History VideoGame / SilentHillOrigins

A {{prequel}} released for the handheld UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable and later ported to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, ''Origins'' is a retelling of the events that happened seven years before ''VideoGame/SilentHill1''. It stars a trucker named Travis Grady, whose attempts to take a shortcut through Silent Hill get sidetracked by a figure running onto the road and a house on fire. After bailing a mysterious (and very, very crispy) girl out of her house, he passes out and awakes in the completely deserted streets of Silent Hill. His attempts to find out what exactly happened to the girl lead him all over the town and eventually get him embroiled in mysterious cult activity, as well as the [[DarkAndTroubledPast troubled past]] of his that appears to be a prerequisite for ''Franchise/SilentHill'' protagonists.

* ActionizedSequel: While the game does feature "better" controls and a bigger emphasis on killing monsters, the combat was going to be similar to that of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' with a close, over-the-shoulder camera view. There were also plans to introduce a laser aiming module for guns and a barricade system to block monsters from accessing certain areas. In October 2006, the U.S.-based team was sacked and production was moved to another studio in the U.K., and those plans were scrapped.

* TheArtifact:Since all the pre-rendered cutscenes were already created before the game was re-written, looking closely shows it's actually a masked man that Travis swerves to avoid, not Alyessa, "Mr.Twilight", a masked Cultist who'd eventually be revealed to be Kaufmann, this entire plot thread was removed but the cutscene still shows him.

* JokeEnding: The game swaps to a very {{Animesque}} style for its UFO ending, where [[spoiler:Travis attempts to enter the motel room where his parents died, only for the key to not work. Suddenly, an alien appears with the dog from the second game's dog ending. The alien explains that since Travis left his truck in the middle of the road at the start of the game, the aliens moved the trick to their planet, and invites Travis to visit and pick up the truck. Travis agrees, and enthusiastically asks if he can pilot the UFO, to which the alien asks "Do you [[DrivingStick drive stick]]", and they [[EverybodyLaughsEnding both laugh as they get pulled up by the tractor beam]]]].

* EverythingFades: Zig-zagged. Rank and file enemies will leave corpses that don't vanish, but bigger monsters like the Caliban and Giant Carrion will either fade or dissolve in a cloud of greenish-black smoke -- likely to avoid the carcasses either blocking pathways if solid or causing immersion-breaking clipping issues if not.

* EverythingFades: Zig-zagged. Rank and file enemies will leave corpses that don't vanish, but bigger monsters like the Caliban and Giant Carrion will either fade or dissolve in a cloud of greenish-black smoke (likely to avoid the carcasses either blocking pathways or causing awkward clipping issues).

* InfinityMinusOneSword: The Moon Gauntlets in NewGamePlus. The majority of regular enemies are easily taken down with a quick one-two from these and they're completely indestructible, but they are still a melee weapon, so you'll likely want to switch to a firearm for the bigger, nastier monsters you'd rather not get in close to.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: The unlockable Tesla rifle doesn't pack the biggest punch out of all available guns, but it does have infinite ammunition, making pretty much every monster encounter a breeze.

* SprintMeter: Travis can't run very long (compared to other ''Franchise/SilentHill'' protagonists) before he gets winded unless he downs an energy drink or is wearing the Sprinter outfit. It's [[JustifiedTrope justified]] somewhat in that interactions with the game world reveal that Travis is a smoker, and he probably inhaled some smoke from the fire he went into at the beginning of the game as well, making things worse. [[spoiler:The fact that Helen tried to gas Travis and herself to death when he was a child could also be a factor.]]

* HollywoodDarkness: Not only are things much more visible than ever before in the "dark", but you're also allowed to check your map and interact with/pick up objects when the flashlight is off. This makes it easy as pie to hoard weapons and supplies in indoor areas, since you can simply keep the light off and weave past most enemies without them ever noticing you.

* BuffySpeak: Travis, while holding up a piece of the MacGuffin: "Hey! I've got your... your THING for you!" Justified in that he had just faced the most traumatic event of his whole life. He wasn't exactly in the right state of mind. Plus, neither he nor the player (unless they've played ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'') actually know what it is at that point.

** At several points, Travis has no good reason to stick around the highly dangerous Silent Hill. His initial motivation of finding out what happened to Alessa is quickly resolved (he does believe it when he is told by Lisa that she is dead), and unlike the other protagonists of the series he has no personal investment in getting to the bottom of the town's mysteries, and his determination to do so seems to be purely for the reason that there would be no plot otherwise, thouh it is worth noting that all the roads are gone like in other games if the player tries to leave.

* ContinuityNod: The whole game, but specific callbacks to ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'' include a redone version of [[spoiler:Dahlia and Alessa's conversation shortly before the poor girl was sacrificed]], a redone version of [[spoiler:Dahlia and Kaufmann's conversation about the summoning spell to draw Cheryl back to Alessa]], and [[spoiler:the graveyard in which Harry and his wife find Cheryl]].

* HeroBall: At several points, Travis has no good reason to stick around the highly dangerous Silent Hill. His initial motivation of finding out what happened to Alessa is quickly resolved (he does believe it when he is told by Lisa that she is dead), and unlike the other protagonists of the series he has no personal investment in getting to the bottom of the town's mysteries, and his determination to do so seems to be purely for the reason that there would be no plot otherwise, thouh it is worth noting that all the roads are gone like in other games if the player tries to leave.

* ICantReachIt: Travis simply ''refuses'' to leave the demon-infested hospital before he finds the girl, who's probably already dead for all he knows.

* TragicMonster: Both of Travis's parents are incarnated [[spoiler:as literal monsters]] during the game. Travis is not too pleased with Alessa about this.

* UnwittingPawn: Travis pretty much doesn't do anything or go anywhere unless directed to by the clues he finds.

* NonAppearingTitle: The first song played in the game is titled "O.R.T." This stands for '''O'''ral '''R'''ehydration '''T'''herapy - which is extremely relevant to Alessa, considering it's used used to treat ''burn victims.'' Of course, the song itself isn't about this type of therapy, and is never even mentioned.