‘Videogame’ Is One Word

Whereas the original Silent Hill series is similar to Resident Evil in many ways, its atmosphere and treatment of the player is entirely more mature and involving. Silent Hill: Origins on the other hand is exactly like Resident Evil, just with someone randomly banging two pieces of metal together in the background.

It’s a shame because, whilst it’s obvious there are challenges to engrossing the player in a suspenseful horror environment on a portable, what Climax have created really is nothing more convincing than a pocket ghost house. Replete with plastic ghosts on strings and rumbling “Welcome to your Doom!” voices booming out over and over.

The main problem with the approach to horror in Origins is that you’re shown the monster immediately, then hit over the head with it again and again right from the beginning. It’s an immature and empty way to scare the player, especially if your intention is to continue scaring the player the whole way through.

By the first ‘boss’ encounter I was completely indifferent. This admittedly disgusting creation is what appears to be a figure straight-jacketed in a sheet of (presumably) his own skin. The creature is completely naked too and, though unsurprisingly devoid of genitals, watching its bare-arsed self trot passed you on its supposedly murderous rampage was more comical than anything else. Even given the fact you’re trapped in a room made from raw, oozing flesh with it.

Another key aspect that completely debases the intended scares is the weapons system. Climax have introduced a very rudimentary and cheap RPG-like mechanic to the arsenal, which means weapons degrade with use before eventually disintegrating. Which often happens in the middle of a fight. But instead of causing the player to panic, which admittedly it did at first, it rapidly becomes apparent that you can simply punch the various hell-spawn to death with your bare fists anyway.

All of which means that Origins is effectively a scrolling beat ‘em up with some delusions of grandeur, along with a nice licence to cling to for critical support. But let’s be clear; it’s very polished in its production, with the locations in particular very much paying homage to the console series. Rooms and corridors swing fittingly between eery dereliction and repulsive decomposition. Characters too, whilst somewhat limited in terms of polygonal and textural detail on the PSP, are well-formed and fit convincingly into their various environments; lighting is excellent and there’s never a sense of creatures and items being jarringly superimposed over the scenery.

So, in summary, I think it’s fair to say that Silent Hill: Origins is a competent and complete videogame. Don’t pick it up expecting the rather primal terror of something like Silent Hill 3 and you’ll be OK. But it is disappointing to see a game with no small amount of potential or complexity broken down into its constituent parts and merely served ‘well done’ for the masses.