Silent Hill: Townfall Moves the Series to 1990s Scotland and First Person, TechRadar Review Says

The review, played on PS5, describes the game as a competent blend of stealth, exploration, puzzle-solving and occasional combat. It was written by a critic who states they were not a fan of the previous series entry, Silent Hill f, but came away believing in the franchise again.

Townfall is the first Silent Hill game developed by Screen Burn Interactive, a small Scottish studio formerly known as No Code. The studio's earlier work includes Stories Untold in 2017, a modern take on the text adventure, and the first-person horror game Observation in 2019, which won the Bafta for Best British Game in 2020. Townfall is its first project for Konami's flagship horror series.

The game opens with a man crawling out of the water onto a dock with no knowledge of where he is or where he came from. He is Simon Ordell, dressed in an outfit close to that of Travis Grady from 2007's Silent Hill: Origins. A cutscene reveals the town's name, St. Amelia, as a tarp blows away from a sign. Players also control two further characters, Zoe and Richard, and the plot gradually discloses how the three are connected.

TechRadar singles out the art direction as the strongest element, saying Screen Burn has captured the feel of a small Scottish town and its mid-nineties period, from storefronts and pebble-dashed houses to public telephone booths and post boxes. The series' persistent fog returns and is described as moodier than before, with white, red and blue hues shining through the mist under streetlamps. A letterbox mode is enabled by default, though the game has no native photo mode.

Stealth is built around the streets of St. Amelia, whose layout the review says lends itself to finding alternate routes, escaping enemies down back alleys and hiding in cupboards. Puzzles are described as interesting and the stealth gameplay as competent.

The review lists several weaknesses. Monster designs lack originality, characters' facial animations are often stilted and fail to convey terror or emotional breakdowns, and the story is judged less emotionally engaging than earlier games in the series, with the emotional payoff arriving only after a long wait. The journey to that point is still called intriguing, and the game is rated a worthy addition to the franchise.

On music, the review notes that regular series composer and sound designer Akira Yamaoka is not involved. The score is by Pilotpriest, who is said to have replicated the series' off-kilter sounds and melancholic melodies while adding a modern twist, with sparser, more muted and heavily reverberated pieces that open up during cutscenes.

The critic played in Performance mode and reported no discernible visual downgrade compared with Quality mode, along with a much better frame rate and one brief section where the frame rate dipped.

Silent Hill has traditionally been set in North America, though the series has occasionally moved elsewhere, most notably with Silent Hill f, which takes place in 1960s Japan. Townfall shifts the setting to 1990s Scotland, alongside its change of camera perspective and developer.

Editor's Summary

Silent Hill: Townfall arrives September 24, 2026 on PS5 and PC as the first series entry developed by Scotland's Screen Burn Interactive and the first played in first person, set in the fictional 1990s town of St. Amelia. A TechRadar review credits its art direction, puzzles and stealth while criticizing its monster designs, facial animation and emotional engagement. The game also marks the first main Silent Hill score without longtime composer Akira Yamaoka, with Pilotpriest handling music duties.