As far as big horror franchises go, there are only a couple that have managed to stand the test of time and remain relevant ever since they hit our screens. However, even the biggest names can have a few bumps in the road, and in the case of Silent Hill and Resident Evil, it took a little while before they really hit their stride again. For the latter, after opting for a few more action-heavy titles, the devs decided to return to the horrific roots of the series, switching the perspective to first-person with Resident Evil 7, and with it, massively reigniting the fandom. Silent Hill took a similar path, struggling for a bit but then finding gold over the past few years, and that streak of success is looking to continue with the launch of Townfall, a brand-new standalone entry that is going to be the franchise’s first-person debut.
What makes Silent Hill and Resident Evil different in this situation is that Townfall doesn’t need to be a franchise-saving game that breaks the mold in a drastic way. I would argue that the devs should see the game as more of an experiment into this new perspective, where they test how the franchise’s atmosphere, storytelling, and mechanics work from a first-person view. From there, they may decide to follow suit with future titles, similar to how Resident Evil 7 led to Village having a first-person perspective, and then Requiem giving you the option to switch between the two modes. But whatever the goal is for Townfall, I think I speak for every Silent Hill fan when I say more from the series is always going to be welcome, even if it means straying slightly away from the roots where it all began.
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Townfall May Prove That Silent Hill Can Work In First-Person
After the Silent Hill 2 remake dropped, Konami was quick to get the ball rolling with their franchise revival, giving us a glimpse at f and Townfall and setting up the next few years of spooky gaming for everyone. Back then, not a lot was known about either game, but fast-forwarding to today, we have now gotten a chance to experience the psychological trauma of a 60s Japanese village and are about to get our hands on a first-person island adventure that is attempting to carve out a new niche for the franchise to explore. In the past, every Silent Hill game has either been third-person or had a fixed camera perspective, so there are a few fans that are a little bit skeptical about the decision to. To those people, I pose the question: what other giant horror franchise made this same decision almost a decade ago and gave us one of the best games the genre has ever seen?
I am, of course, referring to Resident Evil, a series that effectively went quiet for quite some time until they were ready to show Biohazard off to the world, and boy was it worth the wait. Up until that point, we had a mixed bag of action and horror, with the more recent entries choosing guns and explosions over tension and fear. That all changed when the perspective was shifted, as all of a sudden, the moments became much more intimate, and the whole horror experience became amplified due to the more claustrophobic and intense feelings that come from playing in first-person. So, despite there being a bit of backlash at first, in the end, the move resulted in a world-class horror game that then allowed the franchise to flourish once again with a handful of remakes and brand-new titles as well.
There is an argument to suggest that by fundamentally altering how we play the game in this way, you are taking away a part of the Silent Hill identity that has existed for so long. When you play through these games, in a lot of ways it feels as though you are experiencing someone else’s story, whether it be James’, Hinako’s, or Heather’s, and the narratives are constructed in a very specific manner to ensure you are focused entirely on this individual and their place in the world. We get to see backstories and their personal opinions about the world around them, but by playing from first-person, suddenly you are the one exploring the streets and fighting monsters, rather than guiding a character through it.
Resident Evil 7 Proved First-Person Horror Is Worth the Risk
That doesn’t mean to say Simon won’t have his own complex past and presumably plenty of trauma within it, but it can be difficult to relate to a character on a personal level when you don’t actually get to see them except for when a cutscene eventually pops up. Also, atmosphere is a big part of Silent Hill, but if you are constantly playing much slower and more scared, then there is a chance that the sounds and visuals become sidetracked in place of jump scares. All of these things and gripes existed in Resident Evil 7. People simply didn’t care as much about Ethan, and the story beats struggled to land due to how stressed out you are at trying to stay out of sight from start to finish. Yet even with the downsides that come from choosing first over third-person, the upsides can be astronomical, notably the added sense of helplessness and a larger focus placed on pure horror over action, something that games in the genre have been struggling with for many years.
Look at Silent Hill f, for example. That game is eerie and terrifying, but because of how many additional mechanics there are and how much it leans into action, the horror side of survival horror feels fairly flat, and you end up feeling more frustrated than actually frightened. That game took a bold move, and on the whole, I would say it was pretty poorly received, as even with pretty high review scores across the board, the biggest issues I and many others had with it were the combat and action-heavy gameplay.
That leaves us with Townfall, a game that has a lot of weight on its shoulders, given how much praise the other two modern releases have been given. If it fails with this first-person perspective, then Konami may sweep it under the rug and never speak of it again, but if it succeeds, then a wave of first-person Silent Hill may be hitting our screens just around the corner. When these big franchises take leaps into the unknown, the risks are always going to be pretty high, but judging by the benchmark set by Resident Evil 7, I find it pretty hard to believe that Townfall is going to be anything other than a masterclass in first-person horror.
Silent Hill: Townfall
- Released
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September 24, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Screen Burn
