SILENT HILL: Townfall is an interesting departure for Konami’s long-running survival horror series, handing development to Screen Burn and moving the action into the first person for the first full-length entry to do so. Set in Scotland in 1996, the game follows Simon Ordell as he returns to the isolated island of St. Amelia, where something terrible has happened and his own connection to the town gradually comes to light. The premise initially keeps its cards close to its chest, using environmental storytelling, fragmented conversations and discoveries to build a mystery around Simon and the people who lived on the island. That approach works reasonably well, although the central story ultimately feels less distinctive than the presentation suggests. Several of the themes surrounding guilt, trauma, loss and the consequences of corporate power fit naturally within the series’ psychological horror tradition, but the actual mystery can be rather predictable and Simon himself never becomes quite as compelling as the story needs him to be. The more direct storytelling does at least provide enough momentum to keep the investigation moving, while the multiple endings give players a reason to revisit St. Amelia once the credits roll.
Where Townfall really distinguishes itself is in how its first-person perspective changes the relationship between the player and the horror. St. Amelia is deliberately difficult to read at a glance, with fog, darkness, confined interiors and an intentionally restricted field of view making it difficult to know what might be waiting around the next corner. The result is an effective sense of vulnerability, particularly when enemies begin stalking Simon rather than simply standing around waiting to be defeated. Stealth consequently becomes the dominant way of playing, with players encouraged to crouch, observe patrol routes, make use of cover and distract enemies with objects before deciding whether an encounter is worth fighting. That works extremely well in the more carefully constructed sequences, especially when a larger pursuer begins actively hunting Simon, but the balance is not always as successful. Several sections require extended periods of waiting for enemies to move, and the effect becomes increasingly tiresome when backtracking forces players to repeat the same process. What initially makes the player feel powerless can eventually make the player feel impatient instead.
The CRTV is easily the most successful gameplay idea in Townfall because it manages to connect exploration, survival and storytelling into one mechanic. Rather than simply functioning as another piece of equipment, Simon’s portable television provides information about nearby creatures while also receiving strange transmissions containing clues about St. Amelia and its inhabitants. Holding it up to inspect the world can reveal threats through walls and other obstacles, but doing so also means temporarily taking attention away from what is happening directly in front of Simon. That creates a useful risk-and-reward dynamic, while the use of the DualSense’s motion controls to tune and calibrate the device gives the mechanic a physical presence rather than reducing it to another HUD element. The controller is otherwise used effectively, with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers contributing to the sensation of nearby threats and weapon use. Some stealth mechanics, such as leaning out from cover, are less convincing because the CRTV can sometimes make them redundant, but the overall interaction design is strong and the CRTV is one of the few mechanics that genuinely feels like its own contribution to the Silent Hill formula.
Combat is intentionally secondary, and that is both one of Townfall’s strengths and one of its potential frustrations. Simon can use improvised melee weapons and firearms, but ammunition and durable weapons are limited enough that simply attacking everything is rarely the sensible option. Melee combat revolves around basic attacks and blocking, while firearms provide a more decisive response at the cost of noise and scarce ammunition. When the different systems come together, encounters can become tense combat puzzles in which players alternate between stealth, melee attacks, gunfire and throwable distractions. Unfortunately, the relatively small bestiary and some inconsistent enemy behaviour undermine this design. There are only a handful of enemy types, and the limited variety becomes noticeable over a campaign that can last roughly ten to fifteen hours depending on exploration and play style. Enemy AI can also behave unpredictably, sometimes making detection feel less like the result of a player’s mistake and more like an inconsistent response from the game. The scarcity of genuine combat encounters also means that the game’s single major boss confrontation stands out more than it probably should.
The puzzles fare considerably better. Townfall frequently incorporates its riddles into the world rather than treating them as arbitrary obstacles, with computers, floppy disks, telephones, analogue equipment and other pieces of 1990s technology becoming part of the solution. The strongest puzzles also reinforce the narrative, allowing players to learn more about St. Amelia while figuring out what to do next. That integration is particularly effective because it makes investigation feel like a natural part of the survival horror rather than a separate gameplay layer. Not every puzzle lands perfectly, however, and some solutions can feel insufficiently explained or artificially obscure. One particularly demanding sequence can become frustrating when the player understands the objective but not the precise interaction the game expects. Still, the overall variety keeps the exploration moving, and the puzzles provide a welcome counterweight to the repetition that can creep into the stealth sections.
Visually, Townfall makes excellent use of its 1996 setting. St. Amelia feels convincingly rooted in its period, from its architecture and shops to its telephones, computers, paperwork, analogue equipment and other small environmental details. The fog is obviously central to the presentation, but the game does more with it than simply obscure distant scenery. Lighting, narrow interiors and the contrast between mundane locations and more nightmarish versions of them create some genuinely oppressive spaces, while the optional cinematic black bars further reinforce the intended presentation. The character work is somewhat less impressive, with Simon lacking the presence of a particularly memorable protagonist and some facial and physical animations falling short of the very best modern productions. Creature designs are similarly mixed, and the limited number of enemy types makes their visual repetition more apparent over time. Even so, the environmental detail is consistently strong enough to make exploring St. Amelia worthwhile, and the town itself often tells more interesting stories than its inhabitants do.
The audio design is arguably even more successful. The combination of environmental sounds, creature noises, the CRTV’s interference and Pilotpriest’s electronic score creates an atmosphere that can make apparently empty streets feel threatening. Rather than relying exclusively on sudden scares, Townfall often lets sound signal that something is nearby before the player can see it, which works particularly well with the first-person perspective. The soundscape also makes the stalking sequences substantially more effective, as distant movement, breathing and other environmental details can make it difficult to determine where a threat is coming from. The English voice performances are solid as well, although the game’s strongest audiovisual work is clearly in its environmental sound and music rather than its character animation. On PS5, the presentation is generally convincing, although occasional frame-rate fluctuations in certain areas suggest that the technical finish is not completely flawless.
Ultimately, SILENT HILL: Townfall works best when it stops trying to recreate the series through familiar storytelling conventions and instead builds its own horror around perspective, isolation and the CRTV. The first-person camera makes St. Amelia feel threatening in a way that a conventional third-person viewpoint would struggle to replicate, while the combination of stealth, limited combat, environmental puzzles and analogue technology gives the game a clear identity. At its best, Townfall can be genuinely unnerving, particularly during its extended pursuit sequences and the sections that strip away Simon’s ability to fight back. Its problems are mainly ones of repetition and narrative impact: stealth can become overextended, enemy variety and AI are limited, backtracking can turn tension into frustration, and Simon’s personal story does not always carry the emotional weight the premise promises. Townfall therefore does not reinvent Silent Hill, but its most successful ideas demonstrate that the series can still find interesting ways to make players uncomfortable without simply returning to the same formula. For a studio stepping into one of horror gaming’s most recognisable worlds, that is a substantial achievement, even if St. Amelia never quite becomes as unforgettable as it initially appears.
Score: 8.3/10