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Silent Hill Origins Review
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Manufacturer: Konami
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ESRB Rating: Mature
Platform(s): PlayStation2
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
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Retail Price: $19.99
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User Submitted Silent Hill Origins Reviews
Date: 2008-11-17
Good addition to the series, but do not play it on an HD tv
I played this game on two different tvs, standard and HD. Playing it on the HD tv was horrendous as it was too dark to see anything. However, on my standard tv, the visual quality jumped up many notches where I could see my surroundings and manuveur without referring to my map at every step.
I've been an avid fan of the series since it debuted on the PS. I wouldn't say this is better than the former installments, but it does show some improvements. The ability to fend off enemies by punching is a major breakthrough. I also like the abundance of items you can find and use as weapons - common every day objects. On the flip side though, this may also prove a weakness in the difficulty of the game. I found the game to be relatively easy given the limitless capacity to keep weapons/objects that you collect. The bosses were very easy to defeat. I was a bit let down because I never died during a boss fight. The lack of challenge there is where the four stars comes in.
Silent Hill 2 still ranks as my favorite installment.
All in all, I'd recommend this game to fans of the series, and horror survival junkies alike.
Date: 2008-09-21
Bravo Konami!!
Great game from a great series!
Can't go wrong!
Silent Hill should be around for a long time to come, so dig in!!
Date: 2008-07-28
Sanitised and unoriginal, Silent Hill for beginners
I was so delighted when this PS2 port was announced, it saved me from having to invest in a PSP solely for this one game: I would have, I have every other Silent Hill game and play them repeatedly, I wasn't about to let Origins pass me by on a relatively small technicality like a different platform.
And I was encouraged by the screenshots on various gaming websites; the graphics, while nowhere near the standards of SH3 or SH4, certainly looked to have been heavily enhanced... ...and the reports of faithful SH-style gameplay and plot development left me with great hopes for this title. But now that I've finished it I find I am nonplussed... ...read on.
GRAPHICS: 3/5
The renders are beautiful, the lighting is very Silent Hill, and the upgrades over the PSP version are great - but SH: Origins still takes a backseat to the seven year-old Silent Hill 2 in terms of detail and character animation. Travis moves like he's wearing a spinal brace of some sort, but the creatures in SH move as fluidly as they ever did - if somewhat less scary, which is a shame considering their design is excellent. Human character design is blocky and basic, with Lisa Garland and Michael Kauffmann sharing more with their PS1 counterparts than anything else. Travis, Dahlia and Alessa are clearly designed and well-textured, but also somewhat flat and boring-looking. Level design is clever, and there are some lovely effects here and there (particularly the Artaud Theatre and Hotel levels), but SH: Origins has none of those ultra-creepy background vignettes (think Valtiel in SH3 or the giant Eileen head from SH4) to unsettle the player, and ultimately winds up looking a little generic.
Visually, SH: Origins is a very mixed bag, but by no means unplayable or flat: the overall visual impact lacks the same melancholic punch as former PS2 releases though, and this is a real shame. But for a PSP port it's a great effort - just more of a sanitised Silent Hill than we're used to.
SOUND: 3/5
Again, not very creepy and not very engaging: the kindest thing one could say about the game's music is that it closely resembles other, better tracks from other, better Silent Hill games. The opening sequence is very engaging, with the title song playing as the player controls Travis' initial run into Silent Hill, but other than that there's no memorable tracks or noises to raise the player's hackles. Voice acting is so-so; it was more effective in SH 1.
PLAYABILITY: 3/5
Gameplay does indeed follow that tried-and-loved Silent Hill method of enter area/find clues/solve puzzle/leave area, and the controls themselves are responsive and clear. The Resident Evil-style grappling system is a nice diversion, and Travis' relatively low levels of stamina (he can't sprint for very long and often slows down to a panting crawl) adds greatly to the tension you feel when out and about on Silent Hill's monster-populated streets. Breakable weapons are a distraction: there's plenty of guns and ammo dotted about SH and the sheer volume of melee weapons left in your inventory by the game's end will make you wonder "why?". The difficulty curve is slightly easier than the latter half of SH4, so it's no pushover but certainly no Devil May Cry, either.
The major downsides of gameplay come from the camera angles (as with all games of this nature, there are times when it's incredibly poorly-implemented) and a sluggish response time when you try to load the map or inventory screen during battle. But overall, SH: Origins is fun to play: deeply unoriginal but who cares about that?
OVERALL: 2.5/5
Even if this had come out on PS1 after Silent Hill 1 it would only be a solid 3-star effort: the story is not engaging enough and the gameplay too basic to make this a firm recommendation. For Silent Hill fans it's a nice addition to the canon but not really competition for any other game in the series: it's too generic. Still, it's not a bad game, not by any manner of means - if you can get it cheaply then definitely do so.
Date: 2008-07-11
Excellent
Considering that this game came over from PSP to the PS2 it is a brilliant achievement of complete creepiness. The incorporation of the the mirrors which flip you between Normal World and Evil World is excellent. I physically felt dread as I touched that mirror in anticipation of Evil World. So dark that it is sometimes difficult to see, the strained eyes are worth it. I vastly prefer playing without the visual noise filter (which you can only turn off after beating the game). If you are a fan of these games, I consider this a must.
Date: 2008-07-09
Silent Hill, the best in survival horror
If you are a Silent Hill series fan, you shouldn't miss this title. This is a great chance to play it if you don't have the PSP version.
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