Silent Hill: Origins

{{Infobox VG| title = Silent Hill: Origins |image = File:SH-O boxart.jpg |developer = Konami Digital Entertainment
Climax Studios (PSP)
Monolith Productions (PS2) |publisher = Konami
Warner Bros. Games |designer = |engine = |series = Silent Hill |released = PlayStation Portable
^NA November 6, 2007
^EU November 16, 2007
^AU November 29, 2007
^JP December 6, 2007
PlayStation 2:
March 4, 2008 It will be re-released on PlayStation 2 by Monolith Productions sometime in 2008. This game is a prequel, set 7 years before the first game, and intended to explain the series's eponymous town's backstory.

Plot

The protagonist of Silent Hill: Origins is Travis Grady, a seemingly ordinary trucker who suffers from haunting nightmares that seem oddly familiar to him. While out on a job one day near the town of Silent Hill, a figure suddenly steps out in front of his truck and collapses, forcing him to quickly stop and nearly crash in the process. He gets out to investigate, only to find that the figure has disappeared. As he's going to get back in his truck, he spots a girl behind him in the rear view mirror, only to find no one there when he turns. The enigmatic girl finally appears in front of the truck, but runs off into the fog without a word. Thinking she might be the figure he nearly hit earlier and could possibly be hurt, he runs after her and learns that the thick fog is actually smoke, coming from a burning house. A scream tells him that someone is still inside, and he courageously enters the blaze to try and save whoever it is. He pulls a young child from the fire, then collapses outside. An unknown amount of time later, he wakes up to find himself in Silent Hill. He then decides to head to the nearest hospital, Alchemilla Hospital, to find out what became of the child he rescued.

The hospital, much like the town, seems unnaturally deserted. Travis runs into a doctor by the name of Michael Kaufmann and asks him about the child, but he claims that no such patient exists and hurries off. Puzzled, Travis continues to search the hospital and stumbles upon a room with a large mirror that reflects a horrific, twisted version of the room. The girl who led him to the fire suddenly appears in the reflection and touches the mirror, prompting him to do the same and suddenly find himself within the "Otherworld". After fighting through a number of demonic entities, Travis finds a strange, triangular object with the word "Future" engraved in it. The strange little girl again shows up and he passes out, waking up in the waiting area of the hospital, with things seemingly back to normal. He meets the young intern Lisa Garland, who, after confirming he is all right and telling him the kid he rescued-Alessa Gillespie-didn't make it, leaves for the Cedar Grove Sanitarium to meet up with Dr. Kaufmann. Travis decides to head there himself.

In the sanitarium, Travis meets a strange woman named Dahlia Gillespie, who spouts a bunch of religious nonsense before informing him that the house and child swallowed by the fire were hers. This angers him, and he demands to know why she made no attempts to save her own daughter and simply left her to die, remembering her lurking around the scene of the fire. She ignores him and wanders off. He then discovers the files of a patient committed in 1960 who attempted to kill both herself and her son, and apparently lashes out at the child's father every time he visits, demanding to see her boy. Travis eventually learns that this woman is his mother-Helen Grady,-and he was the son she tried to kill, though he does not accept this fact, even after encountering-after a short, strange meeting with Lisa-and being forced to defeat a demonic, twisted form of her. He finds another strange triangle-this time with the word "Past" engraved on it-and is once again confronted by the strange little girl, whom he now suspects to be the supposedly-dead Alessa Gillespie, and faints.

Clues in the sanitarium lobby prompt Travis to head to the Artaud Theatre, where he again meets up Lisa and eventually is forced to fight another horrific monster. Yet again he finds another triangle-piece-with the word "Falsehood" engraved on it,-meets Alessa-who now seems to be transparent,-and faints.

More clues lead Travis to the Riverside Motel, where he once stayed with his father. Throughout the plethora of clues and letters, Travis discovers his fathers' sorrow for the fact that he knew he would never have his wife back. After a confrontation with the Butcher, Travis enters a changed version of the room he had stayed in, where his father had hanged himself. His father then speaks to him and asks him why he pretended not to know he was dead back then, speaking to him as if he were still alive, before transforming into a monster. After Travis defeats him and finds another triangle-engraved with the word "Truth",-Alessa appears, and he confronts her, demanding answers as to why she is putting him through this entire ordeal, but passes out before getting an answer.

He ends up back in the hospital again, with Alessa. He finds the final triangle-piece, which has the word "Present" engraved on it, and makes a strange device resembling the Flauros of the first game that seems to "free" Alessa, as she is no longer transparent when she appears and opens the door for him, vanishing in the process.

When Travis exits the hospital, Dahlia threatens him and complains about his interfering with the birth of the new God. Alessa appears, and uses her horrific power to transform the town to its Otherworld version. Travis finds a map drawn by a child-most likely Alessa herself-that leads him to the cult's ritual grounds, where he finds them surrounding the burnt body of Alessa. Dr. Kaufmann appears and incapacitates Travis, who is then transported into a dream-like state to fight his final battle with the newly-awakened Samael. He defeats him and seals him back up, temporarily saving Alessa, and causing the birth of an infant that contains half of Alessa's soul.

Travis returns to his truck happy and ready to start over again. He spots Alessa carrying the baby, seemingly happier as well, then leaves. We hear static-messages of a man and woman finding the baby and deciding to adopt her under the name "Cheryl" and of Dahlia plotting with Kaufmann to use a spell on Alessa to force her other self to one day return so they can complete the ritual.

Gameplay

Silent Hill Origins follows the same basic formula of the previous titles in the series. It is shown from a third person perspective with alternating camera angles; however, rather than an option to move the camera around, the player can now press a single button to pan it behind Travis. The game also features no heads-up display, providing no status on health without opening the inventory. However, when Travis' health is critical, the edges of the screen will throb red, and a quickening heartbeat can be heard.

The game favors fully 3D controls instead of the "tank" controls seen in past titles (sans Silent Hill 4). This control scheme has been chosen to optimize handheld play. A new feature allows the player to quickly switch their equipped weapon with the use of the D-pad. This feature has been implemented due to the breakable nature of the weapons.

Unlike past titles, Silent Hill: Origins provides a more in-depth combat system, yet it does not stray from the series' trademark exploration and the ability to outrun some enemies. Throughout the town, Travis will find a number of melee weapons including hammers, scalpels, broken planks, wrenches, and even portable TVs. All of the weapons are breakable (a weapon's remaining strength is represented by a colored symbol), and some of the weapons, such as portable TVs and toasters, are one-shot weapons that break upon a single use, yet are considerably strong.

The game also introduces the "grapple" system, wherein some enemies may grab Travis, and certain button combinations are presented to the player in order for escape. While this feature is intended to increase suspense and action, many players consider it a vanity, as the only accomplishment if you win is a quick moment to attack while the monster is pushed back.

The "Otherworld" from the first, second and third installments return, this time accessible by mirrors found throughout the game. The free movement between the two 'sides' creates a new twist on otherwise traditional (in the Silent Hill sense) puzzles. Often, actions performed in one world will affect the other; for example, raising a prop on the stage in the Theatre will create a similar item in its "Otherworld" form.

Endings

Good Ending: Travis uses the completed Flauros to help Alessa stop the ritual. The Flauros' power creates a newborn baby, containing half of Alessa's soul. After this incident, a smiling Travis leaves Silent Hill and returns to his truck, as Alessa carries the baby out of the town. A conversation is then heard between Harry Mason and his wife as they find the baby, deciding to adopt her and naming her 'Cheryl'. Another conversation is then heard between Dr. Kaufmann and Dahlia where they agree to begin a summoning spell to draw Alessa's other half back to the town, even though it may take a long time.

Bad Ending: Travis awakens to find himself in a dark room tied to a metal table, and being injected with an unknown substance by someone. In a series of frenetic dream-like visions, Travis is made to believe he killed a woman he mistook for his mother, his father, and a hotel receptionist. Travis can be seen kneeling, looking at his bloodied arms in despair, before his form is suddenly briefly replaced by a monster resembling the 'Butcher'. Travis is left struggling on the metal table to an unknown fate.

UFO Ending: Just before Travis is about to open Riverside Motel room 502, a UFO appears. A grey alien steps out of the UFO to greet Travis, accompanied by a dog (presumably the same dog from Silent Hill 2's 'Dog Ending'). They invite Travis to join them on their spaceship, an offer which Travis accepts after inquiring if they had seen his truck (a parody of the first and second games), leaving Silent Hill in the UFO.

Production History

Screenshot from the original Resident Evil 4-inspired gameplay preview. The creature featured was also later scrapped after the project went to UK Climax.

Prior to the release of the 2006 Silent Hill film there was speculation that Konami was planning to release a remake of the first Silent Hill game with the film's protagonist Rose Da Silva in place of the original title's Harry Mason. This speculation was fueled by an interview with the film's director Christophe Gans and a leaked list of Konami release dates which included a "Silent Hill: Original Sin" for the PlayStation Portable. Origins producer William Oretel later confirmed that the idea of a remake of the first game had been considered by Konami, but rejected.

Silent Hill: Origins was first announced at E3 2006. The first previews of the game featured a radical departure from the original game style with the inclusion of a Resident Evil 4 style camera angle, although Oertel stressed on the game that "we're not going FPS." Travis would have access to six weapons: three melee weapons (a shovel, a tire iron, and a sledgehammer) and three firearms (light 9mm pistol, a .44 Magnum revolver and a shotgun). There were also plans to introduce a laser-sight for Travis's pistol and a new "Barricade" system which would allow the player to block access to areas from monsters with improvised objects. At this time, the game was expected to be released in late 2006.

Origins was the first Silent Hill game not to be produced by Konami's own staff, "Team Silent", but was instead produced by Climax Group. Composer Akira Yamaoka did return to compose the game's soundtrack, drawing some inspiration from the first Silent Hill 's soundtrack.

In October 2006, Climax's US based team working on Origins was sacked with rumors circulating that the game production was becoming a disaster under mismanagement and "unrealistic deadlines", and that the final version of the game was expected to be only "three to four hours of gameplay." Production of the game was subsequently moved to the United Kingdom officially for the reasons of ensuring the final product would be "a Silent Hill experience" and the release date was pushed forward. Later previews of the game showed that it had reverted to its final form as a replica of the original games' style gameplay, scrapping the Resident Evil 4 camera angle. The changes were well received by observers.

On August 19, 2007, a demo of the game was leaked to internet download sites. Climax promptly denied they were the source of the leaked content.

PS2 Port

In early December 2007, fairly reliable rumors began circulating about Origins getting a port to the PlayStation 2 console. Early reports indicated that Konami was looking to release the title on the PS2 for a wider audience, and that the game would see release in March 2008. The project was discovered via a leaked fact sheet which indicated that Climax would once again be involved in development for the console version. The official Climax website does confirm they are working on an unannounced title for Konami, but as of December 15, 2007, the publisher had not yet confirmed if this project was the PS2 port, another Silent Hill-related project, or something different.

In early January 2008, online retailer Amazon.com began taking pre-orders for a PS2 port of Origins, though Konami and Climax had yet to make an official confirmation of the project at that time.[1]

On January 22, 2008, IGN reported that Konami has officially confirmed that a PS2 port is currently in development.

Music

Main article: Silent Hill Zero Original Soundtrack

The official, original soundtrack for Silent Hill: Zero, composed by Akira Yamaoka (who has composed for Silent Hill games previously), was released in Japan on January 25, 2008. It contains 26 tracks from the video game and is currently available for pre-order on the official website. It has only been released in Japan under the Japanese title of the game Silent Hill Zero.

Reception

Most reviews for Silent Hill: Origins have been positive. X-Play gave it a 3/5 saying it was a great game for the series, but the puzzles were a little too difficult for those unaccustomed to them. A suprising score of 6.5 was awarded from Gamespot, who criticised the game for not taking the series in a new direction due to its unwavering fidelity to the standard Silent Hill formula.

• IGN: 8.0
• Gamespot: 6.5
• Gametrailers: 7.7
• Gamestats: 8.3
• Gamespy: 4/5
• X-Play: 3/5
• Gamerankings: 79.6% (based on 80 reviews)
• Metacritic: 78 of 100 (based on 36 reviews)

External links

• Official Silent Hill: Origins website
• Unofficial Silent Hill: Origins website
• Silent Hill: Origins at IGN
• Template:GameSpot