Konami Producer Talks About Silent Hill Origins

At the pre-E3 conference, Konami announced that there would be a prequel to the popular Silent Hill 1, named Silent Hill Origins. Chris Remo from Shacknews got to interview bigtime Konami producer, William Oertel. Oertel gave an overview about the game: although a tie-in from the first Silent Hill and though some characters like Alessa, Dahlia and Dr. Kaufmann cross over, Silent Hill Origins is pretty much a separate game with a separate story. As for you people who are not very familiar with the Silent Hill series, the title’s namesake is an isolated lakeside resort town in the United States inhabited by mysterious forces. Demonic and disfigured creatures roam the streets and buildings, and the town continually shifts between everyday reality and a decaying “Otherworld.”

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At the pre-E3 conference, Konami announced that there would be a prequel to the popular Silent Hill 1, named Silent Hill Origins. Chris Remo from Shacknews got to interview bigtime Konami producer, William Oertel. Oertel gave an overview about the game: although a tie-in from the first Silent Hill and though some characters like Alessa, Dahlia and Dr. Kaufmann cross over, Silent Hill Origins is pretty much a separate game with a separate story. As for you people who are not very familiar with the Silent Hill series, the title’s namesake is an isolated lakeside resort town in the United States inhabited by mysterious forces. Demonic and disfigured creatures roam the streets and buildings, and the town continually shifts between everyday reality and a decaying “Otherworld.”

The game is very popular because its visual design came in with strong praises, depicting dark, fog-enshrouded, decaying environments enhanced by chilling (and very sudden) sound effects and thoroughly unnatural, disturbing and surreal/absurd creature designs, some of whom seem to have been included simply to frighten and cause mental alarm rather than cause actual physical harm. Composer Akira Yamaoka has provided atmospheric and emotional music for the game.

In the interview, Oertel said that “people that have played the first one will definitely get more out of it than somebody who’s coming in for the first time”. Konami took into consideration fans who have played all four games since they already know what Silent Hill is and who the characters are. The story is new though, as the main character – a truck driver named Travis O’Grady who is running his regular route – gets trapped in Silent Hill. And in order to escape the city, the player must explore the town, find different areas and best of all, kick some demonic butts!

Konami’s decision to put the game in the PSP platform is about opportunity since there aren’t any horror games in Sony‘s handheld, according to Oertel. The PSP’s new build will enable Konami to extend their creativity in giving excellent gaming experience to players, considering the limitations such as screen and controller that the handheld presents. One interesting detail about the game is the “cineractive” system, where at certain high impact moments, the controls will change and the player has to control the character in a different way and produce different actions. The game also utilizes a dynamic camera that’s closer to the character – shots are in third person, taken over the shoulder resulting to a better look of what’s happening in the game’s surroundings. The third person shots also lead to a better control of the game.

So if you would want to elevate your gaming experience with your PSP, why not try the Silent Hill series and look out for the release of Silent Hill Origins. Many fans and reviewers have referred to this horror series as the most frightening game ever created – so you may want to play it when you are alone in your room at night. Or you can chicken out and decide to play it when the sun is shining bright outside, denying yourself of the true, scary gaming experience that Silent Hill is offering you. You decide.

Via Shacknews