Silent Hill Townfall Preview — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] In my restless dreams, I see... Scotland? Here is everything to know about the next foggy installment of Silent Hill Town Falls.

[00:15] Silent Hill Town Falls' plot is still shrouded in mystery, but having played three hours of the game myself at a preview event back in July, here's the gist so far. Town Falls surrounds three main characters, Simon, Zoe, and Richard.

[00:30] three individuals who find themselves in the mist-covered Scottish harbour town of St. Amelia in 1996. Simon emerges from the ocean on the town's docks with an IV bag taped to his arm and strapped to his hand.

[00:46] With no idea as to why he's there. All we know is that he's there to put some things to rest for the town to We can make this right. make things right. At least, that's according to the game's opening voiceover.

[01:00] But many of the who, lies, and what still remain very unclear. As they should. This is Silent Hill, after all. Without revealing too much, all I can say is that Zoe is a nurse,

[01:15] and she's trying to find you, putting Simon on a quest to also find her, while sneaking around in horrific monstrosities that roamed in Amelia's streets.

[01:27] There are other variables at play, too. a town that's been harmed by an energy company known as CEG, which has caused protests and unrest among its locals. Teams of industrialization are ripping through its community,

[01:40] causing a grave effect on the limits of its healthcare system. But beyond that, why Simon, an American wandering through this Scottish town, is the one to make things right, or how Richard fits into this cryptic puzzle, is still unclear.

[01:54] Like Silent Hill F before it, Town Hall is being treated as a spin-off of the series, and has no obvious relation to the other games outside of winks and nods like the nine red squares from Silent Hill 2 Silent Hill Townfall is being developed by Glasgow Scotland developer Screen Burn Interactive formerly known as NoCode

[02:21] After Screen Burn shipped its game Observation in 2019, publisher AntPermit Interactive reached out to Screen Burn to ask if they'd like to pitch a Silent Hill game to Konami. John McKellen, writer and director of Silent Hill Townfall, has been a longtime Silent Hill fan,

[02:36] ever since playing Silent Hill 1 while being apparently very ill with fever. The experience is so strange, he recalls, that he refuses to play the game ever again in order to retain that literal fever dream-like experience.

[02:49] Having sat down with McKellen, he told me that he had a Silent Hill 2 fan page back in 2002. So, McKellen and the team were on board, to say the least. So, the team put together a pitch, took it to tsunami, and, well, obviously, they greenlit it.

[03:05] With John McKellen at the helm of writing and directing, the game's lead designer is his brother, Graham McKellen. From the very beginning of production, Screen Burn had known they wanted the game to be in first person,

[03:17] a big part of that being the game's standout feature, the CRTV, a handheld FM AM radio TV. Knowing that the player would be pulling up the CRT to use it to receive story beats,

[03:31] reveal enemy locations, and clues, it would only work if the game was through the player's perspective. The development of Silent Hill Townfall has been such a pivotal moment for Screen Burn Interactive that it is the reason it rebranded its name from No Code

[03:45] to Screen Burn in 2025. To match the analog aesthetic, the studio has made a part of its house style since Stories Untold and Observation. In fact, the director told me that a lot of the footage you'll be seeing on this here TV

[03:59] was actually filmed off of a CRT using a camera and then put into game. So, little analog touches like that.

[04:16] Summer Hill Town Hall is one of many supposed spin games that take the franchise out of the titular town and place it in different locales around the world, the prior being the 1960s set Japan installment Silent Hill F.

[04:31] According to series producer Motoi Okamoto, these spinoffs are part of Konami's bigger strategy to release a new Silent Hill every year, starting with Bloober Team's remake of Silent Hill 2 in 2024. F in 2025, and now Townfall in 2026.

[04:48] And yes, of course, Soundheld's short message, which also came out in 2024, but, you know, that was a little guy. We'll kind of see some of the radar sometimes. While Townfall was at first considered to vaguely take place in Northern Europe,

[05:00] Screenburn went all in on setting it in a Scottish town, and based it off the real Harbour Village state moans. Lastly, the game's soundtrack is composed by electronic musician Pilot Priest, who became a part of the game's development to help with sound design

[05:15] and making sure its music was an integral part of the experience. While the series composer Kira Yamaoka is not returning for this title,

[05:30] Pilot Tree's detuned piano compositions do fit well in the series, carving out an identity of its own for Townfall. Soundfall uses a first-person perspective, which is supported by the game's emphasis on stealth.

[05:47] As Simon, you'll often be crouched, peeking around corners, using distractions like bottles, car alarms, or turn-on radios to draw monsters away so you can get on by. If you're caught, you can defend yourself using a trusty 2x4 plank if you have one handy, but its durability is limited and its reliability varies.

[06:06] varies, so running is often the way to go, where you'll be looking for the nearest closet to hide in. Simon eventually gets his hand on a revolver, but he's also no marksman, and ammo is very

[06:18] limited. Using a gun should be a last resort as it alarm monsters around you and send them running your way As mentioned earlier the CRTV is the key feature tying everything together as you be using it often to locate enemies

[06:32] granting you an ability sort of like being able to see through the environment with X-ray vision. The CRTV is also vital in finding clues to solve cryptic puzzles, a mainstay in the Silent Hill theory, as well as to and into transmissions,

[06:46] often revealing important narrative themes and hints as to where to go next. If this looks or feels like Alien Isolation, well, that's no coincidence, as some of its development team worked on that game too.

[06:58] Playing on PlayStation 5 will offer several DualSense enhancements, including gyro controls for tuning into transmissions with the CRTV, as well as aiming your weapon. Having gotten hands-on with it, I will say that DualSense's features are implemented well, and especially while aiming a gun.

[07:14] Considering Simon doesn't aim down a weapon's sights, ammo is precious, enemies move all weird, missing a single shot is the worst feeling in the world. And, well, the gyro aiming can actually help a little bit with this.

[07:26] It's been said that Silent Hill Townfall is about 12 to 15 hours and will feature five different endings. Thank you.

[08:02] the digital art book, and the digital soundtrack, which will run you $59.99. Just note that that version does not come with the rusted CRTV skin.

[08:14] If you do want that and everything else, pre-order the digital deluxe version and you will receive Simon's alternate outfit, the art book, the soundtrack, the CRTV skin, as well as 48 hours early access to the game.

[08:27] Just don't go spoiling the game's live endings for everyone else, alright? Okay, stay here for more coverage of Silent Hill Town Hall.