A survival horror wouldn't be complete without a scary soundtrack that helps to immerse a player into its horrific world and Origins does not disappoint at all in that aspect. The soundtrack is almost absolutely perfect! Travis' footsteps can be heard as he walks, the radio will sound off constantly as enemies approach, enemies yell out as they pursue Travis throughout the corridors of buildings, portions of the soundtrack will play to highlight a climatic portion of the game, among many other wonderful sound effects. The game even starts out with a vocal song as Travis walks toward the entrance to the town of Silent Hill foreshadowing his experiences to come. The only flaw in the soundtrack is a sound bug that sometimes mutes certain sound effects while in some areas of Silent Hill. For the full game experience, make sure to have a set of headphones or you will be missing out on about 25% of the level of immersion from this title!
The combat in Silent Hill Origins has been upgraded quite a bit. Each enemy can get quite aggressive in this game compared to past titles but Travis can fight back just as much. Once an enemy has grabbed Travis then either a button tapping sequence or Quick Time Event (QTE) will occur. Mash the button or wait and tap the correct button as the button icon appears to break free from an enemy grapple and Travis will be able to throw the enemy off. For each weapon, Travis has a light and heavy swing. Some weapons can even be thrown.
With many everyday objects lying throughout rooms, Travis has quite a bit to choose from to use as weapon. Alcohol bottles, wrenches, samurai swords, meat hooks, toasters - hell, you can even throw a filing cabinet at enemies in Origins. Each weapon has a certain amount of health and that health will be consumed per enemy hit. The health ranges from green, yellow, orange, to red. Once a weapon has sustained enough damage from being hit then it will break and Travis will have to switch to something else.
Switching to a different weapon is where a slight problem occurs since you will have to either switch during direct combat or open the inventory and switch to a different weapon. Switch to a weapon in real time and you never know what Travis may be suddenly equipped with. This is not really that much of a problem though, just noticeable.
Travis must also finish certain types of enemies or that enemy will get up once again and attack. This time, enemies are actually finished off with the current weapon that is held instead of the usual kick - which is something I have always wanted in a Silent Hill game! Enemies get up very quickly if they are not finished quick enough which can lead to some problems while fighting multiple enemies. Hit one enemy in a group and knock that enemy down then you better finish off that grounded enemy before it gets up or it will rise once again while the second enemy is still in the area. Types of situations like this can lead to skipping combat altogether. Silent Hill fans should be used to running from enemies, but with a fun combat system, I actually wanted to fight more, but couldn't because of aggressive grouped enemies.
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