Silent Hill 0rigins

[Gondor Reficul]

Also known as Konami's Path to Redemption.
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Storyline ~ 10/10
Sound ~ 10/10
Gameplay ~ 9/10
Value ~ 8.5/10
Graphics ~ 9/10


Storyline

It's the middle of the night, and you're Travis Grady, a trucker with a hazy, yet dark past that haunts him during the night. You are making a delivery that will take you through Silent Hill when you encounter a robed figure in the middle of the road and stop your truck. When you get out of the truck, the figure is gone, but you see a little girl in a blue dress run down the road, you decide to follow her. You're eventually lead to a burning house, and after investigating inside the burning house, you find a young girl burned all over. After deciding to get her out of the house, you pass out on the front lawn. When you wake up, you wake up in the town called Silent Hill.
If you can't tell by the name of the game, this is the game that explains the series of events that eventually lead up to the very first Silent Hill game.


Sound

For a PSP game...or a PS2 port of it, the sound is incredible. The ambiance of the game definitely has a level of nostalgia to it. The music has also been inspired by the first Silent Hill soundtrack...or so I've heard.


Gameplay

The controls are fairly similar to Silent Hill 4, but more refined, and being a direct port from the PSP version, they nix the use of the L2 and R2 buttons eliminating the use of strafing. This can be viewed as either a good thing by simplifying the controls, or a bad thing by the fact that dodging is much more difficult. The combat system is divided up into three different methods: Melee, Shooting, and a Silent Hill first, Fighting...yes, you can fight with your bare knuckles. There's a good reason why you can fight with those strange fingered things you call fists though: Melee weapons don't last forever, and they'll eventually break after repeated use. Don't fret though for there are many of the same weapon at your disposal, but not all of them will be in perfect condition, so watch out. Fortunately for firearms, and there are a lot of them in this game, they won't break, but if you want to slay an enemy with a gun equipped, you're going to have to be willing to use up and extra bullet (unless you're out, then you stomp on them as if you had nothing equipped). As for the game itself, most newbies and experts alike will have difficulty getting used to the new systems of the game, and to the fact that there is a lack of a difficulty setting. And with a lack of a difficulty setting, they nixed the Star Ranking system, and replaced it with the Accolade system in which when you accomplish certain feats after beating the game (like killing more than 75% of the enemies with your fists), you'll unlock such things as extra costumes, more Extra Options (or so I assume), etc. Another stumpper (almost literally) are the challenging puzzles. Even an experienced player like me got stuck on at least one of the puzzles.


Value

The Accolade system makes for plenty of replay value since it's virtually impossible to get every Accolade in one go. It's also fun to see what Travis can look like when he's a total nerd or an Indiana Jones clone. My only issue with the value is that the game is surprisingly laggy at times and that can get annoying when you need to heal or check something on the map (could be under Gameplay, but this fact can frustrate players to the point of no return).


Graphics

For a PSP game...or a PS2 port of one, the graphics are as incredible as Silent Hill 2 & 3! Though the character models can be a little...glitchy, but I don't find it to be too big of a problem. But those mannequins at the Theatre...*shudders*


All in all, this is an excellent game for anyone who is experienced in the Silent Hill series, but I don't recommend this game too highly for anyone new to the series (I'd recommend 2 or 3 instead, and yes, you can find them at your local game store if you try). But fans of the series will find that this game deserves to be considered a prequel to one of the greatest survival horror series of all time.

[Yoherz]

Damn, had to dig to find this thing. *Rep +*

[liquid sword]

......intresting rep + for you!

[Gondor Reficul]

Originally Posted by Yoherz

Damn, had to dig to find this thing. *Rep +*

Then did you find my Megaman Star Force review? XP