G-Boobie
11-12-2007, 03:13 AM
I've played about six hours of Silent Hill 0rigins this weekend, and I can't tell whether or not it's worth my time.
I'm a huge Silent Hill fan, so I appreciate seeing some old faces and locations return (although it tends to destroy any feelings of fear or dread that those said faces or locations would have created). This prequel is basically a love letter to fans of the first three games(I liked the fourth one too, but it doesn't feel like a Silent Hill to me). There are some new mechanics, like using mirrors to travel between the normal world and other world at will which I like quite a bit. The famous Silent Hill sound design is in excellent form, and the graphics are the best I've seen so far on the PSP. The cut scenes leave a lot to be desired, but the in-game graphics are astounding; it looks like Silent Hill 2. I'd like to wholeheartedly recommend this game to all fans, but for everything that's done correctly in fan service, excellent graphics and sound, and design, you have to contend with the one thing that holds the game from excellence: The even worst than usual combat.
Combat in survival horror sucks; it's actually part of the definition of survival horror. Silent Hill has traditionally been about an average joe, unreliable main character, but combat in Silent Hill 0rigins is plain terrible, even within the context of genre.
Our first problematic combat mechanic is the always hated 'weapons degradation'. Like everything else in the combat system, it's broken. Like, pre-console command System Shock 2 broken. Your character, a trucker named Travis Grady, can use all kinds of sledgehammers, scalpels, microwaves, crowbars, etc. etc. etc. to defend himself....But each item BREAKS after, and I mean this literally, seven successful hits. This includes the riot batons and lead pipes, which you'd think would at least have more hit points or something. Adding to the mess are 'single use' combat items, which include things like TV's, drip stands, microwaves, toasters, etc. etc. etc. They cause one very powerful hit and disappear from your inventory; they're almost like environmental combat, except they take up an inventory slot and you actually have to equip them. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the hell they're even in the game.
Imagine my surprise when I'm frantically pounding a demon nurse with a goddamn sledgehammer I have JUST picked up, when it suddenly disappears, leaving me with just my fists. Which is another problem... Travis can box like a golden gloves champion.
The first boss is another returning enemy from a previous game. I had no weapons, so I beat it to death with my fists in like six seconds flat. It's difficult to foster an atmosphere of dread and horror when you're character is like an athsmatic Mike Tyson... Yes, athsmatic, because of the fatigue system.
In previous games, you could run at a cost of being less effective in combat. 0rigins takes this to another level entirely. Not only will you be completely ineffective in combat, you can no longer out run ANYTHING in the game. During one section early in the game, I was being chased (and was caught and dismembered by) no less than seven armless acid spitting guys and three weird demon dog things. SEVEN plus THREE equals DEAD TRUCKER. Everytime. The duration that your fatigue remains viable seems to fluctuate, but it's usually around ten punches or five seconds running. The fatigue is such a problem that the designers have created yet another resource to hoard, 'energy drinks', which provide a boost to your fatigue. They aren't as common as health drinks and med packs, which leads to a lot of needless deaths.
The last problem (so far) is the number of enemies. In the first three Silent Hill games, the enemy's were placed intelligently to create the greatest amount of tension and fear. The combat was poor in those games as well, but the games relied more on the apprehension of combat and enemy encounters than actual enemies(with certain exceptions). Basically, very seldom where you so badly outnumbered that you didn't stand a chance, since the game had already hobbled your ability to excel in combat. Not so in 0rigins. Not only have I been chased by what amounts to an evil football team, but I've encountered single rooms that have been populated by no less than EIGHT nurses. It's impossible to do anything else but run for an exit, find out its the wrong door(which means that without exception the 'lock will be broken' or the 'door is locked', which means you can't use it), get slaughtered, reload your previous save, run for a different potential exit, repeat. Sort of takes away from the horror aspect.
It almost seems like the combat development went like this... "Let's add weapon degradation into the game to heighten terror! Oh... It's broken? Well, lets have our hero fight like Bruce Lee on amphetamines, then. What? It makes the game sort of boring and rote? Hmmmm.... Lets cut his fatigue in half, then. And for good measure, lets just put enemies everywhere. Can't place enemies badly if they're everywhere possible, thats my motto!"
I really want to like this game, but I don't know if I'm going to finish it. That would make it the first Silent Hill I don't see through to the end; hopefully things improve in the end game.
It's amazing how one single aspect of a game, executed poorly, can kill an entire experience, no matter how polished and well done the remaining aspects are.
I'm a huge Silent Hill fan, so I appreciate seeing some old faces and locations return (although it tends to destroy any feelings of fear or dread that those said faces or locations would have created). This prequel is basically a love letter to fans of the first three games(I liked the fourth one too, but it doesn't feel like a Silent Hill to me). There are some new mechanics, like using mirrors to travel between the normal world and other world at will which I like quite a bit. The famous Silent Hill sound design is in excellent form, and the graphics are the best I've seen so far on the PSP. The cut scenes leave a lot to be desired, but the in-game graphics are astounding; it looks like Silent Hill 2. I'd like to wholeheartedly recommend this game to all fans, but for everything that's done correctly in fan service, excellent graphics and sound, and design, you have to contend with the one thing that holds the game from excellence: The even worst than usual combat.
Combat in survival horror sucks; it's actually part of the definition of survival horror. Silent Hill has traditionally been about an average joe, unreliable main character, but combat in Silent Hill 0rigins is plain terrible, even within the context of genre.
Our first problematic combat mechanic is the always hated 'weapons degradation'. Like everything else in the combat system, it's broken. Like, pre-console command System Shock 2 broken. Your character, a trucker named Travis Grady, can use all kinds of sledgehammers, scalpels, microwaves, crowbars, etc. etc. etc. to defend himself....But each item BREAKS after, and I mean this literally, seven successful hits. This includes the riot batons and lead pipes, which you'd think would at least have more hit points or something. Adding to the mess are 'single use' combat items, which include things like TV's, drip stands, microwaves, toasters, etc. etc. etc. They cause one very powerful hit and disappear from your inventory; they're almost like environmental combat, except they take up an inventory slot and you actually have to equip them. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the hell they're even in the game.
Imagine my surprise when I'm frantically pounding a demon nurse with a goddamn sledgehammer I have JUST picked up, when it suddenly disappears, leaving me with just my fists. Which is another problem... Travis can box like a golden gloves champion.
The first boss is another returning enemy from a previous game. I had no weapons, so I beat it to death with my fists in like six seconds flat. It's difficult to foster an atmosphere of dread and horror when you're character is like an athsmatic Mike Tyson... Yes, athsmatic, because of the fatigue system.
In previous games, you could run at a cost of being less effective in combat. 0rigins takes this to another level entirely. Not only will you be completely ineffective in combat, you can no longer out run ANYTHING in the game. During one section early in the game, I was being chased (and was caught and dismembered by) no less than seven armless acid spitting guys and three weird demon dog things. SEVEN plus THREE equals DEAD TRUCKER. Everytime. The duration that your fatigue remains viable seems to fluctuate, but it's usually around ten punches or five seconds running. The fatigue is such a problem that the designers have created yet another resource to hoard, 'energy drinks', which provide a boost to your fatigue. They aren't as common as health drinks and med packs, which leads to a lot of needless deaths.
The last problem (so far) is the number of enemies. In the first three Silent Hill games, the enemy's were placed intelligently to create the greatest amount of tension and fear. The combat was poor in those games as well, but the games relied more on the apprehension of combat and enemy encounters than actual enemies(with certain exceptions). Basically, very seldom where you so badly outnumbered that you didn't stand a chance, since the game had already hobbled your ability to excel in combat. Not so in 0rigins. Not only have I been chased by what amounts to an evil football team, but I've encountered single rooms that have been populated by no less than EIGHT nurses. It's impossible to do anything else but run for an exit, find out its the wrong door(which means that without exception the 'lock will be broken' or the 'door is locked', which means you can't use it), get slaughtered, reload your previous save, run for a different potential exit, repeat. Sort of takes away from the horror aspect.
It almost seems like the combat development went like this... "Let's add weapon degradation into the game to heighten terror! Oh... It's broken? Well, lets have our hero fight like Bruce Lee on amphetamines, then. What? It makes the game sort of boring and rote? Hmmmm.... Lets cut his fatigue in half, then. And for good measure, lets just put enemies everywhere. Can't place enemies badly if they're everywhere possible, thats my motto!"
I really want to like this game, but I don't know if I'm going to finish it. That would make it the first Silent Hill I don't see through to the end; hopefully things improve in the end game.
It's amazing how one single aspect of a game, executed poorly, can kill an entire experience, no matter how polished and well done the remaining aspects are.