Silent Hill Origins

The Silent Hill series by Konami ranks as one of the most creepy and disturbing survival horror games to date, and after a long break, the series returns to make its debut on the PSP with the release of Silent Hill Origins. As the title implies, Silent Hill Origins takes gamers back to the very beginning with a storyline that is set before the first Silent Hill game. Gamers play as truck driver, Travis O'Grady, who ends up in Silent Hill after heroically saving a young girl from a building fire. The odd part for Travis is that he remembers saving the girl, but not how he ended up in Silent Hill. It's at this point, Travis's nightmare truly begins as he sets out to find the answers of what happened to the girl he saved.

To make sure the PSP version of the game creates the same hair-raising atmosphere of the console games, developers concentrated on new effects and visuals and combined it with a chilling soundtrack that succeeds in making Silent Hill Origins just as scary as the original. Konami has always pushed the boundaries of survival horror with the horrible, freakish creatures that inhabit the town of Silent Hill. For Silent Hill Origins, a few "familiar faces" do return, but the monsters Travis faces in the game are all new and these creatures are a bit tougher than ones in previous games. For that reason, Travis can now use more defensive skills and can fight off predators by using either his fists or objects he finds as weapons. Travis gets more help with the new Barricade System that allows him to block off rooms from enemies enabling him to buy some time and stay safe in order to catch his breath and prepare for his next move.

The PSP's single joystick often makes camera issues a problem by limiting a player's view of the game, and for Silent Hill, that could literally mean the difference between life or death. The camera system has been upgraded and built especially for this game, so that one tap of a shoulder button can bring the camera back into alignment behind Travis to keep everything in perspective. The gameplay controls are also new and they are smooth and work effortlessly for both combat-related moves and to explore surrounding environments. Silent Hill Origins succeeds in its first appearance on the PSP, and like earlier games, get used to playing this one with one eye open and hands gripped tightly on the controls.