Also, this game can get a bit hard when you're first starting off. It matches the difficulty of the first Silent Hill. Health drinks and other healing items are not scattered as much as they usually are in past Silent Hill titles, so it is a good idea to either perfect your combat skills or just skip enemies altogether near the beginning of the game once the second building is reached. Being a Silent Hill game, one can expect to get lost during the first playthrough at times, and this is the main aspect that can make the game challenging when health items are needed. Practice with combat or running can easily overcome the lack of health items at the beginning however.

As already mentioned, the overall controls scheme remains the same as the controls introduced in Silent Hill 4. Press in any direction to make Travis walk in that direction with the left analog. This particular Silent Hill has the best auto-targeting of any other title in the series. The targeting is very precise allowing one to easily lock-on to a nearby enemy with great ease.

The game clocks in at about 6 hours from beginning to end. This isn't that long for a first time through a survival horror (and I always take my time), but this is the best survival horror experience for a handheld that can be found at the moment. The game has many unlockables and a few extra endings so it does have its share of replay value to keep the experience lively - some extras can only be obtained on a second playthrough.

Though it isn't perfect in all aspects, Silent Hill Origins truly sets the standard for handheld survival horrors that follow. The sound and graphics alone are truly a site to behold. This is a definite pickup for any survival horror fan and should be a worthy playthrough for any other type of gamer as well.

Graphics: 9.0
Controls: 8.5
Sound: 9.5
Gameplay: 8.5

The Good:
+ Horrifying soundtrack and sound effects that sound perfect with headphones
+ Incredible in-game graphics that push the PSP to its limits.
+ Fun combat system.
+ With the lack of health items at times, Origins can get hard, like the first Silent Hill

The Bad:
- Multiple enemy battles can get very ugly thanks to the finishing aspect.
- Some sound bugs mess up what would be a perfect soundtrack.
- The camera can hide enemies or mess up current controls with the shifting angles.
- With the lack of health items at times, Origins can get hard, like the first Silent Hill

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 89%. The darkness will spread throughout Silent Hill as its origins are revealed but Silent Hill Origins is far from a nightmare - it is the best portable survival horror experience yet!

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