'Silent Hill: 0rigins'

The fifth installment of the Silent Hill series gave me mixed feelings when I heard about its debut. It was more than plain curiosity, or the wish to play it. It was a cold shiver that ran from the back of my neck to the tip of my toes. Dear crow, what have they done, I asked myself. See, Silent Hill may as well be (and for me, is) the undisputed king of classical horror games. And as much as I love Konami, they fucked it up pretty good throughout the series.

The first Silent Hill came out in 2000, and it was grand. I know it isn't much nowadays, with the new graphs and much better controls, but back then, it was awesome. Resident Evil it wasn't: no shooting your way around the game. Have a steel pipe and learn how to keep that Run button pressed. It was unlike anything that had been done until then (or rather, there were predecessors and some games approached Silent Hill's theories at times, but this was a completely new approach and much better done). Most people who played Silent Hill back then didn't get it, and many would only get it on the games that followed. In it, writer Harry Mason is looking for his daughter Cheryl, who disappeared shortly after they nearly had an accident on the road on their way to the resort town of Silent Hill.

Two years later, Silent Hill 2 came out. Again our minds were blown. Many consider it, to this day, the best in the series, even if it doesn't involve the cult. It had the twist of a good horror movie, a set of characters that was simply wonderful, and it took you effin long to finish. In fact, it still takes me effin long to finish. Silent Hill 2 also introduced the "puzzle difficulty" mode. You could freely choose action and puzzle difficulty, so you didn't have to, for instance, be stuck on a puzzle if you're not good at that sorta thing. This time, it's James Sunderland who came to town after receiving a letter from his wife, stating she was there waiting for him. Trouble is, James' wife Mary has been dead for the past 3 years.

A year later, Silent Hill 3 was debuting. This one came to complement the first game, and to explain to everyone who didn't get it the first time around, what the Hell was happening in that town. Decent, but not overly innovative, as it was an echo of the first game, plot-wise and level-wise. Also the first and only SIlent Hill in which you play a woman, SH3 was packed full of fanservice and alternate outfits, a fad which seems to have been transported onto the next titles of the saga. 17 years after Harry Mason managed to save Cheryl in the original game, she is once again troubled by visions of Silent Hill and persecution by its cult. Persecutions so serious, in fact, she had to change her name to Heather -and still, they manage to find her.

Which brings me to the most shameful title the saga was ever graced with, in 2006. Silent Hill 4: The Room. Which only became a SH because Konami got scared the game wouldn't have much popularity, and thus made a few last-minute changes and slipped it into the franchise. You can tell by several things this was not meant to be a Silent Hill. It is a pretty good standalone game, but not good enough for SH. Henry Townshend has been locked in his apartment for the past 5 days. Mysteriously, someone chained his door from the inside and left a warning for him not to go out. One day, Henry goes to his bathroom to find a hole on the wall, leading to a series of mysterious events. What the heck's going on? I'm not gonna spoil, play the game.

And then it was time for 0rigins, debuting this year for PSP and PS2. With Silent Hill (the town) having such a long history, soon we could have awaited a prequel. We know the town was cursed by a charred little girl. But of course, much like with Star Wars: A New Hope, fans wanted to see with their own two eyes what had happened before the shit hit the fan. In my humblest opinion, the first three Star Wars added nothing but one more annoying sidekick character to the mix, but with 0rigins, things actually turned out decent.

This is the story of a trucker who happened to be on the wrong place at the wrong time. Travis Grady is driving his truck, running late on a delivery and headed for Brahms. He decides to take a shortcut through Silent Hill. Suddenly (much like how it happened to Harry Mason), a figure runs to the middle of the road, and Travis almost hits it -only to discover, when he leaves his truck, there's nobody there. But the voice of a little girl keeps calling him, and soon, Travis discovers a house is on fire, with someone still in there. Travis' interruption of whatever's going on soon leads to a chain of events he can't escape.

And now, holy flying spoilers, Batman.

Konami tried to make SH:0 in a way no respectable game should be made. The same error, I hear, was made with the new game of the series, Silent Hill: Homecoming. They borrowed concepts and scenes from the movie adaptation of the first game. Which I will review in detail soon, but which I don't advise you to watch if you actually played and liked the games. You see this influence more in SH: Homecoming than here, but it's also present, especially in the monster Caliban which was borrowed from the Janitor in the movie, and the fact Alessa's looks and attitude are copied from it as well. The most blatant copy we see is a cinematic towards the end of the game, which could've been taken directly from the movie.

Still, the story keeps true to some of the game's precepts: lone guy with no other means but himself (in SH2 and SH4 you did have a sidekick on occasion, and it was irritating like nobody's business... especially in SH2, where the sidekick was supposed to be protected by you, and wouldn't help) and whatever weapons he picks up (we miss the steel pipe which was a canon weapon in all previous games, though). You can carry unlimited weapons (while in SH4 you had to store them and could only carry a few... another mark it wasn't really a Silent Hill), you meet with characters from the canon game, you begin and end your game in the town, and of course, you're once again introduced to the bunch of weirdos we formally call, the town's cult.

New things were introduced to the mix, though. They make sense, in a way. Travis is a pain in the butt when it comes to running, for instance, he tires quickly (then again, he is a trucker. His job doesn't require a lot of movement, whereas an adolescent girl or a motel clerk would probably be in a better shape). The monsters can grapple you, and you need to press a sequence or mash a certain button to get free (thank you, RE4, though I think you sucked, you did introduce some cool stuff for games to come). He is also the only character until now who can actually improvise weapons from regular objects (toasters, portable TVs, lamps and IV drops for instance), though these weapons are breakable, and also the only character who will punch a monster in the face once he runs out of options (again, trucker... he is bound to know how to fight). The game is shorter than most SH games, if you know exactly where to go and what to do, and can easily dodge most foes, you can finish it within 2 to 3 hours.

About dodging monsters, I do have something to say. All SH games inform you it's easier to turn off the light in order to pass unnoticed, but apart from maybe the first game, this is the only one where you need to respect this instruction, or be killed horribly. Spaces are often more cramped, monsters are probably much faster than you're expecting (Straighjackets, which are an upgraded version from SH2's Lying Figure, are much faster and spit much farther than their other version. Carrions lunge, and for such a big beast, they turn around pretty fast. And to my knowledge, other than a boss in classical SH, Ariel is the only monster capable of a one-hit KO). Monsters actually sprint for a lit flashlight, while it's really easy to Solid Snake your way past them in the dark (unless you make too much noise or bump them, you're safe). So you see, having your lights on or attempting to fight on the streets is asking to die a horrible death.

Of notice also a slight change in bestiary. We still have the Nurse (in fact, the Nurse has been with us from day one -when they were called Puppet Nurse- and have only been absent in SH4, and replaced by Demon Patients) but we lack the Dog... (the Dog has also been with us since the beginning, in various versions and with various names. No Dog on SH:0 though). Instead, from the Theatre on, we get that tank of a monster, Caliban, which can efficiently block out a street and goes down as the biggest non-boss monster ever in SH. As for game items, we keep most of the canon ones, plus the energy drink (which would allown you better grapples and more running time) and a little twist at the radio. See, the radio loses its importance unless you have already beat the game once and can turn off your noise filter. Much like in SH4, whenever an enemy is close, you get a noise filter on the screen. Which not only impairs your visibility (thank you very fuckin' much), it warns you that you have company. Unless you already have the extra option to turn this off, the radio isn't really needed.

The sound and soudtracks, as usual, are amazing. I am never disappointed with the soundtracks and sound effects on the SH saga. Even the one from SH4 was grand. Graphics are better on the PSP version than on the PS2 version, but, again, what could we expect...

And with this out of our way, let's address the plot. Prequels are a tricky subject, especially being so many years apart from the original game (and here's to Star Wars again...). You'd expect Konami to screw up even more than it did with SH4. Fidelity to the original story is strangely well-done. There were some loose ends left, of course, but the main idea was delivered. I was glad to see some known locations of the original game were very well reproduced in 0rigins (namely the cult's church and the Green Lion Antique Shop). Overall, I was pleased, but some answers are still wanted: who, after all, got in front of Travis' truck? It could very well had been Alessa, but how, if the figure was obviously grown-up? The Butcher? Lisa Garland? A member of the cult? Fleeing Dahlia? I don't get it...

Furthermore: what's with that cheesy God design? Which, by the way, goes against previous ones (in SH it was goatlike or a beam of light, in SH3 it was a freak, which could be explained by the game plot, and in SH4... well, let's not even go there). So I suppose Konami left a few more issues opened which will have to be explained by fans, out of lazyness or carelessness...

Overall, 7/10. It would've earned more if it was longer, and, again, if not so much was left to guess. The issue of the game being small is actually explained by the fact Konami cut out a lot of things from the original game's design. Those of you who watched the previews, played the demos or saw early concept art for the game will realize, some levels and monsters were scrapped off. And in many cases, thank crow. Silent Hill: 0rigins was supposed to have featured zombies. Zombies, in Silent Hill?! Crow no...