Обзор Silent Hill: Townfall

Story and Setting

Silent Hill: Townfall is a standalone, non-canonical entry set in the Scottish port town of St. Amelia in the late 1990s. It leaves behind the familiar town, cult, and Pyramid Head, but retains many series conventions: fogbound exploration, disturbing alternate realities, unsettling radio signals, puzzles, and a story shaped by trauma.

The protagonist, Simon Ordell, washes ashore with a message asking him to return to town and “fix” something. With little memory of what happened, he explores the deserted streets and follows clues from a portable television. The story gradually connects Simon to Zoe, a nurse, and Richard, a mysterious man who contacted him. Notes, emails, recordings, and other traces of the townspeople reveal the town’s history and how the characters are tied to a deadly tragedy.

The review describes the narrative as eerie and emotionally affecting, with memorable characters and a satisfying web of clues and interpretations. It also notes that the story draws on the real-life Piper Alpha disaster in Scotland.

Gameplay Highlights

• First-person exploration: The close perspective, limited visibility, and detailed environments build suspense. Fog, lighting, sound, and the ambient score are particular strengths.
• Hands-on equipment: Simon uses a portable CRT television to find signals, receive puzzle clues, track monsters, and watch short cartoons. Phones, computers, printers, and other devices are also operated directly.
• Physical map and unusual saves: The map is handled in-world. To save, players find a number marked “Save Yourself” and dial it on a phone.
• Layered puzzles: Puzzles involve interpreting clues and operating machinery. Examples include using power cards and computers, travelling through time with a cassette player, and matching blood bags to medical clues. The review finds the puzzles varied, tactile, and generally well translated.
• Stealth and combat: Players can hide, crouch, peek around corners, use cover, and avoid enemies by taking detours or locking doors. Combat uses simple attack and aim/block controls, but melee feels weak and enemies can behave unfairly.
• Endings and replay: The game has five endings, though replaying mainly changes the ending videos. Hidden collectibles and secret weapons are available, with the weapons useful in New Game+.

Tips and Criticisms

The review recommends prioritizing stealth and avoidance. The game signals that fighting is risky, and the number of enemies killed can affect the ending. Use the CRTV to monitor enemy positions, and make use of cover, hiding places, and alternate routes.

Healing items and weapons are best kept in reserve: melee weapons break quickly, and throwable distractions are limited. The reviewer also recommends playing on Story difficulty rather than struggling through frustrating combat sections. Difficulty can be changed during the game.

The biggest problems are clumsy melee combat, erratic enemy behavior, dark areas, and repetitive interiors. Two sections in the otherworld are especially frustrating because they combine complex puzzles with many enemies and an apparently unkillable pursuer.

The reviewer reports that the game ran at around 60 frames per second for the presenter, while noting that other players had reported performance problems.

Verdict

The reviewer recommends Townfall to players who enjoy first-person stealth, atmospheric exploration, and intricate puzzles. Combat and a few punishing sections detract from the experience, but the story, setting, visuals, and sound make it a worthwhile Silent Hill entry. The review argues that the series can remain true to its roots without returning to the same town or repeating the same mythology.

People and Sources Mentioned

• Alexander Vilisov — reviewer and presenter.
• Screen Burn — developer; founder John McKellan is noted for his work as an artist on Alien: Isolation.
• Neobards Entertainment — studio behind the previous franchise entry discussed in the review.
• Pilot Priest — composer.
• Jovan Adepo, Keziah Burrows, and Tario Okun — performers mentioned for Simon, Zoe, and Richard, respectively. Some names may be unclear in the auto-generated subtitles.
• Sided — the reviewer’s friend, quoted in advice about lowering the difficulty.
• Piper Alpha disaster — real-world event cited as an inspiration for the story.
• Other works referenced include Stories Untold, Observation, Alien: Isolation, Silent Hill F, and the music of Akira Yamaoka.