Silent Hill: Origins

Silent Hill: Origins
European cover art
DeveloperClimax Studios
PublisherKonami
DirectorMark Simmons
ProducerWilliam Oertel
DesignerSam Barlow
ProgrammerDave Owens
ArtistNeale Williams
WriterSam Barlow
ComposerAkira Yamaoka
SeriesSilent Hill
Platforms
ReleasePlayStation Portable
  • NA: 6 November 2007
  • EU: 16 November 2007
  • AU: 30 November 2007
  • JP: 6 December 2007
PlayStation 2
  • NA: 4 March 2008
  • EU: 16 May 2008
  • AU: 23 May 2008
GenreSurvival horror
ModeSingle-player

Silent Hill: Origins (stylized as Silent Hill: 0rigins) is a 2007 survival horror game developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami. It was released worldwide in late 2007 for the PlayStation Portable, beginning in early November with the United Kingdom. A port for the PlayStation 2 was released worldwide in early 2008, beginning in March with North America. The fifth installment in the Silent Hill series, Origins is a prequel to the first game (1999). Set in the series' eponymous, fictional American town, Origins follows trucker Travis Grady as he searches for information about a girl whom he rescued from a fire. Along the way, he unlocks his repressed childhood memories. Gameplay uses a third-person perspective, and emphasizes combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving, similar to the previous installments.

Origins was developed by the Portsmouth branch of the Climax Group, which was known as Climax Action at the time. It was transferred from the Los Angeles Climax branch, who closed down after facing issues with the game engine and the vision of the game; the script, monsters, and level design were redone, and aspects of Origins' atmosphere and gameplay intentionally replicated those of the first Silent Hill game. Origins was generally positively reviewed, although some reviewers wrote that it followed the formula of the series too closely and failed to add anything new. Its PlayStation 2 port received a lower aggregate score, with criticism directed towards its visuals.