Townfall might just pull off a survival horror hat trick for Konami

After a very long drought, Konami’s Silent Hill series is in the midst of what can only be described as a renaissance. First, Bloober Team pulled off the impossible with its admirable remake of Silent Hill 2. Then, developer NeoBards Entertainment knocked it out of the park with last year’s Silent Hill f. Now, this September, Screen Burn Interactive could very well complete a hat trick with Silent Hill: Townfall.

While details on the mysterious horror game have been scarce since its announcement, I got a much clearer idea of what it’s all about during a hands-off demo at this year’s Summer Game Fest Play Days. The 30-minute sequence I saw teased a suitably eerie horror experience filled with fog, old tech, and some of the most jaw-droppingly realistic environments I’ve ever seen. It’s a much slower pace than Silent Hill f, but Screen Burn is packing a few strong ideas into a game that looks simple on its surface.

The demo dropped me right into the town of St. Amelia, a foggy British village circa 1996. I was quickly introduced to protagonist Simon Ordell, sitting near a statue surrounded by protest signs. There’s clearly some kind of tension in town between the locals and a company that’s making life worse for them, but the demo only teased that conflict in passing. Instead, the demo centered around Simon as he explored the empty town in first-person with no on-screen UI to guide him.

St. Amelia seems to be the real main character here. Every corner of it is downright photorealistic, which is surprising to see, considering that it’s a smaller project from a studio known for making indie horror games. The interiors are painstakingly detailed too, recreating authentic British kitchens and the clunky desktop computers of the era. It’s hard to truly impress me with visual fidelity in 2026 when the bar is so high, but Screen Burn is pulling off one heck of a technical feat here.

Simon’s sole direction as he explores the town comes from a handheld CRT TV that can be tuned to different stations. One of them flashes a series of cryptic images through static. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that those images were pointing him to a specific building in town. After following some context clues on screen, he wound up in a house that seemed to be abandoned, and some classic Silent Hill puzzling ensued. Find a flashlight, combine it with some batteries to get it working, look for a lock combination to unlock an organ container, and so on. Screen Burn plays with the tech of the era in its puzzles, too; one forced Simon to go hunting for a pre-paid card to get the electricity working in the house.

Of course, going outside is dangerous — as is so often the case in Silent Hill. Soon enough, Simon crossed paths with a fleshy, axe-headed monster wrapped in a straight jacket. That’s where Townfall becomes about more than just slowly walking around detailed environments. By tuning to a second TV station, Simon could track the monster’s position through walls. He could also cling to corners and carefully peek around them to make sure the coast is clear. Both made for some strong stealth moments during the demo as Simon tried to keep away from the creature and find the card he needed in a building.

Offense is an option, though it’s more of a last resort. At the end of the demo, Simon found a wooden plank and confronted the monster in the streets. After letting out some lumbering swings, and using the wood to block a few hits, the creature took him down. Simon can get a second chance at life thanks to some tubes in his hand that revive him once after death (and he can heal with gauze), but it certainly looks like even one monster is a lot for him to take on. He’s very much the mouse to a town full of cats.

Silent Hill: Townfall certainly seems slower and more minimalistic than Silent Hill f. Its gameplay twists are subtle, and the emphasis seems to be on creating a strong sense of atmosphere. The ideas that are there, though, feel like they could go a long way to keep it unique. I imagine that handheld TV has a lot more tricks, and that the tech-focused puzzles will get more complex. I welcome the idea of a cerebral, moody Silent Hill game with minimal action — especially considering that combat was the weakest part of Silent Hill f. If Screen Burn can find enough ways to keep everything tense rather than plodding, Townfall should keep the unexpected Silent Hill renaissance alive for another year.

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