There is many details all around that confirms a lot of the fans theories of the Silent Hill history and therefore it is a good idea to have played at least Silent Hill 1 before going after this. Since I do not want to spoil these long sought after revelations and confirmations I leave all hints out to instead concentrate on the feeling of being in Silent Hill again. Because of the fact that it is not Team Silent but Climax who made this game I naturally was pretty sceptical and did not expect a true Silent Hill experience. I was wrong! They have gotten most of the things just right, the atmosphere is as dense and pressing as the other parts of the series and the sounds are equally frightening. Visually it is familiar, but yet fresh and very good looking. I have not played that many PSP games but I have a hard time believing there is many games out there this appealing. The grainy graphics fits the theme perfectly and it makes the experience genuine.
"all in all it really is the scariest game I've seen and heard in portable form"
But the camera has problems displaying what you want to see. Many times, the camera is deliberately ill-positioned to increase the tension, but in this particular game there are many occasions when it is not at all more exciting, just ridiculous. Having to go in to a room filled with monsters and go halfway through the party before the camera allows one to see anything at all is not particularly funny at all. The button that centers the camera directly behind Travis only works if you have at least two feet to move freely behind him. The controls are a bit clumsy, something you definitely think about when you have to be economical with health drinks and other things that were just about everywhere in the other parts of the series, and sometimes you become incredibly frustrated if many enemies attack at the same time because it usually results in something resembles a turn-based RPG. Hit, get hit, hit, get hit, take health drink, hit. But yeah, if you handle it perfectly and time your attacks just right you escape unharmed most of the times.
The soundtrack is as usual very fitting, with sorts of hell staring up the player together with more musical pieces that contribute to the atmosphere in a eerie way. Of course you should play the game with headphones, especially considering that the sounds are extremely important in Silent Hill - this is even recommended in a warning screen before the game starts. Headphones on, all the lights off! Around five hours from the time I woke up in Silent Hill it was over - in spite the fact that I had been searching every corner and opening every door. The experience is in other words a little too short and there is not much of a replay value because the plot already is disclosured. If you do not want to try the unlockable stuff (which you get depending on how well you did), that is. But all in all it really is the scariest game I've seen and heard in portable form, it is like a little dream. A little wonderful nightmare.
