Silent Hill Origins Hands-On

We've been anxious to get our hands on Konami's upcoming Silent Hill: Origins for the PSP to see just what kind of insight the prequel game will offer about the town of Silent Hill. We've seen how messed up the town is in the various installments of the series that have appeared on the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2, so we're understandably curious to see what things were like before the events in those games. The PSP version promises to offer a bit of insight into the town's past, although it won't give away all of Silent Hill's mystery. The early playable version of the game at Konami's press event today gave us a taste of what we should expect.

The third-person action game appears to be a good mix of key elements from all the versions with a few changes made for the PSP. There were two areas to explore as the main character Travis O'Grady, which included the outdoor town and the indoor asylum. The town area is, in fact, everyone's favorite disturbing town and features a mix of old and new. Reps on hand at the event noted that the Silent Hill in Origins will be broken up into one-third of known areas from previous games, and two-thirds of new locales created just for this platform. The asylum offered a sample interior space to explore that contained some menacing creatures that were in need of a sledgehammer to the face. Speaking of sledgehammers, the hefty object is one of three melee weapons, which also include a shovel and a tire iron. If you're not a fan of getting up close and personal to the weird creatures in the game, you can pick them off with one of three ranged weapons, a 9mm pistol, 44 Magnum, and a trusty shotgun. You'll use the weapons on a variety of twisted creatures and bosses throughout the town.

The most obvious change for the PSP game is the RE4-style camera that helps you keep better track of enemies in need of a beatdown. The demo featured a simple control scheme that worked well. It was pretty easy to run, shoot, and perform melee attacks. The only issue we had was responsiveness, but Konami reps on hand noted that the game is still being worked on and will likely have its controls fine-tuned before it ships.

As far as the visuals go, the demo of Silent Hill: Origins at Konami's event was very much a work-in-progress. The base graphics engine was on display; however, the visuals were far too clean, since the game hasn't incorporated the trademark visual filters that have given the series its distinctive and eerie look. The demo also lacked any sample of the 15 minutes of cinematics that will be used to tell its story. What was in the demo looked good and disturbing, though. The two environments were creepy and the disgusting foes were unsettling abominations that fit in with the franchise's unholy style.

The music seems poised to be well on par with the console entries in the series, thanks to 14 tracks by Silent Hill vet Akira Yamaoka. Four of the tracks will include vocals by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, who has been a part of the last few console games. A new trailer shown at the event featured one of the new vocal tracks, which complemented the visuals well.

Though we only got a taste of what to expect from Silent Hill: Origins, the game looks like it's headed in the right direction. All the necessary gameplay, graphics, and audio pieces seem like they're coming together well. The adventure holds a lot of promise that we hope is fulfilled as development continues. Fans of the series, and anyone looking for some genuine scares on their PSP, would do well to keep an eye out for Silent Hill: Origins. The game is currently slated to ship early next year for the PSP, so look for more on the game in the coming months.