Silent Hill f review: terrifying, mesmerising and visually striking

If there’s anything the Silent Hill video game franchise has taught me since the first game released in 1999, it’s that true horror – the kind that slithers into dreams and leaves scars in its wake – rarely comes in the form of a monster.

That remains true in Silent Hill f, the latest release in the storied series. Yes, there are horrifying monstrosities lurking about in this beautifully grotesque world – but they’re not the scariest thing around.

Produced by NeoBards Entertainment and published by Konami, Silent Hill f was a bit of a risk. Outside two much smaller projects, it’s the first new game in the franchise since 2012’s mediocre Silent Hill: Downpour. (Last year’s phenomenal Silent Hill 2 was a remake of the 2001 game of the same name.)

The new game is not set in the fictional American lake town of Silent Hill; rather, it’s set in the fictional Japanese town of Ebisugaoka, a first for the mostly developed-in-Japan series. And it very much leans into its Japanese aesthetic, from its puzzles to its creature design.

It’s a lot of change for a series that’s only just getting back from moribund status (a new entry, Silent Hill: Townfall, and a remake of the first Silent Hill are in the works). But aside from one particular shortfall, Silent Hill f works, both as an examination of trauma – and our response to it – and as a genuinely scary gameplay experience.