Ratings board gives away Silent Hill f's gut-churning tricks, listing face-slicing, arm-sawing and, worst of all, 'exposed buttocks'

The teenage protagonist of Silent Hill f, wearing a Japanese schoolgirl uniform.

(Image credit: Konami)

The ESRB—Entertainment Software Rating Board—is, notionally, there to stick age ratings on games that make sure little Timmy and Sally aren't scarred for life by the torture scene in GTA 5. In reality, I'm beginning to suspect the whole thing is a gigantic operation made to scupper games industry PRs' carefully laid marketing plans. Like when it leaked the Horizon remaster, or Skull & Bones, or Quake, or Catherine.

It's not doing much leaking today, but the ESRB has nonetheless gone absolutely ham describing just what kind of nastiness you can expect from Konami's upcoming Silent Hill f, which just recently broke cover with a new trailer after a prolonged period of silence following the success of Bloober Team's third-person wife-finder. It takes place in the '60s, is the first Silent Hill set in Japan, and its core concept is, says script-writer Ryukishi07, "Find the beauty in terror."

Which is no day at the zoo, let me tell you. It doesn't sound like Konami is letting Silent Hill f's teenage girl protagonist get in the way of doing horrible things to her. In addition to all the, you know, face-ripping and burning, we've also got a "woman branded by a hot iron; entrails and sinew displayed on serving platters in fantastical celebration/ceremony; a character sawing off her own arm," and "a character slicing off portions of a character's face during a ritual."

Which, if you're used to the ESRB's précised, back-of-the-box stickers that just say stuff like "Mild violence" and what-have-you, is a little bit more detailed than you might be expecting. Still, better to know these things than not if you might find them upsetting.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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