Silent Hill: Origins

Abstract

Melee weapons now break after a certain number of uses, the relative strength of the weapon dependent on what it is made of, For instance a wooden fence post is only good for one or two strikes against a monster whereas a crowbar lasts much longer and kills enemies more quickly. [...]they will not be expert shots when they pick up guns and go chasing after monsters.

Silent Hill: Origins

(Developer: Konami)

Platform: PSP (review copy), Playstation 2

A small town lies swaddled in mist, the only sound the steady clip clop of your footsteps as you walk down the street. A slow hiss begins to emanate from your pocket radio and you hear the shuffled steps of one of the towns twisted inhabitants as it slowly makes its way towards you. Your heart leaps, adrenaline kicks in and you start wildly swinging the iron bar in your hands, hoping to connect with the monsters head. No, it's not Limerick on a Friday night, it's Silent Hill.

Silent Hill has been one of horror gaming's mainstays since the 1990's. Originally released on PlayStation, it was a direct competitor of Capcom's Resident Evil, taking on the giant of the Survival Horror Genre with its all consuming mist and haunting sound track. Focusing more on psychological horror and eerie atmospherics rather than Resident's Evil concern with taking on traditional horror conventions (zombies, Lovecraftian monsters known as the hunters and an evil corporation), Silent Hill did it's best to upset the player, using off kilter camera angles, strange sounds and hideous monsters dredged up from your character's subconscious.

The original Silent Hill game centred on a protagonist named Harry Mason who was trying to find his daughter Cheryl after a car accident on the outskirts of the town. Harry quickly found himself embroiled in a tale of demons, drugs and insane local townspeople. At the time, Silent Hill was a significant step forward in horror gaming. Unlike Resident Evil, which relied on limited ammunition and zombies jumping out of wardrobes to scare you, Silent Hill made use of more obviously filmic conventions. The town was covered in a mist that reduced your field of vision (a necessity for the game in that the Playstation did not have the processing power to fully render the towns buildings) and added to the sense of isolation within the game. The gamer was given a pocket radio that hissed with static when the monsters that swarmed the town were nearby and even a torch used to light your way added a fear factor, with the light guiding monsters towards you. Full of scares, Silent Hill was a massive success for Konami, resulting in four sequels and one prequel.

That prequel game is Silent Hill: Origins, launched a few months before the next generation version Silent Hill: Homecoming is due out in the shops. In Origins you take on the role of trucker Travis Grady as he narrowly misses running over a young girl standing on the middle of the road. Running after her to see if she's ok, Travis finds a house on fire and the screams of the girl coming from within. Entering the house, Travis rescues the girl but collapses as he leaves the flame engulfed home. He wakes up in Silent Hill and goes in search of the mysterious girl, at which point the player takes over, guiding Travis around Silent Hill in his quest to find the girl.

Origins follows many of the conventions developed in the previous games, with the player having a radio that hisses with static when a monster is nearby, a torch that draws enemy's to you and a focus on melee weapons. The game develops many of the existing ideas within the Silent Hill Universe. Melee weapons now break after a certain number of uses, the relative strength of the weapon dependent on what it is made of, For instance a wooden fence post is only good for one or two strikes against a monster whereas a crowbar lasts much longer and kills enemies more quickly. In

previous games when your character ran he or she would gasp for breath, but this wouldn't affect your gameplay. Now, as Travis runs he slows down, eventually stopping to gasp for breath, leaving you exposed to attacks. You can replenish his stamina with energy drinks, but as in all survival horror games, such resources are limited.

The game also returns the player to the concept of the real world and the other world, with the latter being a twisted and decayed version of the former. In previous games, an air raid siren would sound and you find yourself transported to the other world, watching rust and rot settle in and strange sculptures appear, made up of bodies and barb wire. In Origins, rather than have to wait with trepidation for the siren to sound, Travis can purposely jump between the real world and the other world. This happens when he touches mirrors scattered throughout the game. The transition from one world into the other is used as a plot device in which Travis can move past obstacles in one world which are not present in the other, or solve puzzles to the same effect. Whilst this expands game play it does remove some of the suspense and unease present in earlier incarnations of the game. Previously, when the siren sounded you knew something bad was about to happen and there was nothing you could do about it. In Origins you can just touch a mirror and reappear in the relative safety of the real world. The player has more control over the game, and as a result the sense of genuine trepidation present before is lessened considerably.

One of the more interesting factors within Silent Hill games has been its recognition of the fact that in the real world, most people are not particularly weapons savvy. Consequently, they will not be expert shots when they pick up guns and go chasing after monsters. The series followed this by having the game character miss his or her shots and a reliance on melee weapons. Origins is no different, although in this incarnation, melee weapons break after a certain number of uses, adding an extra level of stress when your fighting a demonic nurse and the drip stand your hitting her with shatters. Weapons control is simple to use, although selecting a weapon during a fight can be awkward resulting in the player just punching their attacker.

Of particular note is the music used throughout the game. Silent Hill games have always had an eerie and effective soundtrack and Origins is no different in the regard either. The soundtrack is based on the original music for Silent Hill by Akira Yamaoka who added such a level of creepiness to the series that the soundtrack was released on a CD and much of it was used in Christophe Gan's 2006 film adaptation. Visually the game looks excellent on the PSP, with the environments and character models fitting in excellently with the games pervious versions. As with most Silent Hill games, the monsters are nasty masses of twisted flesh and meat.

Origin follows many of the conventions established by the original series, but fails to deliver on the scares. The fifteens rating allocated to the game can be seen in the toned down violence and limited scares, with the abundance of weapons meaning you rarely go into a fight without being fully prepared. In addition, and more seriously, the games writers appear to have assumed that the players are fully aware of what a Silent Hill game involves. Travis expresses no surprise when attacked by one of the town's warped denizens for the first time. Also, the reasoning behind why he tries to track down the girl he nearly runs over (who is later revealed as Alessa, the girl sacrificed to a demon in the original game) is never really explained. A further level of confusion can be added by the lack of explanation regarding why Travis's radio starts to make noise when an enemy approaches. Travis just seems to accept all these things, leading to a high level of disconnection from the game. You just don't care if Travis survives or solves the mystery of the town. Later in the game [plot spoiler] it's discovered that Travis's mother spent much of her time in the town's sanatorium, with Travis never acknowledging that he has been there before. This tendency to 'jump' the plot has been a problem in previous Silent Hill games, with the main story never quite making sense, even after multiple play throughs. During play, this is not much of an issue, as you become too involved in trying to ensure Travis survives whatever is happening on screen. However, the ending of the games can be less than satisfying, with issues raised throughout the game never quite being resolved and large leaps in logic being made which can be quite hard to follow. For example, Travis's mother was once a patient in the towns Sanatorium with many of the monsters reflect this (such as twisted figures who vaguely resemble people in strait jackets and an animated cage that casts the shadow of a screaming woman). However, the only way to know this is to read online guides as the information provided in the game is vague at best. The film version suffered from many of the same problems, particularly an over convoluted plot and an ending that just didn't quite make sense.

Silent Hill: Origins does not add much to the mythology of the Silent Hill Universe, playing more like a reminder to gamers that the franchise still exists and is holding on for dear life to its existence. Whilst the game does have some interesting innovations, and the occasional scare, this is not sufficient to hold the players interest, with poor storytelling throughout leaving gaps in logic that are hard to follow at times. The emotionless nature of Travis also serves to distance the player from the gameplay, making it hard to sympathise with his circumstances or encourage you to play on and solve the latest mystery at the heart of Silent Hill.

Eoin Murphy

Silent Hill: Origins

Graphics: 8

Gameplay: 6

Sound: 8

Replay Value: 3

Overall Score: 6