A new perspective
The Silent Hill franchise has had plenty of ups and downs over the years. Thankfully, Konami has been on a hot streak lately. The Silent Hill 2 remake was excellent, and while I didn’t love it, a lot of people enjoyed Silent Hill F. With the upcoming remake of the original, it couldn’t be a better time to be a fan. Townfall is the latest entry in the series, and once again takes a wild swing from the established formula, while still retaining that Silent Hill atmosphere. Let’s find out how it fits into the creepy and uncomfortable world of the series.
The game kicks off with more questions than answers, as is tradition. Players wake up in the town of St. Amelia, a cold lake town with plenty of fog covering the quiet, and seemingly abandoned place. He has a hospital bracelet as well as an IV still in his arm. Immediately the game gives off an eerie silence as our protagonist Simon Ardell makes his way around. Shops are closed, there are no people here, and everything just feels vacant and creepy.
MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: PlayStation (reviewed), PC
Price I’d Pay: $49.99
This is the perfect atmosphere for a Silent Hill game, and it is further enhanced since Townfall ditches the standard third-person perspective of the past games in favor of a new, more immersive first-person mode. Exploring the town like this makes its desolation more impactful. It feels cold and lonely. The opening of the game really explores the empty town and showcases that our protagonist clearly has something he needs to atone for, what that is, kept me playing until the end.
There are twists and turns that happen, much of which I will not spoil, but the story does an excellent job of keeping players interested. There are even other characters you play as that help round out the narrative. I also got plenty of context for Simon through nightmare sequences that twist and turn the city even more. A lot of the environments feel ripped out of the universe, but others are entirely unique. These are further accented thanks to the first-person perspective. It makes walking down certain corridors much more terrifying and tense.
Early on Simon gains access to the most important tool in his repertoire, the CRT TV. This allows him to see enemies through walls, as well as receive hints on what to do next. This device can be manually tuned to get looping videos giving hints on where to go and what to do next. It is a great mechanic that isn’t unlike the tracker in Alien Isolation. Speaking of that game, Townfall feels similar in several areas. While there is combat, this is a stealth first adventure. It is best to avoid as much as possible as items are limited.
Combat itself is slow and purposely sluggish. Swings take longer to wind up, and weapons can break over time. Once I got access to handguns, the ammo is very limited. This is a true survival horror game, and I found myself mostly hiding and sneaking more than taking on enemies firsthand. This is a switch up from the parrying and dodging of the last game, but it works here and makes sense. There are places Simon can hide, but if an enemy sees you go in there, they will rip you right out. Also, it is a very small, but cool feature that you can lock doors behind you. This keeps enemies at bay. This game is all about tension and they nailed it.
The visuals in Townfall are gruesome and beautiful. The first-person perspective really engulfs players into the world, and the level of detail is impressive. It is also presented in a widescreen format that makes it feel more cinematic. The enemies are twisted and well-designed, and the atmosphere really sells this game. The voice work is excellent, and the music is moody and tense. All around the presentation of the game is incredible.
Silent Hill Townfall is a great next step in the series. I am disappointed it is limited in its availability, locking the game to one platform (console at least) is disappointing as more people should get to experience this. If you own a PS5, or a decent PC though this is a must-play. Fans of Alien Isolation certainly don’t want to miss this one. Tense horror games are oftentimes miss, but Konami is back and so is SIlent Hill, and I couldn’t be happier.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.