‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ review: Late-game falloff hampers strong start

Video game review

“I don’t understand.” It’s a common enough phrase when you’re first playing a “Silent Hill” game. Konami’s long-running psychological survivor horror franchise has always drip-fed its stories of trauma given physical form, prompting players to explore and examine and empathize with a protagonist who’s suffering in his own personalized version of hell. In “Silent Hill: Townfall,” you can understand why protagonist Simon utters those words out loud, sheer disbelief coloring his voice after what he’s seen. The problem is, he’s not the only one who’s confused about the point of it all.

“Townfall,” developed by Screen Burn Interactive and published by Konami Digital Entertainment and Annapurna Interactive, wants you to be confused. It wants you disoriented and frightened and unsure of what you’re doing and why you’re here. And for a while, that works. The game opens in early 1996 with Simon washing up on the shores of St. Amelia, a fictional Scottish town that seems devoid of life. All we know is that Simon has an IV adhered to his arm and a mysterious voice telling him that he can help set things right.

The rest of the 15-hour game, out Wednesday, is about solving the mystery of why Simon is here, which is easier said than done. This being “Silent Hill,” monstrosities literal and figurative lurk around every corner, each waiting to tear your flesh — or your psyche — apart. Played in first person, it starts off genuinely unnerving. The game offers little direction except for maps you slowly fill in and a handheld device that can scan the area for certain story elements and, much more important, enemy locations. (It’s basically the scanner from “Alien: Isolation.”) Especially early on, it’s critical you know where the monsters are because you have no way of dealing with them. You can only avoid and, if you’re spotted, run and hide, a fairly sharp departure from excellent recent entries like “Silent Hill f” and the remake of “Silent Hill 2,” both of which gave players more ways of dispatching enemies. 

Simon does eventually acquire means of defending himself, including pipes and guns, but that’s not the goal here. So you run and hide and avoid, all the while solving puzzles and slowly uncovering the tragedy that befell St. Amelia. It’s a strong setup — but unfortunately, “Townfall” doesn’t see it through. Mystery powers the story, but once you start to make sense of it all, it begins to feel as empty as the streets of St. Amelia. You learn of Simon’s connection to this haunted little place, to the nurse Zoe and the businessman Richard, and how their stories entwine into one of regret and lies and body bags. But it’s a weightless kind of thing, far from the affecting narratives of previous installments. There’s no nuance or subtlety; the characters’ motivations are simplistic, and they fail to hold your interest after a while.

It doesn’t help that the game generally becomes less fun as you play, mostly because of obtuse late-game puzzles and enemies. Nothing breaks immersion quite like puzzles that make no sense and enemies that can’t be killed but can instantly kill you if they grab you. So the tension bleeds out, replaced by frustration and confusion. 

It’s a shame because “Townfall” is a visual gem. The empty streets of St. Amelia tell their own story, as do the town’s homes and businesses you often find yourself in. The detail work, from the brickwork to the series’ signature fog, is hauntingly gorgeous. A sequence in a hospital where Zoe has to perform surgery under the guidance of an infuriatingly condescending doctor is a stellar bit of environmental design (even if the related puzzle was less than enjoyable). And static has never sounded so creepy, especially when you hear it unexpectedly in a world that’s turned blood red (“Townfall’s” version of the series’ Otherworld). One exception: the monster design, which is generally forgettable.

But it’s not enough to rescue a game that narratively feels featherlight compared to the franchise’s best entries and mechanically wears out its welcome before the halfway point. Its strong start and creepy atmosphere do what they can, but as for the rest of it? Well, Simon says it best: I don’t understand the point it of all.

‘Silent Hill: Townfall’
Developed by Screen Burn Interactive, published by Konami Digital Entertainment and Annapurna Interactive; available on PlayStation 5 and PC; rated M for Mature for blood, strong language and violence; $49.99

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