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Silent Hill Origins | 
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| From: Konami
Category: Video Games
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $19.78
You Save: $0.21 (1%)
New (14) Used (4) from $17.67
Rating:  38 reviews
Platform: Playstation2
Genre: horror_action_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Playstation 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 20172
UPC: 083717201724
EAN: 0083717201724
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Promotion: Data not available Terms and Conditions
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | A dark story that explores the events prior to the original Silent Hill | | • | enhanced camera system to elevate sense of fear and horror | | • | updated control for more fluid combat and detailed exploration | | • | horrific new creatures and challenging puzzles | | • | Original soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The renowned Silent Hill survival horror series makes its handheld gaming debut with a brand new adventure that reveals many of the series' most hallowed secrets. Assuming the role of a lone truck Driver, Travis Grady, trapped in Silent Hill while making a routine delivery, you must escape the city's horrific inhabitants and confront the strange hallucinations that have haunted him since childhood. Taking full advantage of the PSP system's graphics, sound, and portability, Silent Hill Origins sets a new standard in handheld gaming terror.
The PlayStation 2 version offers a visually enhanced version of the PSP game, with a host of elements that are new to the franchise and provide the player with an enhanced sensation of isolation. While the game retains the cinematic experience of the previous games, it also has an intuitive Cineractive System that allows you to face down horrifying monsters while the control scheme changes intuitively for each situation. You also have an enhanced camera system that actively tracks Travis, while fans of the series will revel in Silent Hill Origins' original soundtrack by series composer Akira Yamaoka. Encounter horrific new monsters never before seen in Silent Hill Original soundtrack by famed series composer Akira Yamaoka
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
A Nice Beginning January 4, 2009
Christina A. Young
Granted that this game is the prequel to the Silent Hill game series, it delivers an enjoyable time that is similar to all the Silent Hill games before it.
Given the fact that you've played the other games, this game doesn't really show much of what we've already seen in SH games. So in the category of innovative, this might not seem as extreme. But that doesn't take away from it.
We're introduced to another male character, Travis, who like the rest of the protagonists of the series, has something dark hidden beneath his casual appearance. The game offers a cast of completely new monsters and some familiar old ones you battle against while trying to navigate through the town of Silent Hill. As well as Travis' own unique monster that will leave you most intrigued.
The game offers new interesting locations to explore in Silent Hill. The controls are easy to use and make for a smooth gameplay experience. Voice acting is no disappointment either in this game. For fans of Akira Yamaoke's music, you may find yourselves a bit disappointed with this one. While the soundtrack does offer much to the game, it's not what I'd call very spellbinding or impressive as some of his previous works. Mostly, it's music similar to what I've already heard before in the big titled games.
While I did have my doubts about this game and the main character, it surprised me as being actually enjoyable to play. Travis definitely stood out from the rest of the SH male protagonists as being his own character and I fell in love with him almost immediately.
If this game were to stand alone, I would've rated it far lower because while it does offer some unique ideas and decent gameplay, it wasn't nearly as meaningful or intense as the other Silent Hill games. Not to mention it's SHORT in game hours. The quickest Silent Hill game to beat thus far.
This game is a great start for beginners who want to get into Silent Hill because of its easier storyline and gameplay. For veteran gamers of the SH series, this might not come by as challenging as most.
But because it is a prequel to the bigger Silent Hill titles, this game offers just enough for the player to get an in-depth understanding of how the story began and a look into the Silent Hill world that may (or may not) make you curious to play the other titles.
Overall, for a prequel, it delivers far more than most game prequels do and left me satisfied in the end and loving the inside scoop into this world. I recommend it to long-time SH fans and those first-starting out with Silent Hill.
 Super Saver Shipping Strikes Again! December 20, 2008
Angela Garcia (Bronx, New York United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I never got to enjoy this game. The post office lost the package. So now, I am a proud owner of the Silent Hill Origins Strategy Guide; with no game.
Good addition to the series, but do not play it on an HD tv November 17, 2008
Knopfler720 (Quincy, MA United States)
I played this game on two different tvs, standard and HD. Playing it on the HD tv was horrendous as it was too dark to see anything. However, on my standard tv, the visual quality jumped up many notches where I could see my surroundings and manuveur without referring to my map at every step.
I've been an avid fan of the series since it debuted on the PS. I wouldn't say this is better than the former installments, but it does show some improvements. The ability to fend off enemies by punching is a major breakthrough. I also like the abundance of items you can find and use as weapons - common every day objects. On the flip side though, this may also prove a weakness in the difficulty of the game. I found the game to be relatively easy given the limitless capacity to keep weapons/objects that you collect. The bosses were very easy to defeat. I was a bit let down because I never died during a boss fight. The lack of challenge there is where the four stars comes in.
Silent Hill 2 still ranks as my favorite installment.
All in all, I'd recommend this game to fans of the series, and horror survival junkies alike.
 Bravo Konami!! September 21, 2008
M. Howitzer (East Coast U.S.)
Great game from a great series!
Can't go wrong!
Silent Hill should be around for a long time to come, so dig in!!
 Sanitised and unoriginal, Silent Hill for beginners July 28, 2008
Review Lover (At a place...)
I was so delighted when this PS2 port was announced, it saved me from having to invest in a PSP solely for this one game: I would have, I have every other Silent Hill game and play them repeatedly, I wasn't about to let Origins pass me by on a relatively small technicality like a different platform.
And I was encouraged by the screenshots on various gaming websites; the graphics, while nowhere near the standards of SH3 or SH4, certainly looked to have been heavily enhanced... ...and the reports of faithful SH-style gameplay and plot development left me with great hopes for this title. But now that I've finished it I find I am nonplussed... ...read on.
GRAPHICS: 3/5
The renders are beautiful, the lighting is very Silent Hill, and the upgrades over the PSP version are great - but SH: Origins still takes a backseat to the seven year-old Silent Hill 2 in terms of detail and character animation. Travis moves like he's wearing a spinal brace of some sort, but the creatures in SH move as fluidly as they ever did - if somewhat less scary, which is a shame considering their design is excellent. Human character design is blocky and basic, with Lisa Garland and Michael Kauffmann sharing more with their PS1 counterparts than anything else. Travis, Dahlia and Alessa are clearly designed and well-textured, but also somewhat flat and boring-looking. Level design is clever, and there are some lovely effects here and there (particularly the Artaud Theatre and Hotel levels), but SH: Origins has none of those ultra-creepy background vignettes (think Valtiel in SH3 or the giant Eileen head from SH4) to unsettle the player, and ultimately winds up looking a little generic.
Visually, SH: Origins is a very mixed bag, but by no means unplayable or flat: the overall visual impact lacks the same melancholic punch as former PS2 releases though, and this is a real shame. But for a PSP port it's a great effort - just more of a sanitised Silent Hill than we're used to.
SOUND: 3/5
Again, not very creepy and not very engaging: the kindest thing one could say about the game's music is that it closely resembles other, better tracks from other, better Silent Hill games. The opening sequence is very engaging, with the title song playing as the player controls Travis' initial run into Silent Hill, but other than that there's no memorable tracks or noises to raise the player's hackles. Voice acting is so-so; it was more effective in SH 1.
PLAYABILITY: 3/5
Gameplay does indeed follow that tried-and-loved Silent Hill method of enter area/find clues/solve puzzle/leave area, and the controls themselves are responsive and clear. The Resident Evil-style grappling system is a nice diversion, and Travis' relatively low levels of stamina (he can't sprint for very long and often slows down to a panting crawl) adds greatly to the tension you feel when out and about on Silent Hill's monster-populated streets. Breakable weapons are a distraction: there's plenty of guns and ammo dotted about SH and the sheer volume of melee weapons left in your inventory by the game's end will make you wonder "why?". The difficulty curve is slightly easier than the latter half of SH4, so it's no pushover but certainly no Devil May Cry, either.
The major downsides of gameplay come from the camera angles (as with all games of this nature, there are times when it's incredibly poorly-implemented) and a sluggish response time when you try to load the map or inventory screen during battle. But overall, SH: Origins is fun to play: deeply unoriginal but who cares about that?
OVERALL: 2.5/5
Even if this had come out on PS1 after Silent Hill 1 it would only be a solid 3-star effort: the story is not engaging enough and the gameplay too basic to make this a firm recommendation. For Silent Hill fans it's a nice addition to the canon but not really competition for any other game in the series: it's too generic. Still, it's not a bad game, not by any manner of means - if you can get it cheaply then definitely do so.
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