FIVE HOURS INTO SILENT HILL F: FINDING BEAUTY IN KONAMI'S LATEST HORROR SERIES

I wasn't sure what to expect when Konami invited me to their headquarters in Tokyo for a special preview of the latest title from its Silent Hill horror series, Silent Hill f. Konami has been pretty quiet after all, and even after the fantastic Silent Hill 2 remake last year, there was some cautious optimism.

- BY AARON YIP

Silent Hill f is, after all, Konami's first brand-new entry in over a decade, and a lot was riding on it – especially considering its curious decision to shift from the series' American backdrop to a 1960s Japanese setting.

I wasn't sure what to expect when Konami invited me to their headquarters in Tokyo for a special preview of the latest title from its Silent Hill horror series, Silent Hill f. Konami has been pretty quiet after all, and even after the fantastic Silent Hill 2 remake last year, there was some cautious optimism. Silent Hill f is, after all, Konami's first brand-new entry in over a decade, and a lot was riding on it – especially considering its curious decision to shift from the series' American backdrop to a 1960s Japanese setting. From the moment I set foot in the small town of Silent Hill f's Ebisugaoka, I knew this wasn't just another Silent Hill game. From the architecture, the fog, down to the crammed streets – it all felt eerily familiar, yet different enough to give me pause. Silent Hill f as its core is still Silent Hill, but it’s a Silent Hill that feels new. Then there’s the new protagonist, Hinako Shimizu, a high school student caught up in a nightmare of her own making and in a world where nothing is what it seems. She’s as un-hero as they come and I liked that about her. Combat is instantly familiar to Silent Hill veterans. It’s still not flashy, not cinematic, but there’s something satisfying about having Hinako swing a pipe at a monster’s face. You'll dodge, strike, and scramble for anything you can find - an old pipe, a piece of scrap metal. It’s messy. And that’s where Silent Hill f shines.