Silent Hill: Townfall

Silent Hill: Townfall opens with Simon swimming to the shore of St. Amelia, a Scottish island. An IV line is in his hand, tethered to an unidentifiable bag tapped crudely to his arm. Much like the preceding Silent Hill games, he’s lost and confused. Simon wanders the seemingly abandoned island town like a ghost being pulled by an invisible string. Slowly but surely the pieces come together, and the truth unfolds.

Townfall is a solid entry in the series that lacks the ambition of Silent Hill 2 remake in terms of scale, depth, and polish. This gaiden entry, much like Silent Hill f, while a decent game on its own, shows its limitations. The Silent Hill 2 remake, after all, is a tough act to follow.

The haunting atmosphere and the untangling of the mystery is a strength that doesn’t quite reach its full potential. Environments, while visually interesting, are limited, with some areas overstaying their welcome due to heavy backtracking and with many rooms and homes (and the objects therein) appearing as duplications. The story, while mysterious in places, plays out as anticipated early on. (It’s not until the end that you will realize things aren’t as straight forward as they appeared.) And the island town, with its narrow streets and docks, is the perfect playground for horror, but doesn’t have the impact it deserves, as its presentation is limited.

The puzzles are a mixed bag. There’s a few head scratchers in Townfall that are just enough challenge to not require online guidance, whereas many others were as simple as taking the item in one room and using it in the room next to it. (I had in-game hints turned off from the start and am glad I did.) Thematically, the more detailed puzzles tie into the story of Townfall in a delightful way, playing off of its themes of medical care, corporate greed, and 90s technology.

The revised static/enemy tracking mechanic, while innovative and visually appealing, eliminates jump scares and surprises (with an exception late in the game during a particular chapter where there is no “static radar.”). Silent Hill: Townfall leans heavily into the stealth genre which typically disagrees with my playstyle as I often prefer games where I can be more reckless. Stealth demands your patience and works well in the horror genre, overall. However, it also slows the pace and breaks the horror immersion, as the patterns of the enemies become that much more obvious. For example, I would find myself hiding in a closet, waiting for a monster to exit the room, and instead of feeling fear I would instead reach for my water bottle and count the seconds. 

Despite this, the horror elements do land at times. For instance, there were a few moments where I’d find myself fleeing into a building and locking the door, in a panic, only for a monster to come face to face with me with the glass barrier between us—those moments were when the horror landed. And there were multiple situations where I found myself panic-running only for a monster to catch me and make me leap out of my skin.

Townfall does break from its stealth-heavy design later in the game, during a single chapter, in a refreshing way, when you switch into its third playable character. This was the point where I was feeling ready for a change of pace, and blasting creepy freaks with a double barrel shotgun was the medicine I needed. In a twist of fate, stealth heavy areas would later return, including a repeat design where a seemingly invulnerable Nemesis-like enemy would one-shot me over and over again. What I later appreciated is how the varying gameplay across each chapter and the associated characters connected with the story in a pleasing way.

Unlike Silent Hill 2, you won’t find any boss battles in Townfall, with exception to the final encounter. While boss combat isn’t the strong suit of the Silent Hill franchise, it does offer a chance to expand the story of punishment and its associated metaphors in unique and interesting ways, unlike any other game series. These battles also serve as a change in pace and a chance to bring a subplot to a head. While the cinematic scenes serve as decent breaks in the flow in Townfall, those missing climatic moments often found in a boss battle leave a hole to be filled.

Where you might find a boss battle at the end of a chapter you instead will find a swap in characters. Personally, I struggle with games that have you assume the role of various characters. It gives me narrative whiplash, going well beyond the realm of minor detour, and makes it more difficult for me to identify with what I thought was the main character. And because you start this game as Simon and play in the first-person perspective, you identify with him early on. You share in his confusion and his fear. That’s what made the first and subsequent character swap so jarring, as each time a character change occurs that connection is diminished. 

The final moments of the game will leave you feeling puzzled by the contradictory timeline beats, leaving much up for interpretation, typical for a Silent Hill game. How you decide to accept what did and didn’t really happen is up to you. And across five very different endings, there’s much left up for debate.