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Silent Hill Origins

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8.8 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 40 critic reviews
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Based on 29 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Climax Studios UK

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Survival Horror

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: November 6, 2007

Summary

Silent Hill Origins tells the tale of a solitary truck driver stuck in the terrifying town while making a routine delivery. New gameplay elements, such as a barricade system that lets players block off rooms from enemies, and an enhanced camera system deliver an added sense of isolation and anxiety in this frightening adventure. [Konami]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Silent Hill Experience

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

GameShark

Unfortunate camera and combat issues aside, Silent Hill Origins is a worthy addition to the series and should scare the socks off even the most jaded survival horror devotee.

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GamePro

Still, Silent Hill Origins succeeds on so many levels that it will not disappoint fans of the series. [Dec 2007, p.128]

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Gamers' Temple

The darkness will spread throughout Silent Hill as its origins are revealed but Silent Hill Origins is far from a nightmare - it is the best portable survival horror experience yet!

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Play UK

It's a little too strict in its adherence to previous entries, but Climax has done a stellar job. [Issue#160, p.88]

Games Master UK

Neatly tucks all of Silent Hill's qualities into one of the best PSP games of the year. [Christmas 2007, p.66]

GameZone

Silent Hill 0rigins impressively brings all the elements we love about the Silent Hill franchise to a portable format that works wonderfully.

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Hardcore Gamer Magazine

Not only is Silent Hill Origins a strong handheld effort, but also a worthy entry into the beloved series. [Dec 2007, p.60]

Play Magazine

This is not some side-story relegated to the PSP, but a true new chapter worthy of its name and console-sized in scope. [Nov 2007, p.77]

Game Over Online

Origins is better than it has any right to be, considering the PSP's history, its troubled development, and its new team. It's not perfect, but it does make me want to see what Climax would do with another game in the series, which is far, far more than I ever expected.

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Worth Playing

The way Silent Hill Origins is presented is revolutionary for a handheld, but unfortunately, fans of the series may find that it doesn't bring much innovation to the table.

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Gaming Age

Silent Hill Origins may do a few things that fans may love or hate, but what it does well is allow you to play the events that lead up to the first game and solve some of the mysteries and questions.

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Game Revolution

That all of this has been accomplished on the PSP by a little-known developer with a rejected project is a stupendous surprise.

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PSM3 Magazine UK

Overall Spices up the familiar format with a sprinkling of new ideas. The best Silent Hill game since SH3.

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Cheat Code Central

Interweaving the storyline of the original title with this one and setting the stage for all that came after, it really opened and answered many questions.

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Playstation Official Magazine UK

Despite its small-screen setting, Origins even manages a few genuine scares, mostlly thanks to the first-rate sound: this should only be played through headphones. [Christmas 2007, p.106]

Boomtown

The game works well because it doesn't stray from the known formula, but at the same time it leaves you with a strange sense of having done it before.

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Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK

Interesting details for fans but also works as a standalone game - plus it maintains the chilling atmosphere of the big-screen games. [Christmas 2007, p.122]

Play.tm

Anyone who is interested in the mythos of Silent Hill will do very well to buy this game, settle back, turn the lights off, and enjoy some good old-fashioned psychological horror.

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GameDaily

It's not without its flaws, as the combat is still cumbersome and the puzzles can be very difficult, but if you crave a scary game for your portable, you can't go wrong with Origins.

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Modojo

While the game is short, it never feels like you've wasted your money... the world is packed with little details to find, and there are also multiple endings which encourage replays.

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GameSpy

A solid addition to an already impressive franchise.

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PSM Magazine

Short, but sweet and--if you followed the game's initial advice--truly scary. [Dec 2007, p.83]

IGN

With a good storyline, intriguing gameplay elements and excellent production and replay value, 0rigins is definitely worthy of a Silent Hill fan's attention.

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Game Informer

This game will interest people who are into the series, especially with its story that unravels new details about the Silent Hill mythos...Unfortunately, the game has fallen into something like a rut in most other areas and less fanatical gamers won’t be as forgiving of its faults.

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GameTrailers

Silent Hills: Origins is a game that smartly packs all of the series’ best qualities into a bite-sized, portable portion. With its incredibly short length we only recommend it for purchase for fans. But while it lasts, it’s indisputably the best handheld survival horror game available.

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Destructoid

It's still fun, scary, and what Silent Hill is at its essence. It's not the best game in the series, but it certainly isn't one that you want to deny the existence of.

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1UP

Sure, it's predictable, conventional, and a little bit short, not to mention ill-suited for brief pick-up-and-play sessions on the bus, but we're encouraged to see developers making an original, console-quality experience for PSP.

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Maxi Consolas (Portugal)

Even without offering something new to anyone who knows the franchise, it still manages to be a surprise. It’s pretty well executed for a portable game and the sound atmosphere is unsettling… as you might expect from a Silent Hill title. [Jan 2008]

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Origins unfortunately also falls prey to the series' most notorious pitfall--crappy combat. [Dec 2007, p.128]

Edge Magazine

In terms of creating an atmosphere and playing with it, there’s nothing quite like it on a handheld system. [Christmas 2007, p.96]

Eurogamer

While Silent Hill Origins cannot offer its legions of fans anything they haven't seen done before (and done better), it still represents a solid stop-gap release, and is worth checking out if you're a series die-hard with a desire to fill in some gaps in the story.

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PALGN

Climax has delivered a title deserving of the Silent Hill name, but the experience may be a little too brief or frustrating for some players.

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PTGamers

Origins is special. The atmosphere is excellent, completely worthy of the series, putting to rest the apprehension of longtime fans.

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VideoGamer

Origins has all the hallmarks of a great Silent Hill game, but it does nothing to eradicate the series' faults.

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AceGamez

It reinforces the fact that one of the consequences of Sony's making their handheld almost as powerful as the PS2 is that its become a machine that is often home to replication rather than innovation.

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Pocket Gamer UK

An extremely solid experience that mostly succeeds. The impatient might object to the convoluted puzzles and the combat is a weak link, but as the first serious example of handheld horror, this sets a satisfyingly high bar.

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games(TM)

Despite the tremendous atmosphere and occasional chilling enemy, Origins never upsets and disturbs like Silent Hill 2. Its most obvious scares are left to cut-scenes. [Chrismas 2007, p.132]

GamerNode

Despite its attractive veneer, SH:O is short, cumbersome, and fails to strongly engage the player. Dated, but not bad, "blah" describes it well.

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GameSpot

This old fog needs to learn some new tricks.

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Gamestyle

Pocket-sized foibles aside, what keeps Origins out of the big-leagues that its brethren inhabit is what saved the title from disaster in the first place- it's simply too conservative by far, with none of the occasionally misplaced inventiveness found in the other titles.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Travis gave it a9:
This is the first Silent Hill game I've played and being a big Resident Evil fan i was thirsty for some portable survival horror. I haven't finished this yet but so far it's a great game and doesn't disappoint. The graphics are probably the best on the PSP. The real time lighting and shadows are AWESOME. It's more super natural based than RE so it's definitely scary. There's one thing that I don't like which is the camera. It sucks. Some parts have a locked on view from somewhere in the room like in RE but then it switches and keeps changing the perspective which makes it difficult to tell where the hell you're going and where the hell the enemies are. Plus the controls for the character are based on the perspective of the camera and not the character (unlike RE) so when you press down to move the character down the screen, if the camera changes suddenly to behind the character, since you're pressing down he'll change direction and go back to where you walked from. This can get annoying. Apart from the camera and controls, the game is great fun and really freaky. You have to play this in the dark though because most of the time you're inside dark places so I wouldn't say this is the type of game to play on the go.

J. R. gave it an8:
I cant believe they actually pulled it off! Silent Hill Origins works well as an entry into the series and I can only complain that it can be too generic at time and has a story thats less involved and emotionally draining than the other games.

Gautam M. gave it an8:
Ok. I'll be honest.I have never played a Silent Hill game before this.So it was a totally new experience for me.When i saw this game for the first time what really stunned me was the quality of visuals and lighting.Probably the best on the PSP.As i progressed further in the game i actually started realising how scary this game actually was. The first time I saw the nurse coming to attack me I almost threw away the PSP in shock.The music and sound effects have never been better for any other game.The music was truly truly disturbing.But the most important thing i will remember about Silent Hill was its quality of puzzles.They were absolutely BRILLIANT.As subtle as they could have made them and yet solvable.Without giving away too much,to give you an example of the genius of the puzzles,my favourite puzzle was one where you have to activate a calender to get a key.The way the date was to be found was absolute brilliance on the part of the designers.It was a EUREKA moment when i realised i got the puzzle.Most puzzles in the game will have you scratching your head but you will have genuine satisfaction written all over your face when you solve them.Now being a BIG Resident Evil fan i didn't think this title would stand up to my expectations.But it was much better than what u ever thought it would be.From most reviews i have read a common gripe was that of manually switching between worlds.Now as i haven't played any other SH game before i thought this was quite an amazing layer of puzzle solving(because lets face it,its primarily a puzzle solving game).I really enjoyed the fact that you could shift between worlds and use both worlds to progress in the game.So in short one of the best games i have played on any console in a while.Now the complaints.The most common one...the camera.The cinematic camera was clearly a bad idea when u dont have a strong camera control mechanism and especially when the enemies are invisible to you and you cant adjust the camera to face them is really,REALLY frustrating.The combat itself was weak and flat.It was kind of funny to see a truck driver killing the devil incarnate with his fists(yes thats how i did it).The guns in the game didn't seem to have any depth to them.The melee weapons didn't seem to differ to much from each other.And combat as such was flawed due to poor camera control.Also the inventory system HAS to be improved(as it has to be done with all survival horror games).Inspite of these problems,SH is an incredibly addictive,albeit short,game that grips you like a fever from the word go.This could very easily be the flagship for horror titles on the PSP.Go for it definitely.A thumbs up.

Erlend T. gave it an8:
Silent Hill back to form. A bit short and easy and does suffer from some of the usual SH symptoms, but all in all a great return after The Room.

Aramis G. gave it an8:
I enjoyed most everything about this game. It captured the feel of Silent Hill 1, more so than any of the other games in series. Yeah, it could have been longer, but what is here is pretty effective. My only complaints are the cut-scenes, which are poorly done and obvious, the breakable weapons (I doubt a meat cleaver is going to break), and the final boss (looks a little stupid, like the original monsters planned for this game). Overall a step in the right direction from the lame Silent Hill 4.

Richard W. gave it a9:
This game is very underrated. It is the best portable survival horror game to date, and I found it very enjoyable. Don't pass this one up, it's a great game!

Gio D. gave it a9:
Lay ur fears to rest, Climax did a phenomianl job. Like everyone else i thought this game was going to be disastrous. Taking a beloved franchise like silent hill and giving it to a new developer was a very risky move, but it paid off...damn did it pay off. Climax without a doubt captured the look, the feel, the pacing, the essence, and most importantly thet creepiness of what makes silent hill....well, silent hill. And the music from Akira Yamaoka is once again haunting and beautiful all at once. The ONLY negative i have towards the game is that its very short. I beat it in a little over 4 hours. But being on how very good it is, its a very minor complaint. My apologies to Cimax for doubting u guys, u did a fantastic job. Lets hope The Collective does as good a job on silent hill 5.

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Silent Hill Origins

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