"Good stand alone game; Awesome for fans of the series"

So to begin the review, I'm going to start off by saying that as a stand alone game, Silent Hill: Origins deserves an 8/10, but as a fan of the series, I'm giving it a 10/10. Let me break it down by catagory.

Story: 8/10
The story follows Travis Grady, a trucker making a late night delivery. He is driving along when he sees a girl run out in front of him and he screeches to a hault. Fearing the girl might be hurt, he runs after to see if she is alright. He stumbles upon a house engulfed in flames and heres cries from inside. He runs in and saves a charred little girl from the fire, but collapses outside. He wakes up in the town of Silent Hill. Now this story isn't to out of the ordinary for the series. Familiar characters are introduced throughout the story, however, for newcomers they won't be totally lost. Each character is introduced as if they have never been seen by the player before. Throughout the game you learn little bits of information about Silent Hill and Travis' past. All in all a pretty good story for a Silent Hill game and quite interesting to those who know the Silent Hill history and mythos.

Graphics: 9/10
Alright, so hands down, these are great graphics for a PSP game. The opening cutscene looks gorgeous, and so do the other CG cutscenes (even though there aren't many.) As far as the in game animation is concerned, it looks beautiful as well. The only reason why I am giving it a 9 instead of a 10 is because its just below the par of outstanding. The normal cutscenes are a bit iffy sometimes, but overall one of the highest points of the game are how smooth the graphics are.

Gameplay: 7/10
Some may be shocked by my score of the gameplay, but let me explain. This is CLASSIC survival horror, and as fans of the genre, we are all feeling its getting a little dated. Thats not to say its terrible, which it certainly isn't, it just has a very "been there, done that" feel to it. That being said, if you've never played a silent hill game before, or any old survival horror game for that matter, the controls might seem a little clunky for you. Fans of the series will already be adjusted and fit in perfectly. In addition to the old control style, some new features have been added. Weapons now have the ability to break after heavy use, but not to fear, as they are also found quite often and also in a wide variety. You can use everything from meathooks and shovels, to toasters and bottles of medicinal alcohol as weapons. The only gripe with this feature is that when your in the heat of a battle and a weapon breaks, its hard to switch to a new weapon. Although this may have been intentional to give the player a quick jolt and all of a sudden they have to use their fists. No Silent Hill game would be complete without plenty of morbid puzzles. The puzzles in this game are in no way mind bending brain busters, but they are quite interesting and fun to do. In short, gameplay feels a little dated, and will be especially dated to newcomers of the series. To fans however, it won't be to big of a problem.

Sound: 10/10
Oh man, it seems one constant in every Silent Hill game is the level of awesome that is the music. Perfectly composed to make you jump, the music will creep in without you even noticing and suddenly burst in with loud notes. The music is creepy and fits the feel of the game perfectly. It will not disappoint. The voice acting is also some of the best the series has ever seen. I applaud both the actors and the animations of the in game characters as well.

Length/Replay Value: 7/10
Alright, this is a short game. Veterens of the series will probably beat this game in around 5 hours. Newcomers will probably beat it in around 10. As usual though, there are a few different endings you can get depending on how you play through the game. There are also quite a few unlockables and a couple of things here and there, but all in all, this is a short experience. At the time of its release however, it was available for the budget price of 30 bucks. So I would definitely say you get your money's worth of playtime.

Overall: 8/10
Basically, if this is your first introduction to the Silent Hill series, it will be a fairly pleasant one. The story in this installment and in the others are original and clever, the controls (even if they feel dated) still work fairly well, and the overall experience is good. IF your a fan of the series and you own a PSP there is no reason to not own this game, you will love it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/12/07

Game Release: Silent Hill: Origins (US, 11/06/07)