Silent Hill f review: This terrifying horror deserves an A+

Revitalised after the smash success of Silent Hill 2 remake which Bloober Team flexed their experienced muscles on, Konami have given the next stab at a brand new entry to NeoBards Entertainment, who have miraculously delivered something terrifying and stunning with Silent Hill f.

Seemingly understanding exactly what is needed to make a good Silent Hill game – surprise, being set in a discreet US town flooded with Pyramid Head clones isn’t everything – NeoBards have taken the dense fog and fever dream storytelling to Japan and landed on a game that I’m convinced fans won’t just adore. They’ll be dissecting it for months to come as they push for every ending and read into every facial expression and vocal intonation as seemingly innocuous lines give away more than first thought.

You play as Hinako Shimizu, a schoolgirl trying to understand why her small town of Ebisugaoka is suddenly over run by weird creatures and dense fog as she frantically searches for her friends as her story unravels in typical Silent Hill fashion. There’s hints of problems at home, bad blood at school and family expectations – underpinned by the 1960s Japan setting which saw women fighting patriarchal and cultural repression after the war.

This is echoed by the creature designs, which seemingly speak to the view of women as nothing more than objects to serve society, and blend both beautiful and grotesque ascetics to create some unsettling and deeply memorable monsters the series has ever seen. Leaning into more traditional Japanese Horror, Konami described Silent Hill f as "finding the terror in beauty", and it shows as the infected town grows blood red flowers and bulging masses over every crack and surface. It’s simultaneously a walk worthy of the gram, yet uncomfortable and haunting.

As the story progresses, you’ll find Hinako moving between the real world and another more darker realm. Instead of following the series staple of a rusted mirrored dimension, this realm is a minimalist maze of shrines and alters with a fox-masked deity leading Hinako through a series of trials to prove herself, digging deeper into her psyche and relationships with her family and friends.

The story isn’t instantly understandable, it’s Silent Hill after all, so nothing's ever clear from the get go, and even after rolling credits for the first time there was still so much to unpick and a lot open to interpretation, but it’s one I’m still thinking about now and will no doubt be thinking about for weeks. With each slightly-off interaction with Hinako’s ‘friends’, or line that lacks the context to make sense, I want to push on to find out more and get the answer, any answer.

Combat is melee only, which despite early fears of being heavily souls influenced, makes contextual sense and means you never feel like Rambo running through claustrophobic streets of Ebisugaoka and corridors of schools. Instead relying on items like pipes, bats and knives you find in the world around you – which fair warning, are all breakable.

There’s a little bit more to it than swinging violently until your enemy falls, not least of all because your limited stamina means you’ll only get a few swings in before you’re out of puff and need a breather, leaving you wide open for some horrendous combos that’ll have you on the restart menu in the blink of an eye. Instead, you’ll need to play your swings and time your dodges, with perfect dodges resetting your stamina bar completely.

Each enemy has their own routine of attacks and, more importantly, a small opening where you can counter for a much more devastating attack. You’ll get a visual nod on screen to take your shot as the edges of the enemy flash ever so slightly like RGB lines, so you’ll need to pay attention, especially because it only appears when you’re standing still.

You can use Focus, helping you to spot the cue easier, but this depletes your sanity over time – a meter which, once gone, sees your health take damage instead. So it’s crucial to keep an eye on, as many enemies deliver screams and other psychological attacks which eat at your sanity. When the Focus gauge is full, you’ll also be able to pull off a much more powerful attack, but this also depletes your sanity over time.

It’s not overly deep, but the balance is just right, giving you those fleeting moments of feeling powerful enough to tackle an enemy head on, but never feeling brave enough to go bulldozing in if there’s more than one around – which continues all the way into the later game. You’ll learn tricks, you’ll make small upgrades and pick up some stronger weapons – but everything has a trade off and you’ll always feel tense about moving into new areas.

Haniko can get some upgrades – each shrine you save the game at can also be given offerings such as healing items, antique combs and dried in exchange for faith, which can in turn be used to extend your core stats or buy Omamori – charms you can equip for some extra buffs such as increasing the window for a perfect dodge, for example.

Scaling down to a small village and the structures within it makes for some tight environments to explore – and ripe for jump scares. Thankfully, Silent Hill f doesn’t over play its hand here. Sure, there’s plenty to get your blood pumping as some grotesque shape comes bursting through a door or falling from the ceiling, but the environmental storytelling of blood stained rooms and crumpled notes littered in abandoned homes pushes the tension up – as you walk past a locked door or crumpled enemy that isn’t moving… yet.

The downside, however, means some fights in these enclosed spaces can on occasion make camera angles a little awkward, meaning you might just spend a chunk of stamina dodging to get a better view, which is less than ideal with so little to play with.

There’s puzzles to solve along Hinako’s journey too, which I don’t want to even begin spoiling, and while some were definitely head scratchers, I enjoyed the return of those macabre tasks that had me pulling gory, undefinable items out of bodies and revealing grotesqueries in the world around me.

Sound is a huge part of horror and, more specifically, one of the tentpoles in the Silent Hill franchise that still endures.

Thankfully, Silent Hill f understands the assignment here and sticks the landing. Akira Yamaoka – a return which fans will be happy to hear – along with composer Kensuke Inage have created a soundscape that blends traditional Japanese court music, with the more familiar sounds and styles previous Silent Hill entries have enjoyed. As ever Yamaoka’s presence is felt in every fearful footstep and jump scare along the way.

In many ways, Silent Hill f is almost a combination of the franchises greatest hits, from subtle moments like the occasional radio static rearing its head to ratchet the tension up, to chase moments like those you’d find in Shattered Memories. There’s even a looping house moment that instantly made me think of PT, and one I won’t forget anytime soon.

Silent Hill f marks the return of the franchise in a big way. It’s revitalised, it’s exciting, it’s haunting and it’s terrifying. With the doors wide open for more horror and experimentation to expand the franchise, I can’t wait for more.

Silent Hill f launches 25th September for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

We reviewed Silent Hill f on PS5, and you can order your own copy now.

Read more on Silent Hill:

• Silent Hill 2 review: How did we rate the remake?
• Silent Hill 1 remake confirmed with Bloober Team at the helm
• Silent Hill games in order: Release and story timeline

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.