After a trip to Japan’s post-World War 2 era in Silent Hill f, Konami’s deeply introspective psychological horror franchise heads to a Scottish coastal town in Silent Hill Townfall. It’s a first-person game, unfolding from the perspective of a Black American man, Simon Ordell, as he navigates the seemingly desolate town of St. Amelia with the aid of a retrofuturistic equipment called a CRTV.
Compared to Silent Hill f, Silent Hill Townfall thematically resembles the original trilogy, more specifically, Silent Hill 2. It’s shaping up to be yet another ambitious entry in the acclaimed horror franchise, and here’s everything we know about it.
Who is Simon Ordell in Silent Hill Townfall?
As mentioned above, you play as Simon Ordell in Silent Hill Townfall, a seemingly 37-year-old man who wakes up in St. Amelia with the CRTV, an IV drip sticking out from his arm, and a medical wrist band that includes his blood group and date of birth, both of which suggest he needs (or was undergoing) a blood transfusion.
In the reveal trailer, a woman speaks directly to Simon (you can catch a glimpse of her side profile in the CRTV, presumably looking at him in the hospital bed), and asks him to come back to her. There’s some contextual evidence you can make out, but nothing is truly clear about Simon’s past, except for indications that he’s carrying a heavy burden.
Guilt seems to be at the center of it all, which is evident primarily from Simon’s desire to fix things, as he discusses it in the trailer. According to Silent Hill Townfall’s website, he wakes up “determined to put things right,” which could be in relation to something that he did in the past that affected him, the woman, or both of them, as you can hear her say things like, “you [Simon] can’t fix it,” “you did what you did,” and that “it [the town?] doesn’t let us change things.”
Because of this predicament, Simon, presumably in coma before all of it (which is indicated by the woman’s concerns about him staying there (hospital bed?) forever) seems to have been waking up in St. Amelia over and over again, trapped in a perpetual cycle of shame and guilt, reliving the same traumatic memory or a dream from his past.
In the Silent Hill Transmission, game writer and director Jon McKellan discussed how he wanted to delve deeper into the various ways guilt can manifest and the impact it can have on a person. It’s quite evident that Simon is guilt-ridden, though the source of it is a mystery as of now.
To make things more complicated, in the original Silent Hill Townfall reveal video from three years ago, you can hear a man presumably speaking to Simon about his visit to St. Amelia. About them doing something awful to the townfolks, but Simon, according to him, is there for a different reason, a more dangerous task, so much so that the man doesn’t want to be near him when he figures it out, which raises the scope of his mysterious wrongdoings even further.
St. Amelia is a Scottish coastal town whose heart has stopped
St. Amelia is a gloomy, fog-enveloped small coastal village inspired by real-life Scottish towns, more specifically on the east coast, such as St. Monans. It’s brimming with multi-storeyed slanted houses and grey corridors draped in bunting flags and posters about a potential tragedy that happened at some point. The grey undertone is hijacked by a misty red palette in the more dangerous areas of the town, such as narrow alleyways and apartments, where humanoid creatures seem to lurk.
Something happened in St. Amelia that shook the life of its residents. The town square, the heart of St. Amelia, is littered with posters of a bygone protest, with one standing out among the rest – “Whatever heart this town had has stopped.”
McKellan revealed that mystery is a core component of its team’s narrative style. As such, you can expect big and small revelations throughout the story, much of which should also provide insight into St. Amelia’s past and what dangerous role Simon probably played in bringing its inevitable downfall.
It’s worth noting that Simon’s IV bag, the protest poster about the town’s heart stopping, and the heavy use of red color throughout the game suggest that the heart is integral to Silent Hill Townfall’s story. This idea is insinuated further by one of the humanoid creatures in the game, which has an IV tube sticking out of its chest. In another instance, you can see it preparing for an attack by ripping open its chest.
Silent Hill Townfall introduces a “peek” mechanic to the series for the first time
Silent Hill Townfall plays from a first-person perspective. Naturally, with a limited field of view, horror is heightened, and stealth is vital for survival. This is where Silent Hill Townfall’s new peek mechanic comes in. Simon can lean left and right from behind walls and objects, hide to scout his environment for lurking enemies, use the CRTV to gain more insight, and act accordingly.
Speaking of which, the CRTV is like the radio from previous SH games, but with a visual flair. Instead of just transmitting enemy’s sounds, CRTV displays them on the screen, providing a better idea of their location.
Outside of enemies, the CRTV can pick up various frequencies in St. Amelia, which hide optional narrative content. We don’t know what this includes, but you could expect to learn more about the town and its residents through them.
Ranged weapons are back
Unlike Silent Hill f, Silent Hill Townfall brings back ranged weapons such as the revolver. Additionally, Simon can use a multitude of melee weapons, including the iconic wooden plank and steel pipe, to guard and deal damage to enemies.
It’s unclear whether these weapons are breakable like in Silent Hill f, though they could be, as McKellan mentioned in the Silent Hill transmission that there are “planks of wood and pipes” in the game.
Silent Hill Townfall is a full-length SH title
Before its reveal, there were rumors swirling around that Silent Hill Townfall is an episodic, relatively smaller game than other entries in the franchise. That isn’t true. Konami and Annapurna Interactive have confirmed it’s a “full-length high-quality game” which they believe to be a confident follow-up to the Silent Hill 2 remake and Silent Hill f.
Is Akira Yamaoka involved in Silent Hill Townfall?
It’s unclear as of this writing, though Akira Yamaoka is likely not composing the soundtrack of Silent Hill Townfall, nor is he involved in any other capacity. He didn’t appear in the Transmission and isn’t credited in the trailer. That said, the score we hear in the reveal trailer is very reminiscent of Yamaoka’s works, so whoever is composing Townfall’s soundtrack took proper notes from the SH veteran.
Who is working on Silent Hill Townfall?
The Glasgow-based Screen Burn studio (previously known as No Code) is working on Silent Hill Townfall. It’s a relatively small studio with over 30 employees, though it boasts a decent track record of publishing atmospheric horror video games. Its most popular work is arguably 2014’s Alien Isolation, which, although received mixed reviews at launch, has amassed a cult following over the years.
That’s everything we know about Silent Hill Townfall. We will update this article as more information is revealed, such as its release date and pre-order bonuses, so don’t forget to check back once in a while.
