“Silent Hill Townfall” is the 13th major game in the “Silent Hill” series. It takes place in the fictional town St. Amelia set on a Scottish island. You mainly play as a new protagonist Simon Ordell who just woke up onshore and two other side characters, Nurse Zoe Ellies, and Richard Shaw.
The game excels with its atmosphere, the first person camera combined with the empty streets and the fog gives you a dreadful feeling as you walk down St. Amelia.
Screenshot taken by Alejandro Sandoval/Konami
The environment of St. Amelia that gives off an eerie feeling.
The sound design works similarly to “Silent Hill 2” remake with the random sounds that make you expect something to jump at you. The first person camera elevates the feeling of dread as you hear something while exploring.
Speaking of “Silent hill 2” the game introduces a brand new game mechanic, the Cathode Ray Tube Television (CRTV). The CRTV works similarly to the radio from “Silent Hill 2” by making a noise when enemies are around but here’s what’s new: You can use it to see enemies through walls. The CRTV is also essential to solving puzzles and getting clues on what’s going around in the story.
“Silent Hill Townfall” was generally received favorably, but with some fans disliking it. It received a 4.0 on Metacritic, a 3.5 on Steam, and an 8/10 on IGN. Fans are split with one side loving the game and the other side disliking it.
Ememad77 on Steam said, “It’s hard to say whether I would recommend this game or not, because honestly, it has more flaws than strengths. But the quality of its good parts is strong enough to keep it recommendable — at least for the right kind of player.
To start with the flaws, I think there is a very thin line between horror and frustration in horror games, especially when stealth is involved. Things like the game’s pacing, enemy design, AI behavior, and level design can easily push a horror game from being scary to simply being frustrating.
Another problem for me was Simon himself. I barely felt like I got to know him throughout the game. I never felt that his character development was strong enough. Some of the other characters had much more understandable motivations and emotional pain.
The game’s direction was another issue for me. The ideas behind it are interesting, but I don’t think they were always executed as well as they could have been.”
Like other “Silent Hill’ games, the combat and stealth aren’t the strongest points in the game as it can feel like a chore. “The combat isn’t particularly impressive, and while the stealth can work, the unpredictable enemy behavior can make it more annoying than engaging,” said Ememad77.
Although the gameplay can be annoying and boring, the story is pretty interesting and learning what happened and why our characters are going through this hellhole is engaging enough to make you want to learn more. “Even when the gameplay was frustrating or the pacing slowed down, I still wanted to know what would happen next. That says a lot about how effective the game’s narrative is,” said Ememad77.
Like in true “Silent Hill” fashion, the game offers multiple endings with two joke endings.
Overall, “Silent Hill Townfall” is a good game with some flaws and an amazing story. This is not a game for everyone, that’s for sure. The story and mystery are great, but the combat and stealth makes you feel more annoyed than engaged.