So, is this game good? Well, I finished it last night, and then immediately started playing it again from the beginning, all the way to the end. I guess that says something.
The new development team obviously has a great deal of respect for the series, but, thinking back, I can totally see the Western influence. These guys seem to like the town of Silent Hill a lot. It's definitely one of the most accessible versions of the town I've played through. I guess that free-roaming, GTA-ish sense of creating an environment helped a lot in making the town. Of course, you can only roam so freely when chunks of roads are missing throughout.
There's a big emphasis on combat, almost to the point of silliness. You can stock a bunch of different, breakable weapons a la Dead Rising. The big difference is that there is no limit to what you can carry. At the end of my first play through, I had something like seventy melee weapons, as well as my guns.
Of course, this new twist on combat makes sense once you meet the monsters. They seem as stupid as any other Silent Hill monsters at first, but once they get a whiff of you, they will come right after you and they will hurt you.
To keep you from getting killed right away, the game has a QTE feature that allows you to evade some monsters' attacks with minimal damage. It's not as out of place as it sounds. Killin' things is even more visceral than in the other games - you can really feel the impact your weapons have on enemies. This is also the first Silent Hill where you can PUNCH monsters, which offers its own kind of satisfaction.
There aren't a lot of new monster designs, but the new ones are pretty interesting. They seem to lack the personal touch of the monster designs in Silent Hill 2 and 3, though, with the exception of some bosses.
The neatest part about Origins is the new locales. There's also a new twist on the concept of Dark Silent Hill that I'm not sure I can explain in detail without spoiling something. It makes for a lot of interesting puzzles.
However, this new puzzle-solving format makes things feel very level-based. It feels more like a "game" than the other Silent Hills, and less like an "experience". While Travis is at least more likable than Henry, and while we do learn a lot about his past, there aren't a lot of opportunities where you can give a crap. Maybe it's because I beat the game while I was in a room with six other guys watching Captain N and Return of the Joker. Handheld Silent Hill feels much different than console Silent Hill.
Which probably explains my single biggest gripe about this game. It is not scary. I mean, really, how can a handheld game be scary? I don't know. The only time I jumped was when the camera clipped inside of Travis head, and I saw his face from the inside.
In all, Origins is very safe. It doesn't take many risks. If you like Silent Hill, then logically you should enjoy this, but it's not leading the series in a fantastic new direction or anything. It's almost worth replaying for the weapons and costumes you can unlock.
The UFO ending was pretty cute, but not the riot it should've been.
The new development team obviously has a great deal of respect for the series, but, thinking back, I can totally see the Western influence. These guys seem to like the town of Silent Hill a lot. It's definitely one of the most accessible versions of the town I've played through. I guess that free-roaming, GTA-ish sense of creating an environment helped a lot in making the town. Of course, you can only roam so freely when chunks of roads are missing throughout.
There's a big emphasis on combat, almost to the point of silliness. You can stock a bunch of different, breakable weapons a la Dead Rising. The big difference is that there is no limit to what you can carry. At the end of my first play through, I had something like seventy melee weapons, as well as my guns.
Of course, this new twist on combat makes sense once you meet the monsters. They seem as stupid as any other Silent Hill monsters at first, but once they get a whiff of you, they will come right after you and they will hurt you.
To keep you from getting killed right away, the game has a QTE feature that allows you to evade some monsters' attacks with minimal damage. It's not as out of place as it sounds. Killin' things is even more visceral than in the other games - you can really feel the impact your weapons have on enemies. This is also the first Silent Hill where you can PUNCH monsters, which offers its own kind of satisfaction.
There aren't a lot of new monster designs, but the new ones are pretty interesting. They seem to lack the personal touch of the monster designs in Silent Hill 2 and 3, though, with the exception of some bosses.
The neatest part about Origins is the new locales. There's also a new twist on the concept of Dark Silent Hill that I'm not sure I can explain in detail without spoiling something. It makes for a lot of interesting puzzles.
However, this new puzzle-solving format makes things feel very level-based. It feels more like a "game" than the other Silent Hills, and less like an "experience". While Travis is at least more likable than Henry, and while we do learn a lot about his past, there aren't a lot of opportunities where you can give a crap. Maybe it's because I beat the game while I was in a room with six other guys watching Captain N and Return of the Joker. Handheld Silent Hill feels much different than console Silent Hill.
Which probably explains my single biggest gripe about this game. It is not scary. I mean, really, how can a handheld game be scary? I don't know. The only time I jumped was when the camera clipped inside of Travis head, and I saw his face from the inside.
In all, Origins is very safe. It doesn't take many risks. If you like Silent Hill, then logically you should enjoy this, but it's not leading the series in a fantastic new direction or anything. It's almost worth replaying for the weapons and costumes you can unlock.
The UFO ending was pretty cute, but not the riot it should've been.
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