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THIS IS THE PS2 VERSION!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 7
Date: March 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

For those of you who don't know, SH0 was released as a PSP game first, and was later created for the PS2 so that a wider audience could play. This is the PS2 version so if you're looking for the PSP game you're on the wrong page. A great game but not much difference than the PSP version. If you own the PSP version there's no real reason to buy it except for collector reasons.

Mind Blowing Surprise!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 17
Date: March 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The surprise is that the character that you play as in this game is someone who you've ran from like crazy in previous games! Terryfing isnt it!? Play the game to see his story and how he came to become what he has become!

A great addition to the Silent Hill series!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is an absolute must for any Silent Hill fan as it sheds so much more light on the events surrounding SH. I also have this for the PSP, but for me it was much more enjoyable on a tv. The only thing I can honestly complain about is the "disposable weapons" and how quickly they fall apart, and i'm still not a huge fan of the "charge system" either. Easily looking past that, it has great camera angles, a huge variety of weapons, new monsters, excellent soundtrack (Akira Yamaoka and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, it doesn't get any better than that), that great tension - it's all there for me.

A great chapter, though porting could've been better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Silent Hill: Origins is essentially a prequel to the orginal Silent Hill game. I'll attempt to speak in vague enough terms so those who haven't played a single installment won't have the experience ruined. You play Travis, a truck driver with a vaguely trouble past, who makes the mistake of chasing a girl he believes he hit with his truck into the titular town of Silent Hill, where he rescues a girl who nearly burned to death in a fire. Following the girl to a nearby hospital, he is suddenly plunged into a world of cult rituals and demonic forces.

Graphics: think Silent Hill 1. As this game was based on the PSP, the gameplay graphics a rather blocky, but still manage to create a feeling of unease and general creepiness. I'm a hard sell on this though. I haven't seen anything so far as skin crawling as the general setup of the original. The cutscenes are much better, and were scaled up well, but don't expect anything earth shattering. The combat graphics are also well done, though they can get a touch annoying. The screen darkens and begins to spot out like a very old movie reel.

The only downside is brightness, which you cannot control in game. While the game is supposed to be dark, not being able to see you hand in front of your face defeats some of the purpose.

Sound: The sound is overblown during the combat scenes, but the death metal is definitely in line with what you'd expect, though the score wasn't expanded much in the port, and could've been redone for the PS2 version with relative ease. While annoying in the extreme, it isn't bad, but nothing stands out as being overly good either.

Gameplay: The puzzles so far have reached a happy medium. They aren't spelled out for you, but neither do you need a doctorate degree or be an expert riddler to solve them either. The beginning ones are find and place items, but several are information hunting for combinations and the like, and have a good chunk of general horror.

Combat finally begins to make sense. Not only do you have the ability to block some attacks, but you have fists! I never knew you could you those in self-defense! What a concept! In all seriousness, that's been a grip for me from the beginning. Stomping on monsters to kill them though is infuriating, and nearly impossible for a relatively simple command. Weapons finally break, and are inventive, like toaster ovens and TV's, though many weapons do not do a realistic amount of damage given their one shot nature.

Story: The character is belivable and well played, though the story needed to be expanded significantly for the PS2, and wasn't. Theres no comments on the fact taht the town is essentially abandonded and overrun with monsters, not to mention the classic clefts in the roadways blocking the easy route from point A to B.

All told, this is a nice addition, and barely warrants a 4th star, as it does have some nice creepy added in, but should've been worked more before it was released.

Good but not exactly groundbreaking

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Fans of the series or those who have seen the movie should really get into this game. You meet Alessa, a younger Dahlia, and other characters from the first game (no spoiler, this is explained right in the booklet). Some connections and explanations are also offered which were pretty vague before. Lights and sounds also seem to draw monsters far more than other games (didn't seem to make much difference in the other games). The mirror idea was pretty cool too although it seemed to give you some controll over this horrific world.

The downside...
I was disappointed by the "new features" in this game. One is the use of fixed camera angles which I actually liked in resident evil. They could've worked here too but weren't handled as well as the RE games. At times a monster may be 2' in front of you but its off screen so you don't know until you either walk into it or shoot blindly. A couple times you walk down an aisle and disappear until you walk out- who knows if anything was there to pick up or examine. In other SH games camera angles may be used but at least you can hit a button and look around.

New combat features include punching... which makes sense (always thought it odd in SH& RE games that your options are basically run or shoot- noone can kick, etc). But on the other hand, I restarted this game and it takes something out of the "scare" when you can just walk up to the monsters and punch them into submission. Another combat feature is the ability to pick up assorted items for striking. At the end of the game however, I had a truck load of appliances and items which I never used. How many TVs, crates, etc did I have in my pockets?

As for the "scare", well there really wasnt one. This is more of an action game with horror elements that a disturbing horror tale. This is the only SH game that I made it all the way through without EVER getting killed. (I did run more than usual, but still, even the bosses were pretty easy).

There are also some movement differences and they couldve given you clearer reasons for going from one place to the next (If I hadn't looked at the map after leaving the hospital I wouldnt have known where I was supposed to go next). Still, overall I gave it 4 stars for fun, but just 3 overall because it was a step back in many ways from previous games.

Solid prequel

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: March 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Another PSP to PS2 conversion, Silent Hill Origins is a prequel to Konami's original Silent Hill game, and fans of the long running survival horror series will happy to know that this installment retains the series' penchant for the unbelievably creepy. You play as a trucker named Travis, who has just stumbled into the town of Silent Hill, and naturally, it isn't too long before some very, very, bad things start happening. Fans of the series will see some familiar faces and surroundings, and the game also manages to provide some ultra-creepy environments and events, as well as a spectacular musical score that perfectly underlines the frightening proceedings. The game has been slightly visually enhanced in its transition from the PSP to the PS2, although things still look more grainy then they should. The only downsides to Silent Hill Origins is that the game's camera doesn't always work the way you'd think it would, and the game's length may leave more to be desired. Flaws aside though, Silent Hill Origins is still a scary blast, and there's enough extra content (like different endings) to find and comb through to justify picking it up. If you already played through the PSP version of the game, there really isn't any reason to play it again, but if you didn't and you're a fan of the series or of survival horror in general, take a trip to Silent Hill.

Not quite worth it

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 23
Date: March 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

So I saw this in the store and the cashier says, "yeah they ported it over form PSP." I should have known there would be issues.

Good:
It keeps with the scary, dark theme, although a little too dark for my tastes.
Yes, I agree, being able to finally use your fists is cool.
Graphics - not bad, gruesome and creepy, just how we like it.
That's where the good stuff ends.

Bad:
Camera controls - Are so bad and frustrating that you'll want to drop the controller 1 hour into the game.

Health and stamina - Don't pick up a health or stamina drink unless you NEED it. They aren't stored even though you can store tons of huge items. Once you pick it up, it's used. They're pointless anyway because my health meter never changed once even though I found 2 health drinks in a row.

Weapons - Yeah they break. Usually while you're still using it and then trying to change weapons has a delay which means you get hit if you try to equip another. If you have a large weapon in your hand and they attack first, you lose that weapon. You don't DROP it, you lose it forever.
If you're a diehard fan, you'll get used to this game and play it thru.
Buy at your own risk.

Cool little game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: March 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Origin would be my first Silent Hill game that I've taken seriously. You play a character named Travis who comes into a small town, Silent Hill. Origin centers around on a macabre theme; at times the game is simply freaky, at other times the game is scary, and other times the game is just exciting. It's such a nice break from the zombie themes of Resident Evil.

Here's a list of things I liked and didn't liked:

* Anything can be used as a weapon. You can pretty much go melee the entire game. From your fist to a sledgehammer to guns, pretty much anything can be used as a weapon. Melee weapons, such as a hammer, have limited lifespan; each time you attack an enemy, the weapon degrades until it can no long be used. It gets kind of ridiculous near the end when you are carrying nearly fifty different weapons. I think the game should have had a weight limit on how much you can carry at once.

* Great music. I think the music really saves this game. I think the music made me sweat at one point in the game as I was walking in a dark hallway and I didn't want to continue since I thought something would jump out at any second. Truly, the music in this game complements the game play perfectly.

* Some minor bugs I noticed. I thought it was because I was playing on a ps3, but I've found that people playing on ps2 have the same issue. If you reload a gun in the inventory and you have more than one gun, you see duplicate images of the gun you reloaded. It doesn't appear to corrupt your game in any way, and once you re-open the inventory, the gun images are back to normal.

* Story is outstanding. I actually wanted to play the game until the very end. I was mildly disappointed with the ending, but I won't spoil it for anyone. The game is short and sweet.

* The puzzles are mediocre at best. They're not hard, but not exactly easy. There were two parts in the game that I became stuck on, but the reason why is simply because I didn't fully explore some areas. If you explore every room in this game, you will be able to solve all of the puzzles without much effort. The most exciting puzzle comes at the end when you have to solve this triangle-shaped-Rubik-cube-like puzzle. It's sort of exciting to see it, but once you notice the pattern, which you will have no problem in doing so, you'll be mildly disappointed.

Overall, I say get Origin if you can. It's a nice grab in the final stages of the PS2's life. Also, Origin made me want to try out the other Silent Hill games. I recently went and purchased Silent Hill 2, and I am thus far pleased with it.

And so the siren sounds

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

It's that time again, once more we get an opportunity to traverse into the sick-twisted dimension known as Silent Hill. A place that one could argue doesn't really exist, only manifest itself on the psychological state-of-being of the person who dares enter it.

Let me start off by saying that Silent Hill: Origins is the first of two Silent Hill installments that is not developed by Team Silent. For those that don't know, Origins was developed by Climax and the upcoming Silent Hill V is being developed by The Collective.

We start the game off with a trucker with a shadowy past by the name of Travis Grady who is doing his regular job as any trucker would do in the good old US of A. While driving through the harsh rain he slams on his brakes as a figure runs across the road in front of his truck while on his path into Silent Hill. Once he gets out of his vehicle to investigate, a mysterious girl steps into view then quickly runs off. Travis follows her to see if she is ok as she runs toward the town of Silent Hill and thereby starts a journey in which Travis must face his own personal demons much like other personas have before him.

Origins takes place before the original Silent Hill game (As we take it as the name implies) and tells the tale of how the town was consumed in darkness. Travis interacts with many characters from the original Silent Hill throughout the game's cut-scenes while dealing with his own dark past. Once more the town is decorated in total fogginess and there is a Otherworld (the Dark World) version that still looks just as grim as it always does in every Silent Hill game.

This time, the protagonist has control over which world he is in. By touching a mirror, Travis can travel in between the normal world and Otherworld. This leads to many challenges where one will have to switch between both worlds in order to get to a certain destination to solve a puzzle or unlock a door that was previously locked. This gives the game an almost Chrono Cross like effect and actually works well for the series.

It's very hard to believe that at one point this game was a PSP game as it has some amazing lighting effects and super detailed backgrounds. The flashlight produces shadows that stretch along walls and floors and enemies have a shiny appearance from up close that helps to make their grotesque form even more horrific. I'd say the only complaint graphically I have is that are a few jagged edges can be noticed on each character while they move. Thank goodness for that filter effect though as more often than not it hides away the flaws.

The camera angles focus in on particular portions of the environment to build tension just like in other games in the series line. With the Silent Hill 4 control scheme that this game carries, some of the camera angle switches can lead to some control issues. Run toward a certain area and the camera will suddenly change and you'll be heading in the wrong direction. Problems like this can get annoying while running from a group of enemies on the streets of Silent Hill or in one particular boss fight you have later. I also had a few problems with the camera not showing me what was in front of my character which lead to some unwanted damage. A player can press the L button to center the camera behind Travis, but while Travis is up against a wall or door, the camera will remain fixed in whatever direction it is currently in which again can lead to being hit when you don't want to.

Silent Hill has always been about sound being a key factor in delivering rich ambience. The soundtrack helps to immerse a player into its horrific world and Origins does not disappoint at all in that aspect. The soundtrack is almost absolutely perfect!

While the soundtrack is a thing of utter beauty I feel like the sound effects though have taken a step back. I hate walking on the street and the pavement sounds like the wooden floor of your grandma's house. Also a lot of the monster noises and general sound effects like those of the weapons and items have been recycled from previous games. Some original bits we have not heard before would have been nice!

One thing you will notice is the complete abundance of weapons, you'll use everything and the kitchen sink literally to kill off these minions of Hell. Too bad the same can't be said about health drinks and other healing items, as they are not scattered as much.

The game clocks in at about 6-9 hours from beginning to end depending on how well your brain is working to solve all the puzzles and how much you stay and fight. This isn't that long for a first time through a survival horror especially a Silent Hill which take on average about 15-20 hours (Except for Silent Hill 3 which was easily the shortest in the series). The game has many unlockables and a few extra endings so it does have its share of replay value to keep the experience lively - some extras can only be obtained on a second playthrough.

I am slightly letdown with the story, considering this is called "Origins" I would've expected the game to explain in greater detail about how the town and it's monsters truly came to be. Yes we see Dahlia Gillespie and hear how bad she treated her daughter Alessa which could've caused the town to be formed but there is still some empty spaces not marked in. At times I felt like Konami had released this game as a filler point until Silent Hill V comes along.

Though it isn't perfect in all aspects, Silent Hill Origins is a good game overall. The sound and graphics alone are truly a site to behold and shows we are on the last legs of the PS2. There isn't much character development and story is wishy-washy, no doubt there are some really terrifying moments in this game and it will keep you glued to your TV set for the whole duration.

Silent Hill Origins (Prequel to the first Silent Hill)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: March 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ever longed to run around in a creepy Sanitarium or Hospital, ever wished you could take a stroll around the kitchen with the infamous pyramid head aka "The Butcher"? Well then Konami's got a game for you my friend! This game has components of the other four mixed in with it's own sense of style ( through the mirror lies another world). I have been a long standing fan of the silent hill games way back when Harry Mason was searching for his daughter, Cheryl, on the PS 1 and i must say they are one of my fav. game seriess'. Origins is the prequel to the first Silent Hill, and you start off with a lone trucker named Travis. He see's little Alessa in the road and ultimately gets sucked into the dark history of Silent Hill and his own troubled past. First off he searches to find out what became of the little girl he saved but then starts to unravel the repressed memmories of his childhood. I was very impressed with this game. I'm always up to play something new in this series and even though the camera angles can be quite annoying at times, in my opinion it didn't outweigh the fact that this game was fun and certainly creepy at times. It's one of my favs....So i would deffinately suggest all Silent Hill fans or horror fans to check it out, but beware of the lady locked in Seclusion Rm 5!!!!!!!!!!!!

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