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Silent Hill: Townfall Returns to Frightening First-Person Horror
by George Yang,
I got to see about 30 minutes of hands-off gameplay for the next Silent Hill game, Silent Hill: Townfall. It's another radical departure and might be the most interesting and creepy entry yet.
This entry is being developed by Screen Burn (formerly known as No Code), the studio behind the sci-fi horror game Observation, which was one of my favorite indie games back in 2019.
Townfall is taking things to Europe this time around, specifically the fictional island of St. Amelia in Scotland, the country where the studio is based. It follows a young man named Simon Ordell as he comes to the island in search of a woman who's been appearing on his CRTV hand radio. The radio is a classic item found in every Silent Hill game, and the radio in Simon's hand is Townfall's interpretation of it.
Simon constantly has his hand radio out, as the footage playing on it points him in the direction that he needs to go. St. Amelia is rather creepy as well. No one else is there, and it's filled with fog, a classic horror genre trope. One thing that makes Townfall different is that it's a first-person perspective, whereas the last few were third-person. I can definitely see how this could enhance the horror and immersion later on.
As he's led into an abandoned home, he looks around to find plenty of letters and papers scattered across. Unlike James and Hinako in Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill f, respectively, Simon doesn't really say anything out loud, which sets him apart from them. Instead, we hear his inner dialogue, with text plastered across the screen, including phrases like “No one is here.” It's a new way to convey dialogue that we haven't seen in a while, so it's a welcome change.
Townfall has its own share of puzzles to solve, and this time, Screen Burn wanted to stay more realistic. The demo's fusebox puzzle required finding an electricity card and inserting it, which is a process that's uniquely cultural to the Scottish (as far as I know). Simon finds a nearby store to search for an electricity card, but unfortunately, the front door is locked. So he needs to find another way in!
But that's when he encounters a monster, a gray and disgusting bipedal creature fitted with straps, stumbling down the street. To get to the back of the shop, Simon has to navigate around the monster. Many games typically have the protagonist use some sort of “vision” to see through walls, and the radio lets him do that. He can see silhouettes of monster positions on the screen, and the player can use that information to time their escape. Simon can also peek around corners while staying hidden.
In the shop, Simon finds the card he needs for the fuse box, as well as a wooden 2x4 plank that can be used as a weapon. And what do you know, now it's time to fight the monster! From a first-person perspective, the combat looks pretty heavy. While I can't say for sure right now whether it's on the clunkier side like Silent Hill f, it definitely seems like you'll need to be methodical with your strikes.
Simon can also revive himself using an IV attached to his arm, which was a bit confusing. But this is just a demo, and I'm sure there's an in-game explanation somewhere, like how Ethan Winters can heal himself with just dousing liquid chemicals in Resident Evil 7. We just haven't gotten that context quite yet. The demo cuts after Simon gets back up to try to defeat the monster again.
At this point, Silent Hill: Townfall left me with more questions than answers, but in a good way. I'm really intrigued by the Scottish setting and cultural background of the game. It feels familiar, yet there are plenty of distinct differences that give the game its own identity. It's definitely very, very creepy. And again, as a big Observation fan, I can't wait to see what the rest of Silent Hill: Townfall has in store when it launches on September 24 for PC and PS5.
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