You are Travis Grady, a lone truck driver trapped in Silent Hill while making a routine delivery. You must escape the city's horrific inhabitants and confront the strange hallucinations that have haunted Travis since his childhood. The story, strange happenings, crazy creatures, and eerie special effects that have been a staple in the Silent Hill universe are present here and are equally as terrifying as you may have witnessed in the past with other Silent Hill titles.

Visually Silent Hill Origins looks as impressive as any other Silent Hill title before it. Sure the polygon count may be lower, but you can still count on all your favorite baddies from the series being recreated as if they were done on the PS2, even if it is only a port. Even more impressive is the beautiful CG cinematics that have followed the series return here, and what better ways to unfold the mysteries of the series than in beautifully, yet frightening cut scenes. While the camera takes a page from RE4, that doesn't mean on occasion you won't find the suspenseful camera angles found in previous versions of the series. The camera angle you use most of the time is an over the shoulder view that makes for more useful controls and engaging combat.

The game's audio is wonderful thanks to the game's score by Akira Yamoka. There’s no better way to give yourself the creeps than to turn on the surround sound, flip off the lights, and allow yourself to become immersed in this universe and story. So take this suggestion, as you will appreciate the game more so and be further pulled into the world of Silent Hill. If you are a fan of the series you will be surprised to find that the new camera system changes the game play a bit. Thankfully this is for the better as the old was of playing this game, no matter how entertaining the camera angles was, was starting to get dated and needed a serious upgrade. This new control system allows for more fluid combat and better control over your exploration needs. Like any good Silent Hill game you will encounter plenty of puzzles, which lead to unlocking the mysteries of Silent Hill, along with unlockable goodies in the game as well.

A strange twist to the series is the way you explore your world and the world of Silent Hill. Instead of being forced into unpleasant situations and into the dark, you actually get to move from each parallel universe by the use of mirrors. It's intriguing, but you may find some purists upset by this turn of events. Also while the weapons are as weak and breakable as they have been in the past, there are more of them strewn throughout so the feeling of dread and uselessness isn't as apparent. Expect the choices you make for better or worse, along with your play time and objectives to affect your final outcome. This is great as it leads to multiple endings which of course give the game more replay value.

Silent Hill Origins may do a few things that fans may love or hate, but what it does well is allow you to play the events that lead up to the first game and solve some of the mysteries and questions. Thankfully Konami had the foresight to port this title over and allow for the game’s availability to be held on the PS2 where a majority of the titles have had their mainstay. I’d like to see this trend continue with God of War for PSP as well if you are listening Sony.