so, we know that the demo for Silent Hill 0rigins was leaked. i've been a silent hill fan since thanks to pizza hut i got a demo to the first one and it's been a beautiful love affair with deformed monster nurses and the like ever since. once i heard it was official they were making a psp silent hill game i was glad for once i bought the damn thing. it is nearing time to release and i got my hands on the demo and i couldn't be moar excited, will it live up to expectations or be just another psp release no one cares about? we won't know for sure till it's release but here's my impressions after playing the demo.

i will start off with game play, control wise it mostly lives up to normal expectations with silent hill, with some added nuggets of joy. you move your character with the analog nub as is expected, this game really made me wish sony would flip the d-pad and nub on all their consules it's almost standard to use analog sticks as the main movement so why not flip em to make game play more comfortable (see xbox controller) so what does that leave the d-pad for you ask? a new feature to seamlessly switch weapons, because you WILL be changing weapons frequently but i'll touch on that later.


visuals are amazing, probably not the best psp can put out but with whats out now it looks pretty damn good. the switching between light world/ dark world are awesome, the freak you out freaky videos that come up to creep you out are pretty awesome and unexpected, and the screen getting grainy at points is pretty cool too, my only disappointment comes from not being as creepy visually than the others but with how the story seems to play out that gives more of a creepy factor than just walking through an evil looking hospital. lighting (most specifically from the flash light) is some of the best i've seen in a silent hill, while i've never played the room so it COULD be just as good i don't consider it a member of the silent hill family, it's the ugly red headed step child of the bunch. the cameras are mostly what you can expect from silent hill, but with a bit of a feel they were trying to copy the formula of resident evil 4.

now more about actual game play, one new thing i'm liking is the new combat system. remember earlier when i said you'll be changing weapons alot? well new to the series is weapons don't last forever. i was fighting a nurse with a sledge hammer and the hammer just broke! i was attacking one with a scalpal and i assume it got stuck in the nurse as it disappeared in an explosion of puss. then there are the new weapons, such as an iv drip stand, portable tv, huge glass alcohol bottle, to name a few, that escape the traditional weaponry but is something that if put into that situation in real life you might think to use. i guess they stole a chapter from dead rising. all the crazy puzzle solving that leaves you scratching your head for hours during a silent hill game is still alive and well.

over all i'm very impressed by this game, they took the traditional game play with some added features that in my opinion are very welcome and i hope they keep as they venture back to consules for the silent hill experience. i will be getting this for sure when it comes out, and for silent hill fans you should too, silent hill is back baby and possibly better than ever.