Silent Hill: Townfall ratchets up scares and frustrations

Silent Hill: Townfall, developed by Glasgowbased Screen Burn Interactive and published by Konami, moves the longrunning horror series to the abandoned Scottish fishing town of St. Amelia. The game follows Simon Ordell, who wakes up in the town with no memory of how he got there and must search for answers, a nurse named Zoe Ellis, and a way to survive the creatures stalking the area. The review says the game succeeds at building dread through its firstperson perspective, limited weapons, and a handheld CRTV device that helps track enemies and reveal clues. It also leans heavily on vintage 1990s technology and puzzlelike exploration, which the reviewer found engaging in many sections. But the article also notes significant frustrations. The controls and onscreen prompts can be hard to read in tense moments, the main monster can become awkward or repetitive to evade, and the game’s alternateworld sequences can drag. After more than 18 hours and multiple possible endings, the reviewer says the experience is most likely to appeal to dedicated Silent Hill fans and players who enjoy difficult horror design.