The Silent Hill series is legendary in terms of horror gaming, really setting the path for a lot of the titles that came after it. But like almost any long running series, it has had some amazingly successful entries and also a few lackluster, near failures. I personally got hooked on the series with Silent Hill 3, which came out in 2003 just a few years after GiN was founded in 1997. It was one of the first five GiN Gem reviews I ever awarded, and I was instantly mesmerized by both the setting and the main character, a young girl named Heather caught between the normal world and a maddening, bloody one that popped up when players least expected it.
A lot of the Silent Hill titles that came after that were good too, although not super memorable. Silent Hill: Downpour in 2012 was okay but not overly well received. Its lack of success probably contributed to the long hiatus for the series. Fans got excited with the announcement of a Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro project, Silent Hills, and even got a creepy demo in 2014 called P.T. But it all got canceled in 2015, and no Silent Hill titles remained on the horizon. At least the Resident Evil series, which was birthed at about the same time, was still going strong. Resident Evil Village was spectacular.
But somehow, the horror gods smiled on fans once more, with the release of Silent Hill f, the first new standalone, mainline title in 13 years. It’s available for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and for the PC through the Epic Games Store and on the Steam platform, where we reviewed it. This time, we are far from the settings of the other games, both in terms of time and place. Silent Hill f takes place in the secluded village of Ebisugaoka in rural Japan. It’s also set in the 1960s, so just about as different from the other titles in the series as it could possibility be. That said, it’s immediately clear that this is a Silent Hill title as it checks every single box with a seemingly innocent protagonist traveling between worlds, lots of creepy monsters, intriguing puzzles, locked doors and quite a few emotional moments as the story progresses.
We also get a new main character, and for me, this was the first time that a character from Silent Hill approached Heather from SH3 in terms of believability. The new person players are guiding in Silent Hill f is a school-age girl named Shimizu Hinako. Her life is not very great with an abusive father and a mother who long ago gave up her independence and any kind of backbone in terms of standing up for herself or her children. Shimizu hates her parents, but she also seems to have other problems with kids her own age owing to the fact that she likes to play with a male friend instead of other girls her age, something that was very much against the norm for Japanese society at that time.
However, all of that family and personal drama gets put on the backburner pretty quickly as the evils of the Silent Hill world descend on Ebisugaoka. In this case, the monsters are led by a fog creature wearing traditional Japanese garments who controls thousands of deadly red spider lily plants. After a chase sequence, we are dropped into a traditional Silent Hill type environment. The town is suddenly deserted, monsters roam the streets and players have to guide Shimizu around finding keys and other items in order to proceed and advance the story, which is done using copious cutscenes whenever you reach designated areas.
The combat in Silent Hill f is where things get a little tricky. Like other Silent Hill games before it, this one doesn’t hand you a huge arsenal or let you go in armed to the teeth. Weapons are limited, and even when you do have one, aiming can feel deliberately sluggish and imprecise. There is a focus mechanic that is supposed to let you see when a monster is about to attack so that you can counter, but I never figured out how to consistently use it. Instead, I mostly just dodged and then used strong attacks when it was obvious that the monster I was attacking was in repose, such as after it made an attack. That got me through most battles without too much trouble. It’s clear that the combat mechanic was a design choice meant to heighten tension rather than empower the player. But again, other Silent Hill titles did the same thing, even my cherished Silent Hill 3.
Battles against the creatures that stalk the misty streets of Ebisugaoka are also nerve-wracking because you rarely feel completely in control. Every encounter feels dangerous, and even a single mistake can cost you precious health or resources. There were times when I wished for a slightly tighter control scheme or a dodge mechanic with a bit more forgiveness, but at the same time, the clunkiness of combat does fit the spirit of Silent Hill. You’re not supposed to feel like a superhero here. You’re supposed to feel vulnerable, and Silent Hill f nails that sensation perfectly. The title tells you that a perfectly good strategy is to just run away sometimes, and monsters stop hunting you as soon as you break line of sight, so discretion is often the better part of valor here, making “bravely running away” a perfectly good combat strategy.
Outside of combat, the pacing and environmental design of Silent Hill f really shine. This is easily the best-looking of the titles in the series. It alternates between quiet exploration and moments of outright terror, and the terrifying moments are actually often more aesthetically pleasing, which makes them even more unsettling. The red spider lilies that creep across walls and floors are some of the most disturbing visuals I’ve seen in a horror game, pretty and deadly at the same time. And this is complimented with eerie music and sound effects. All of that combines to pull you deep into this stunning, horrific nightmare.
As far as the plot of Silent Hill f, it’s kind of complex to say the least. The mysteries surrounding the fog creature, Shimizu’s fractured psyche, her family’s troubled past and the secrets buried in the sleepy village kept me guessing the entire time. The game rewards exploration with bits of lore and hidden story fragments, giving you more reason to linger around every nook and cranny of this unsettling world even when every instinct is telling you to run.
There is also an odd design choice where there are actually five endings to the story. You can’t get the “real” ending until you have experienced two of the others, so if you want to know everything, expect to go through Silent Hill f several times. I did, but by the third time through I was pretty much speedrunning it and not really enjoying the world anymore. That said, the final ending is realistic and also satisfying in terms of wrapping up the story. There is also a hidden UFO ending which is pretty much a joke but a funny one.
In the end, Silent Hill f reminded me why I fell in love with this series back when Heather first wandered through the fog in Silent Hill 3. It has that same mix of vulnerability, mystery and psychological dread that defined the best entries in the franchise. The combat may be clunky at times and the multiple endings might stretch out the experience longer than necessary, but the atmosphere, story and emotional depth more than make up for those missteps. Like Heather before her, Shimizu feels real and human. She is someone we want to see survive, even if we’re not sure she can.
After so many years in the dark, Silent Hill f feels like the series is finally finding its way home again, even if that home is still shrouded in fog.
Developers: NeoBards Entertainment
Platforms: Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox Series X