Got the pieces but not perfectly put together
The combat system is interesting. Guns are guns nothing special. The new melee system includes melee weapons breaking so it better reflects real life. Some melee weapons even can be thrown to the enemies. Travis can also punch his way out of trouble should he ever run out of melee weapons. Fighting monsters in this game with punches was entertaining, since each have their unique pattern that takes some time to figure out. Pretty much any monster including bosses can be punched to death once the player figure out their pattern.
However, Travis moves very slow when he is in his battle stance (much slower than you would move in a real life street fight), so the player must go back to normal stance to stand a chance of evasion. There is a 1 second delay between switching stance, which is very long so most of the time the player will get hit anyways. To compensates, most monster moves and attacks very slowly themselves (there is no fast moving dogs like in SH3). But I personally would much more prefer Travis moves faster and the monster moves faster also.
Camera angles are very well done in this game, so no frustration there.
Now let's talk about game play experience. I am the type of player that will kill everything I see (I am not the runaway type). For the first 2 stages of this game, monsters comes in tight packs of 2 or 3 in tight hallways. Health drinks, melee weapons and ammo were all very limited. The player (I did at least) will be constantly on the edge of death, so the game was intense. After the 2nd stage however, items became way too easy to obtain. The monsters, although stronger, no longer fights in packs of 2 or 3 (stronger in the sense that they take longer to punch to death, not really harder). This allows the player to easily solo them. So the game keep getting easier and easier for me. The game is still fun, but the intensity disappears. I also feel that the game is one stage too short.
The story of the game is there, but they didn't finish it. After the game, I got a general idea of the story but I am still puzzled by many parts of the game. Pretty much I understood Travis' story, but have almost no idea how his actions tied to the events that happens in Silent Hill.
Perhaps an extra level or cut scene explaining the story, like in a deep conversation between Travis and other key members of the story will clear things up. Most importantly, what he achieved from all the fighting and how the revelations changed his life afterwards.
The music in this game was done very well. Probably the best music score ever for a survival horror game, since the songs fits into the current location, mood and setting perfectly.
Overall, Silent Hill Origin is a nice addition to the Silent Hill series. It got some nice elements and ideas, and the game itself is pretty fun to play. This is a must have for any Silent Hill fans.
However the game could have been better. The battle system should have been more fast pace. The item and monster distribution should have been more evened throughout the game. The story could have been better told. I hope I see these things put into place in Silent Hill 5.