Before i begin my impressions on the new iteration of the Silent Hill series which recently came out on the PSP, let me just tell you that my only previous experience with this game was the original Silent Hill on the PSone. In fact i finished the game with a friend, while in university, twice in 2 days. Since then i have not seen nor played a Sillent Hill game.
Until of course Origins came out on the PSP. My first reaction and of course the reaction of anyone who knows what Silent Hill is all about, is does it work? Can the horror games genre possibly work on a portable gaming device? The answer is both yes and no.
This is not a game to be played on buses, planes or while your family is visiting your grandparents. Once you insert the UMD disc you receive a recommendation from the developers. The game is best experienced with the lights off and headphones on.
Immersion is key.
And Origins is great at that. Once you follow the developer’s recommendation you will be lost in the world of Silent Hill and it works. The use of the lighting effects, grainy graphics and sound are effective and create the vital atmosphere which is the whole essence of a horror game. If you are a fan then you will love this.
So far this is honestly the main positive thing i have to say about the game.
The combat is clumsy with melee weapons disappearing from one’s hand once they have been used a few times. How can a wrench be destroyed? Too often you will get hit by an enemy cause your character was too slow or just a little bit further away to hit anything. There is locking system which helps but it slows the character’s movement. All too often i found myself cursing the controls while watching the game over screen. Maybe the game wants to empasize that your character, Travis, is an ordinary guy and has some basic combat skills. Maybe.
What is even worse than the combat is the camera angle. I am about 3-4 hours into the game and i have encountered a lot of situations where i simply could not see where i was going or where my enemies were coming from. In fact you will find yourself locking and shooting at enemies which are are not on your screen. You are guided by the sound they are making. The game’s camera is simply poor.
Silent Hill also has its puzzles which vary. You have your run of the mill “emblem” or “sign” on the door then find the key, to figuring out the combination of a lock based on the clues you have uncovered. They are fine but to be honest i usually don’t actually know what i am looking for and where to find it until i stumble upon it. This can leave you wondering around trying to find out what you are supposed to do next.
As for the story you start off with you almost hitting a girl with your truck and then you go off to Silent Hill trying to figure out what is going on with her. So far the feed of information has not been great but you still get an idea of where this is going. Typical Silent Hill plot. And this is not a complaint. Just stating a fact.
Don’t get me wrong. It is a very interesting game and certainly unique on a portable console. But what it offers in atmosphere i think it lacks in terms of gameplay. At least so far.
