An American Hipster in Scotland

And with this, the last of the projects Konami announced back in 2022 as part of their plans to resurrect the iconic survival-horror property is finally upon us. Effectively bringing an end to Silent Hill’s “revival era” as we move into a future of planned annual releases. It’s been a wild ride full of resounding highs, crushing lows, and plenty of conflict in the community over the quality of each passing installment. This latest effort sadly isn’t proving any less divisive than the majority of its predecessors were/are. And no, not merely because of its first-person perspective.

Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is currently the most underrated entry in the series to date. Developer No Code Screen Burn Interactive understands this IP better than anyone else who’s touched it since its original creators. They showcase this through a plot that’s not only arguably the deepest and most complex the franchise has received in years, but also comes closer to capturing the true essence and feeling of that classic defining trilogy than every single one of its non-remake antecedents have. A fact that allows them to expand upon elements from the Team Silent efforts (i.e. multiple individuals experiencing the “Silent Hill Phenomenon” at the same time and their versions bleeding into each other’s) and even blatantly canonize a longstanding fan theory without it coming off as a cheap attempt at pandering to the audience or mere lazy copycatting, but instead perfectly befitting of and faithful to the overarching lore. Shoot, as of this writing even the way they’ve expertly recaptured the same distinctive dreamlike vibe of the OGs via the unnatural way characters do, or often don’t, react to the strangeness occurring around them is unmatched as well.

The thing that’s kept so many from being able to fully appreciate all that? The freaking shift to a more stealth-oriented gameplay style. It seems rather hypocritical to me that the people who took issue with the more action-heavy approaches of the two previous titles are complaining about your reduced combat capabilities here. You’ve literally never been more of an “everyman” than you are in Townfall, and running from foes isn’t just an option; it’s flat out encouraged. Consequently, based on what I’ve seen I think the bulk of the criticism out there has less to do with personal taste, and more with people simply trying to rush through the package and approaching it as if it were a traditional SH outing. Yes, you can fight the hordes of monsters roaming the streets of St. Amelia if you want, but death comes fast, melee weapons break easily, and crucial supplies such as bullets/health items are extremely scarce. Thus you’ll only be making stuff much harder on yourself if you choose to do that.

The increased sense of vulnerability cleverly ratchets up the tension and terror until the credits roll. My anxiety levels were kept sky-high as I tried to remain undetected and avoid conflict whilst sneaking about, to the degree that I honestly had to regularly take breaks during my play sessions in order to calm down. Which, to be clear, is precisely what I’m looking for with this genre. Sure, there are the occasional frustrating segments due to the erratic patrol paths of the “Lunger” enemy type (I didn’t struggle to deal with the unkillable “The Weight” nearly as much as most others evidently have). Yet, the environmental design usually provides plenty means to break your attacker’s line of sight should you get spotted to ensure encounters are never unbalanced. It’s genuinely hard to believe it’s the dev’s first time doing something like this.

Not to mention, aspects such as the replacement of the classic static radio with the new CRTV that lets you track the location of nearby threats—or the larger emphasis that’s been placed on keeping players in the open-world sections as opposed to interior locations that have always served as conventional one-off stages—act as welcomed natural evolutions on typical staples of this particular brand of survival-horror. There’s no pointless change solely for the sake of experimentation.

Now, I didn’t love everything about Townfall. The setting of a fictional island of Scotland is both gorgeous and wonderfully atmospheric. Especially its “Otherworld” half that manages to swap the expected rusty metal and vaguely fleshy walls with corridors of concrete and an eerie red glow without losing any of the industrial horror vibes. It doesn’t take long to realize that this jump across the pond is purely window dressing, however, as little of the country’s distinctive culture or history is on display beyond the visual component. Heck, the three characters this story follows aren’t even Scottish! The handful of moments where you’ll actually hear an appropriate accent is during the rare audio recording. It’s a baffling decision and a case of seriously missed potential. I mean, imagine if in f no member of main cast was Japanese. That wouldn’t have made any bloody sense!

Although highly questionable, I must confess it did not stop me from getting utterly immersed in the intriguing, gripping mystery and surreal scares that exclusively the strongest psychological nightmares can provide. If you’re willing to meet the game on its own terms, it’s one of Silent Hill’s overall best works featuring uniquely grandiose sights that truly left my jaw agape. That may be a big ask for those who don’t rank among the super hardcore devotees given that in a lot of way this is an even older reinvention than NeoBards Entertainment’s offering from a year prior was. Still, at budget asking price of $49.99 for its standard edition? I’d say it’s well worth the risk for this underappreciated gem, if for the phenomenal puzzle design alone.

9/10