I first played Silent Hill on the original PlayStation 26 years ago, and after enjoying last year's Silent Hill 2 remake, I had high hopes for Silent Hill f. Ultimately, those hopes fell as flat as the knife-wielding monster children of the original game.
Silent Hill f is a notable departure from the franchise's previous entries, with no ties to the town that drives the series' horror. It feels like Konami may have slapped the Silent Hill name on an unrelated game, similar to the online theory about 2004's Silent Hill 4: The Room.
Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
To put it simply, Silent Hill f doesn't have the same psychological thrill, interesting lore or even likable characters the series is known for. Instead, this game comes off like an early 2000s anime involving Japanese schoolchildren secretly hiding how much they want to kill one another, which makes sense considering the writer of the story is Ryukishi07, the pen name of the author of the Higurashi: When They Cry visual novel series, which is about Japanese schoolchildren killing each other. Just a bit too much on the nose.
As far as I can tell, at least in my first playthrough, Silent Hill f has no connection to the other Silent Hill games. There are three additional endings in New Game Plus, which may have a link. Hell, I don't even know what the "f" even refers to. However, it took me 10 hours to beat the game once, and I have zero interest in doing it again just for the chance of getting a nugget of a connection to the other games.
Did I get some jump scares? Sure. Did I enjoy some of the twists in the story? Absolutely. Did I remark that the feminine mechanical enemies that freeze in seductive poses when they're about to attack you are a sign of the developers being a bit too horny? Of course I did, but nevertheless, I did not have an enjoyable time with Silent Hill f.
I need a hit of White Claudia
Silent Hill f follows Shimizu Hinako, an athletic schoolgirl from a troubled family in a rural Japanese town during the 1960s. One day, her parents get into a big argument, so she goes to meet up with her friends. The town quickly becomes a nightmare as strange monsters appear, as well as some mysterious red plant growth.
Do not take your eyes off these scarecrows. Konami
Throughout the game, Hinako fights monsters with a range of weapons such as a crowbar, bat and axe. Though there are no firearms typically seen in other Silent Hill games, she eventually gets a special weapon later in the game that can decimate enemies.
... continue reading