two fights. It sounds annoying, and it actually is-however there are enough weapons everywhere that you shall barely ever run out.
Some melee weapons are fast but weak, while others are the opposite, so it adds some depth and a slight strategic element to the combat, although that may easily be translated to what weapon works best against certain monsters. But in the end, you shall merely bash the X button like in all the other games, forgetting the slight combat mechanics that have been added. Still, the range of weapons is very interesting to say the least, from sledgehammers to hospital drip stands. O_o
Also, you have one hit weapons, which deal great damage, usually an instant knockout-but are gone after one use. And some of these assortments are rather comical-televisions, typewriters and even a toaster. And if all else fails, Travis can use his fists. This is funny, to see him going at it bar style brawl with shambling monstrosities. He is indeed a little more violent and aggressive then previous protagonists.
Therefore, although the combat has been ''tweaked'', it is a bit disappointing, as you will not make use of any of its intricacies such as charging when pressing X over and over again does the trick. Those looking for a challenge will be met, instead, by no difficulty levels to add whatsoever, and the same mundane patterns pertaining to different enemies and how to defeat them, it gets old quick, and most of them may be dealt with in a fistfight.
Voice acting is still awkward, but a much better improvement-I just wish Travis's reactions were not so...indifferent. If it was me stuck int here, I would be like, MY GOOOOOOD!! ... he seems all like, meh.
The character presentation is a little...leaves much to be desired. The story itself seems pretty straightforward, but as all Silent Hill titles always deliver, this is the black sheep which borrows from previously witnessed elements...the plot is barely making sense and offers a poor enlightenment at the promised light shedding in regards to the first game's confusion, and once you make sense of it, it does not seem to strike home as much.
This title is almost like playing a less then stellar but prettied up version of the first game minus what made it special, and the boring character execution is not helping, although I do enjoy the intriguing cameo appearances by old favourites such as Lisa Garland.
It seems to incorporate elements of the other games too, but I cannot delve into this without spoiling certain things. All I can say is that it is a bit disappointing that the developers did not really bother to think up anything new for the plot, and just included elements from older Silent Hill classics.
The story is like the equivalent of Friday the Thirteenth part something or other.
The game is fast and straightforward-the puzzles, require absolutely no brain power whatsoever to solve aside from perhaps ONE-However, about half an hour into the game, and the difficulty rises, and it feels like the big old ominous Silent Hill again.
There are some nice additions...like Travis's bloody footsteps if you walk over a dead monster, and the ability to travel between the alternate Silent Hill and the ''normal'' one at will through mirrors. But even so, this becomes boring quick, because it still makes everything straightforward, despite what one may imagine.
Travelling between both worlds at will actually takes away much of the depth, and even for an old formula such as Silent Hill, this seems rather primitive as it makes everything all the more straight forward. The initial goal with this idea, according to Konami, was to render things more complex, however it accomplishes the complete contrary.
I was hoping that the beginning of the game was passing off as some sort of tutorial, because otherwise, these elements really do not add anything new to the game and its formula. It could have, but the simplicity renders this potential void, throughout most of the game.
In the end, I am left with the impression that as much as I love the Silent Hill formula, even biased old me is starting to see that it is getting old-this offers really nothing new, and basically just serves a dusted version of everything we have seen before.
Do not get me wrong however, in the end I really do not mind, because the formula still works, despite its age. I am still afraid, I still have to take breaks from playing because it depresses me, I still sit on the edge of my seat and grit my teeth; and it is all damn awesome. I still fumble like an idiot when more than two monsters attack me and I DIE. That also rules. Kind of.
I love panicking in this, and the musical score is also very, very good. It is disturbing, especially in the alternate universe, and the game does not fail at throwing weird and seemingly alarming noises at you to steer you off track.
One major complaint (Ha ha.) though-the camera SUCKS. In the other games, you could control it to a certain degree of freedom-which was not always useful. It was awkward, and always pointed in weird and disturbing angles, and in places you did not even need to see-but such is why it was awesome. It added flair to the fear factor. In Origins, you do not even have that option-all we get is a re-centering scheme. Ack.
The conclusion is-Silent Hill origins is as creepy and fun as ever, and that the fear stays with you ALWAYS, unlike many survival horror games which solely rely on cheap jump scares... The atmosphere, although tired, works, and the game is not so terrible that you will not be engrossed-and want to turn it the hell off because it all works.
...but it is missing a lot of things unfortunately. The kind of things which made the game famous.
It is great for any fan, especially those interested in the mythos, but do not get your hopes up, as this does not really connect everything together as it said it would...there are evident things yes, but I believe that we will need a sequel, and please, more detail.
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