Released in November of last year, Silent Hill Origins did not originally come to the Playstation 2 but rather Sony's handheld console, the PSP (it would later see a PS2 port).The story leading up to the release has become one of the classic stories of development hell with the original team fired and development moved to a completely different team. This was the first game in the series to not be developed by the original team and was instead handled by Climax Studios, who were most certainly not based in Japan. Rumor circulated around the game with some believing it would be a straight remake of the original game while others had speculated that it was going to more closely resemble the film adaptation of the series including Rose DeSilva in place of Harry Mason. When the game was officially announced at E3 in 2006, fans were in for a shocker. Silent Hill Origins was taking a page from Resident Evil 4 and becoming heavy on the action, with Travis wielding several firearms and melee weapons and a handy laser sight to make monster bashing easier. The response was less than enthusiastic seeing as how part of Silent Hill's charm had been the very real characters gamers took control of. Nobody wanted to see Leon Kennedy blasting his way through a fog soaked town, ok some people want to see that.

Development of the game was taken out of the hands of the US Climax team and moved to the United Kingdom, where Silent Hill Origins became less Resident Evil and more, well, Silent Hill. The Resident Evil 4 elements were dropped and while Travis was able to wield a larger arsenal of weapons than previous installments, he would never be mistaken for a solider. Considering the game was released on a handheld platform, the visuals still retained the classic style, while the character models were perhaps a bit of a let down to those who had played the previous installments. Speaking of characters...

Travis Grady
A victim of abuse from his mother, Travis Grady only feels comfortable on the road. He is drawn to Silent Hill in the midst of Dahlia's rise to power and must confront his own tragic past if he hopes to make it out of the town alive.

Dahlia Gillespie
A younger version of her Silent Hill counterpart, Dahlia is the driving force between the events happening in the town. Like in every other game, she's trying to do some serious demon raising; if only Travis would stay our of her way.

Michael Kaufmann
The town's hospital director, and if you've played the original game you know this man is a less than savory fellow. His loyalty is to Dahlia, so don't trust anything he says.

Lisa Garland
7 years before her fate in the Silent Hill, Lisa is just a sweet nurse at the hospital assigned to take care of Alessa. Lisa provides Travis with valuable information, and I promise her eyes don't get all bloody... or do they?

Alessa Gillespie
This one little girl sure has caused a boatload of problems for the residents of Silent Hill. Travis becomes a pawn of Alessa in preventing the rise of a demon and attempting to save the life of the doomed child.

Origins... I get it, like Silent Hill Zero!
If you're still not quite getting it, Silent Hill Origins takes place seven years before the events of the first game. Travis' time in Silent Hill shifts between Alessa's mission and his own demons, his parents. Most of the boss monsters fought are somehow tied to Travis' familial scars, and we learn that the horrors of Silent Hill can be traced back many years. While exploring the sanitarium, pay close attention to many of the puzzles. How far off from reality were the methods of treatment for patients? Not something you want to think about for too long. The least interesting part of Silent Hill Origins is that for a prequel we really don't learn anything new. Obviously I can write a thesis on how the death of a mother and suicide of a father can severely disturb a child, the game can't seem to keep focus on Travis' past when everyone else in the town has a video game franchise to create. I bought my PSP for this game and was not disappointed, I just hoped that an intensely personal story like Travis had deserved more attention that it was given.

Next time
In the final installment I'll examine the side stories of the franchise from the motion picture to the comic book tie-ins. All in preparation for next week's release of Silent Hill Homecoming on PS3 and Xbox 360.