Short answers, pulled from the story.
Climax Studios released Silent Hill Origins on the 6th of November 2007 for the PlayStation Portable in North America. The game later launched across multiple regions including Europe and Japan during late 2007.
Development shifted to Portsmouth where the UK team received a version intended as a dark comedy inspired by Scrubs before Konami allowed changes within budget constraints. Sam Barlow rewrote the script, level design, and monsters within a single week during August 2007.
Travis Grady swerves his truck to avoid hitting a spirit manifestation of Alessa in the foggy streets of Silent Hill in 1992. He rescues the real Alessa from flames that consumed her during a ritual which sets off a chain of events leading him deep into the town's dark history.
Health status appears only in the inventory screen while critical health causes the edges of the screen to throb red. Heartbeats grow louder as danger increases replacing traditional heads-up displays found in other games.
Akira Yamaoka composed the score released as Silent Hill Zero Original Soundtracks on the 25th of January 2008 in Japan. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn provided vocals for four tracks written by Joe Romersa who had worked together on the fourth installment in 2004.