Silent Hill: Origins is a prequel to the popular Silent Hill series. It dates before Silent Hill 1 (1999), hence the name and the "0" with a line through it in the logo suggesting Zero as well as "O". Silent hill: Origins tells a tate of a truck driver named Travis Grady on a routine delivery who stumbles across the disturbing town of Silent Hill. Not long after his arrival he realises that the locals aren't quite normal and the town seems to introduce Travis' memories of his depressing childhood, reminding him at every corner... He must escape Silent Hill and defeat the memories that have troubled him eversince childhood.

Silent Hill: Origins has new elements to its gameplay which previous Silent Hill games did not have. The camera angles have been re-made to fit the PSP which introduce a new level of anxiety and horror. Originally new a "barracade" system has been introduced which lets the player block doorways and such with surrounding objects to bar the enemy's path, however William Oertel (CLIMAX Studios) has commented on the fact that it would have taken too much time to finish and would postpone the release further and further, so this element of gameplay was taken out of the game. Sources suggest that Silent Hill: Origins may well introduce some new, and previous characters such as Dallia and Alessa Gillespie and Dr. Kaufmann and others from the past games. William Oertel has offically stated that the ending to the game will directly link in to the story of Silent Hill 1. Along with this, as any Silent Hill, comes brand new monsters!