Zero Punctuation visits Silent Hill's origins and dies inside

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 9th 2008 at 3:30PM }

Yahtzee's got a soft spot for the Silent Hill series, a soft spot that had a steel spike jammed through it during Silent Hill Origins. Believing that the game was nothing but a fan-service cash-in he declares the series dead after his experience with Origins and Silent Hill 4: The Room -- but he's leaving a spot in his blackened heart for redemption with Silent Hill 5. So prepare yourself for a four minute Zero Punctuation rant that even our resident Silent Hill fanboy declares, "Wow, that's one of [Yahtzee's] best yet!"

Find this week's NSFW trip to Silent Hill by Yahtzee after the break.

Tags: escapist, konami, silent-hill-origins, theescapist, yahtzee, zero-punctuation, zeropunctuation

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Salomon @ Jan 9th 2008 3:46PM

I agree 100%. Along with the mentioned, the controls sucked because they decided to keep the crazy camera angles but with no tank controls and the PSP's analog stick is like on the bottom of the unit, not a preferable place. The combat is the worst ever in the series. If you miss an enemy once, they hit you over and over until you are dead, with no chance to hit back, especially in the sanatorium with those stupid invisible cage monsters. Silent Hill 2 was magic among games and since we Americans love our guns and preference of action over atmosphere, I have low hopes for SHV. The only good thing to come out of sequel after sequel is Akira Yamaoka's soundtracks.

FOXHOUND @ Jan 9th 2008 3:57PM

Save for the obvious 'boss' fights, I actually was a pacifist in this game compared to the others... it was easier to just shut off the flashlight and run evasively past a *lot* of the creatures. Easiest SH of the series, hands down. I personally couldn't imagine this game being done any differently(better or worse)on the PSP though.

Maurice M @ Jan 9th 2008 3:59PM

Combat in Origins is far better than it was in 4. Still not a game I'd recommend anyone pick up though. I'd say if you were a SH fan then this is a fairly decent game. Don't go out of your way to get it.

Edog Lost @ Jan 9th 2008 3:46PM

Best part of my Wednesday.

hi2u @ Jan 10th 2008 1:44AM

Yahtzee is great, but the best part of my Wednesday is Business Time.

J-Guy @ Jan 9th 2008 3:48PM

Awesome.

Neebs @ Jan 9th 2008 3:51PM

Fun fact: He's doing a column in PC Gamer US. It's less funny without his voice but you can imagine it in.

Ghen @ Jan 10th 2008 8:28AM

cool =)

Superstar90 @ Jan 9th 2008 3:56PM

I once tried removing vertebrae, it was a bloody mess...

Seroth @ Jan 9th 2008 4:04PM

Silent Hill stories are pretty good...too bad the voice acting ALWAYS sucks and the dialogue is ALWAYS horrible. It really takes you out of the game.

I started playing Silent Hill 3 a while back, and the realization on how ridiculous the dialogue and voice acting is made the game feel very un-scary...'course, then I get locked in a room and it starts to bleed, making it scary again...but then Heather remarks how she's too lazy to open a cardboard box later, making it stupid again.

I'm really hoping the western developers fix the crappy dialogue, which I'm guessing just comes from crappy translation...

LaughingTarget @ Jan 9th 2008 6:40PM

Well, when you play a game that features a Sailor Moon outfit as an unlockable, you can't expect much.

JerJerBinks @ Jan 9th 2008 4:09PM

I wish I could eat my own ass ...

BPM64 - The Second Attack! @ Jan 9th 2008 11:19PM

.... Ew?

ClarkyCat @ Jan 9th 2008 4:24PM

I wonder will the good Mr. Croshaw be able to eat that particular part of his anatomy what with so many tongues being regularly stuck up it.
What he and others seem to have missed (or just disregard) is the fact that this is a portable game, not a full blown console adventure. Survival horror on a portable system isn't a great idea, it's hard to set up any kind of decent atmosphere on a 4" screen, tinny speakers and/or daylight/outdoors. But in the dark with headphones, the game makes a pretty valiant attempt. The gameplay is as much as one could've hoped for on a system like that. It's certainly an above average PSP game, but a mediocre SH game. To declare the series "dead" is a tad melodramatic, that's like saying Akira sucks because you played Psychoball! But of course once Yahtzee debases something with a witty analogy he has everyone a-fawn.

GaryM @ Jan 9th 2008 4:31PM

"I wonder will the good Mr. Croshaw be able to eat that particular part of his anatomy what with so many tongues being regularly stuck up it."

Quote of the day.

jcd @ Jan 9th 2008 6:48PM

Very true the point that it is a portable. But he does say that it is the story he likes usually and this story sucks.

Mr Khan @ Jan 9th 2008 4:26PM

He does very well, as always

But i never looked at Silent Hill 4, although i've heard many degrading comments lobbed at it, the funniest of which was "it was like an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog"

Mr.ESC @ Jan 9th 2008 4:54PM

That was probably me.

I mean seriously WTF? Giant faces, evil asparagus, haunted wheelchairs, vomit/Slime dogs and the flying hobos were just ridiculous after a while I thought the final boss was going to be either Le quack or Catz.

In the good ending you save Muriel er I mean Eileen.

Sam406 @ Jan 9th 2008 6:36PM

Form what I remember form the show, Catz was pretty hardcore.

He was the only villain form the show that I found truly scary.

He had a collection of man eating spiders hiden in a motel, whoever checked in, was dinner, that's pretty hardcore for a kids show in my book.

Ihya @ Jan 9th 2008 4:30PM

Great stuff once more. But when is Kane &Lynch coming Yahtzee???

losttoys @ Jan 9th 2008 4:45PM

+1 for Invader Zim fanfiction reference.

t_m @ Jan 10th 2008 10:02AM

*worries about the potential of invader zim erotic fanfiction*

Mr.ESC @ Jan 9th 2008 4:45PM

I share his opinion about Silent Hill 2 and I believe it was the best in the series, it was sort like Bioshock .Great story, atmosphere, graphics, a totally memorable soundtrack and villains I mean somehow the Pyramid Heads (There are 2 if I’m not mistaken) become the trademark boss(es) of the series even when they only appeared in Sh2.

Now Origins is not that bad is shorter and easier than the other Silent hill games but if you ask me is not the worst. Is pretty weak compared to the other mayor silent hill games but for a PSP title is completely competent not to mention fun. Now I feel the enemies in Origins are a bit more aggressive than the ones in SH 1 or 2 but the Boss fights were totally lame, the concept of a Pyramid Head clone had potential (The Butcher) but it seems the developers didn’t have the time to deal with it properly and turn him into a regular enemy rather than a Boss.

(SPOILER ALERT)

As the story goes I never understand why the hell he went to the Asylum. Ok the truck stops so he walks into Silent hill, Saves the girl from the fire, wakes up in the town, goes into the hospital to check on the girl and then he goes into the Asylum for no good reason. Travis story this being about his psychotic mom also had potential for being great but it feels like the time was up and it wasn’t (again) treated properly.
(End of spoiler)

I have to say that Silent Hill origins yeah it feels like a fan game since it mixes many elements of the other Silent hill games but I don’t think is the worst I mean for a PSP title is actually good.

If you ask me SH4 was the worst SH game mostly because it wasn’t scary it was more like a “Courage the Cowardly dog” episode I mean Haunted wheelchairs, the wicked asparagus and those flying hobos were ridiculous really I didn’t know if I was supposed to kill them or give them change. I read somewhere that Silent Hill 4 was actually an independent game but Konami decided to slap the SH sticker on it, I would probably enjoyed SH4 more as an independent game and not a lie,the story was decent tho'.

losttoys @ Jan 9th 2008 4:47PM

Another +1 for IR MR GAY reference.

dizzy @ Jan 9th 2008 5:21PM

a chocolate katana sounds freaking awesome. I'd buy that for a dollar.

Noxat @ Jan 9th 2008 5:47PM

Best ZP I've seen in a while. I haven't played Origins, but it does seem wholly unnecessary to the Silent Hill series, which I (used to) love. I agree about Silent Hill 4, some of the game mechanic changes were not needed or welcome, but overall it still presented a fairly twisted tale.

Now, seeing elements of the fifth game that have been lifted straight out of the movie, I'm confident that the series is over for me. The Silent Hill movie should be forgotten, not emulated.

born2kill @ Jan 9th 2008 6:32PM

He's absolutely right. The developers missed the whole dam point of silent hill and created a tribute to the series rather a serious effort. They shoehorned all the fan favorite parts of previous silent hill games; such as lisa, the nurses, the pyramid head; without any regard for storytelling which is what Silent Hill is first and foremost about. On top of that, they had a subpar story, with a bland protagonist who had no good reason for being there.

V1L3 @ Jan 9th 2008 6:35PM

Hilarious as always, but the one second he gave me to think of a game with weapon degradation that was a good idea was plenty long enough.

Vagrant Story.

Better luck next time. Now get your pommie ass back to your desk and make MOAR.

LaughingTarget @ Jan 9th 2008 6:46PM

Oh how he forgets his own reviews. System Shock 2!

J-L @ Jan 9th 2008 7:47PM

Dead Rising.

Poisoned Al @ Jan 9th 2008 9:21PM

Yes, and it was fucking horrible in SS2 as well. I think that was the point he was trying to make, but I've noticed that you're not very good at noticing subtlety are you LaughingTarget?

t_m @ Jan 10th 2008 10:09AM

I liked it is SS2, but thats about it. Frankly i liked everything about SS2 though...

rainking187 @ Jan 9th 2008 6:42PM

First thing that came to mind regarding the katana was the dipshit on one of those home shopping shows that managed to break a sword and cut himself with it. My main complaint regarding the breakable weapons was that it's pointless. I imagine it was supposed to add to the excitement and or fear, but when you've given me 97 of said weapon I basically just switch to a new one. I also disliked that it seems like they took the number of enemies in the previous games times ten, then made them all very fast, which is not what Silent Hill is about. The title on the cover of the case read "Silent Hill Orgins", not "Resident Evil 4" last time I checked. Also, upon completing the game you could have asked me what Silent Hill Orgins had to do with the first game, and aside from a couple of cameos, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. I still don't really know. It's not a bad game, but only if you factor in the fact that it was done by an entirely different team. It's kind of like drinking a glass of orange juice someone has pissed in, and commenting that "It's not really bad orange juice when you take the human urine into account."

generic @ Jan 9th 2008 6:59PM

Man, reading all this makes me so jealous. I'd love to get into the story of Silent Hill, but I just can't play the damn games.

I gave them a shot on more than one occasion, but they just creep the hell out of me. Creepy movies? No problem. Books? What a joke. Abba records? Minor annoyance. Silent Hill games though? The moment they're an auditory cue or I see something shift oddly, my heart starts beating out of my chest.

As a story telling device, I love the idea of the town, and the character and monster design sets the bar high for the rest of the gaming world, but I'll be damned if I can sit for more than half an hour and play the bloody things. I really want to check out the movie, but I'm told it doesn't really offer the real Silent Hill experience.

Mr.ESC @ Jan 9th 2008 7:40PM

Silent hill never gets scary enough to **** bricks but is a lot of fun, Fatal frame by the other hand well ¬¬ those "Oh snap" moments are pretty intense again you aren’t going to **** bricks but they can make you jump of your sit.

The movie is okay and better than I expected but they twisted the SH story,basically they mixed SH 1 and 2 but is still okay.Basically if you like horror movies SH wouldn't be a bad choice IMO is way better than Saw 3.