Silent Hill: Townfall will send players into the fog-covered Scottish town of St. Amelia when it launches on PlayStation 5 on September 24. A four-hour hands-on report from PlayStation offered a closer look at Simon’s journey, the game’s first-person combat, and the mystery surrounding a woman named Zoe.
Simon arrives in St. Amelia after receiving a letter that asks him to return to the town. His journey begins in a deliberately confusing way. One moment, he appears to be approaching the docks by boat. The next, he emerges from the water and reaches the shore as though he has just regained consciousness.
The town seems abandoned at first, although distant shouting and sudden flashes suggest a protest or riot. Those signs disappear when Simon reaches the empty town square. A ringing pay phone then delivers another disturbing clue, sending him after Zoe and into a red-lit version of reality known as the Otherworld.
A television that hides the clues
One of Simon’s most important tools is a handheld CRT television. Tuning it to different signals can reveal puzzle hints, expose creatures through walls and fog, and help Simon reach areas that would otherwise remain inaccessible. The device also plays a role in an elevator puzzle that takes him from an underground structure back to the streets.
The puzzles are tied closely to the story. Signals connected to St. Amelia and Zoe’s past provide clues about her life and disappearance. Zoe worked as a nurse, and her empty apartment leads Simon to the clinic where she was employed.
Inside her office, three scales await objects connected to what Zoe considered her failures. Other clues include her identification badge, a prescription with the wrong dosage, and a medical bag containing a broken stethoscope. Together, these details connect Zoe’s personal history to a medical outbreak that appears to have affected the town.
First-person combat makes every encounter dangerous
Townfall is the first Silent Hill game to put its creature encounters in first person. That perspective leaves Simon with fewer ways to safely circle enemies, turning each attack into a choice between standing his ground and running.
The creatures stalking St. Amelia include faceless figures wrapped in industrial straps, with axe blades where their faces should be. Simon can defend himself with wooden clubs, but the weapons are scarce and usually survive only a couple of fights. Holding L2 blocks incoming attacks, while R2 delivers a counterattack when an opening appears.
Fighting is dangerous enough that avoiding enemies is usually the better plan. Simon can crouch behind cars, fences, and walls, then hold L1 to peek around cover. If a creature notices him, closets, sheds, and partly opened doors can provide a temporary hiding spot.
The CRT television makes stealth more useful by showing creatures through certain surfaces. Simon can also throw bottles and bricks to create distractions or activate radios and TVs to pull enemies away from a route.
Later sections introduce a creature that launches tentacles from its chest and can grab Simon when he is already hurt. A revolver offers more stopping power, but its loud report attracts additional enemies. It also reloads slowly, with Simon inserting cartridges into the cylinder one at a time.
PS5 features support the atmosphere
Townfall will offer a 30fps Quality mode and a 60fps Performance mode. The game uses a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, while PS5 Pro support includes upgraded PSSR for higher-resolution presentation. Ray tracing helps shape the foggy streets and the red-lit spaces of the Otherworld.
The team at Screen Burn visited coastal towns in Scotland to study their appearance before recreating St. Amelia. The DualSense controller adds haptic feedback to actions such as striking an enemy with a plank or blocking a counterattack.
Motion controls are also part of the experience. Players can physically move and twist the controller while tuning the CRT television, and they can adjust firearm aim by moving the controller to line up shots.
The hands-on session left many parts of Simon’s story unanswered, but its mix of psychological mystery, stealth, and tense first-person combat gives Townfall a distinct place in the series. Silent Hill: Townfall will launch on PlayStation 5 on September 24.
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