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Silent Hill: Townfall launches Thursday, and its best tool is a little television you may wish you could switch off
In Silent Hill, radio static usually means something horrible is nearby. Townfall apparently considers that too comfortable. On September 24, Simon Ordell will have to actually watch the signals coming through an old pocket television — sometimes because it is the only way to discover what is moving behind a wall.
By Kader SILENT HILL: Townfall 
SILENT HILL: Townfall launches September 24, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store. Developed by Scottish studio Screen Burn Interactive and co-published by Konami and Annapurna Interactive, this is a full-length standalone Silent Hill rather than a short experimental side project.
Simon Ordell travels to St. Amelia, a fog-covered Scottish island, with one unclear objective: “put things right.” There is already a problem with that instruction. Simon does not recognize the town, while local nurse Zoe seems to be both calling him back and asking why he is there.
First person is more than a camera swap
Townfall is the first full Silent Hill designed entirely around a first-person perspective. Screen Burn says that decision grew from its narrative and puzzle design rather than a simple desire to make the horror feel closer.
Searching for clues means looking directly at objects, manipulating parts of the environment and examining spaces through a deliberately restricted field of view.
That restriction also matters during enemy encounters. Players cannot see much beyond Simon's immediate perspective, making sound a much larger part of understanding what is around them.
The CRTV turns the classic radio into an active tool
The most recognizable change is sitting in Simon's hand. The CRTV is a pocket television built around retro technology and deliberately rough audio-video signals.
Traditional Silent Hill radios mostly warn the player when an enemy is nearby. The CRTV asks for active use. Simon can raise it, tune signals, detect certain threats through the environment and uncover broadcasts connected to the island's story and puzzles.
On PS5, motion controls can be used to physically fine-tune the CRTV. Screen Burn applies similar tactile ideas to map handling and firearm aiming.
The device therefore absorbs several functions normally spread across the series' radio, environmental clues and written material.
Owning a weapon does not mean combat is the solution
Simon has both melee and ranged weapons. Townfall is still not presenting itself as a horror shooter.
Some creatures can be fought. Others are designed around evasion, and certain encounters leave running or hiding as the only sensible response.
The CRTV and a peek system allow players to assess danger while remaining partially concealed. If too much attention is drawn, enemies can dynamically hunt Simon using their senses.
Running, distracting a creature, hiding and switching tactics after a plan collapses are all intended to belong to the same encounter model.
St. Amelia does not look like a town that died twenty years ago
Screen Burn has emphasized one visual distinction from several older Silent Hill locations. St. Amelia is not meant to feel like somewhere that has been decaying untouched for decades.
Its shops, houses and streets look recently occupied. The trauma affecting the community is fresh enough that traces of ordinary life remain everywhere.
That choice feeds directly into the story. Townfall gradually reconstructs what happened to the island while connecting Simon's individual experience to wider questions involving society, community and corporate power.
The Otherworld still provides a much harsher visual rupture, replacing the blue-grey Scottish fog with red light, pipes, alarms, broken buildings and stained surfaces.
The puzzles were written with the story
Screen Burn describes its puzzles as narrative structures rather than locks placed between story scenes. Solving one is supposed to reveal something about St. Amelia, Simon or the people who lived there.
The plot consequently arrives in fragments through signals, environments, objects and puzzles as much as conventional cinematics.
That approach fits a studio formerly known as No Code, whose previous work includes Stories Untold and Observation. Townfall is drawing on that experience with narrative interfaces without reducing Silent Hill to a collection of retro screens.
Deluxe early access is already beginning
The Standard Edition is listed at $49.99 in the US. The $59.99 Deluxe Edition adds an alternate Simon outfit, digital artbook, digital soundtrack and up to 48 hours of early access.
PC storefront unlock times can display September 23 in some regions. Konami continues to list September 24 as the official release date.
After the Silent Hill 2 remake and Silent Hill f, the series is changing shape again. This time it is not merely asking players to listen to the static.