Formulaic Horror – The Game “Silent Hill f” is Set in 1960s Japan
The game “Silent Hill f” is set in 1960s Japan – and is otherwise rather old-school. In its best moments, this creates genuine horror. Otherwise: frustration.
The high school student wanders through a deserted town; the fog is impenetrable. Everything feels like a nightmare that refuses to end. From the left, out of the dark alley, a ghastly groan is audible. Someone is there – or something. So the teenager runs, down the street, desperate to escape the sound. Until she stops before a waist-high fence. For here, the game says, the path ends. A red X appears on the map: dead end.
In its best moments, *Silent Hill f* is like a warm blanket for old-school horror fans. The game leans into familiar motifs of the series and draws upon many gameplay mechanics of the survival horror genre that already terrified players thirty years ago. Today, however, when playing, the question sometimes arises: Is this still horror, or merely unimaginative game design?
Yet, *Silent Hill f* initially does some things differently. As the first main installment in the series, the game is not set in the namesake American small town but in rural Japan of the 1960s. The plot focuses on high school student Hinako Shimizu, whose hometown of Ebisugaoka is swallowed by a dense fog. With the fog, grotesque monsters appear, and the surroundings transform into a surreal landscape.
Friends, family – everything familiar suddenly becomes strange and eerie. And players must survive in this hostile world. In *Silent Hill f*, typical for the series, much unfolds not on a material but a psychological level. The horrors of the external world are often mirror images of what is happening within the protagonist. Things that have long been suppressed. What these torments are, players must discover for themselves, and they won’t be revealed here.
Frightening Limitations
Horror, especially in video games, is always a balancing act. For example: If something horrific happens in the game world, but players are looking in a different direction, the horror dissipates. Thus, horror games often need to be more tightly controlled than other games. They impose more limitations to truly terrify players.
*Silent Hill f* fully embraces this approach – and occasionally loses its balance in the process. This starts with the inventory, which is severely limited. Protagonist Hinako cannot simply pick up everything she finds on her path. Be it helpful items like healing supplies or essential items like keys: Players must carefully decide what to take and what to leave behind or use immediately. This is a well-known mechanic – and still works very well. A sense of security never arises this way.
Weapons in the game also cannot be used endlessly. They wear down and must be maintained with repair kits. Otherwise, they break after a short time. Naturally, there aren’t many of these kits. And so, it’s often a better idea to run away from enemies than to constantly bash them.
