Townfall Might Be the Closest We’ve Ever Gotten to One of the Most Famous Canceled Horror Games

Silent Hill: Townfall is set to debut later this month, and one of the most compelling features confirmed for the game is that it’s the first full-length game in the series to be completely in first-person. Of course, Silent Hill 4: The Room has first-person moments, and spin-off Silent Hill: The Short Message was in this perspective, but Silent Hill: Townfall dedicates the entire experience to first-person gameplay. This is a surprising departure from the usual franchise norm, and it could be the closest we’ve come to seeing what Hideo Kojima’s canceled Silent Hill game would have looked liked.

Developer Screen Burn Interactive’s decision to make Silent Hill: Townfall first-person has the potential to expand what a Silent Hill game is really capable of in terms of scares. Third-person and first-person horror have their own special strengths, but the latter can bring even more heart-pounding moments to life, since you’re seeing everything through the character’s eyes. First-person horror forces players to be up close and personal with every terrifying moment, while third-person offers a bit of safety by literally allowing you to hide behind a character, which creates a sense of separation. Silent Hill: Townfall is throwing players right into the terror, though, and it’s something that Hideo Kojima once tried to do with the series.

Kojima’s P.T. Walked So Silent Hill: Townfall Could Run

Rewind the clock back to 2014. A mysterious horror game was uploaded to the PlayStation Store by an unknown developer named 7780s Studio, and it quickly took gamers by storm. The game was called P.T., and it was a simple walking simulator horror game that proved to be absolutely terrifying. Never-ending hallways, a spine-chilling fetus wriggling around in a sink, and a sweat-inducing ghost lady named Lisa stalking the main character made up the ingredients of what is still hailed as a perfect first-person horror recipe.

It was eventually revealed that 7780s Studio was a pseudonym and was actually Hideo Kojima and his team in disguise. P.T. was a testing ground for a Kojima-made Silent Hill project, which was made apparent when players reached the end of P.T. Completing all the puzzles in P.T. unlocked a teaser trailer for Kojima’s Silent Hills, and it was the perfect way to ignite hype for such an ambitious project. Unfortunately, Kojima and Konami would eventually butt heads. This resulted in Silent Hills getting canceled without anyone ever getting to see Kojima’s project.

Kojima’s First-Person Horror Journey Isn’t Over, But Townfall Is Picking Up P.T. and Silent Hills’ Pieces

• Kojima Productions is working on a new horror game called OD.
• The game stars Sophia Lillis and Hunter Schafer.
• Legendary actor Udo Kier was supposed to be in the cast, but he passed before filming began.
• Kojima has brought filmmaker Jordan Peele on board to help write the story.
• It will be an Xbox exclusive.

There isn’t much known about OD‘s gameplay and story other than Kojima saying that the name comes from his desire for players to “overdose on fear.” Even after Xbox’s recent round of layoffs, OD is still in development, but the question of when Kojima will showcase more footage remains unanswered. The teasers have ranged from being completely bizarre to downright terrifying, which is completely on brand for Kojima, and the most recent sneak peek confirmed that he’s embracing first-person horror once again.

What camera perspective the canceled Silent Hills game was going to use has never been fully confirmed, but P.T. and OD being in first-person makes it pretty clear that Kojima was probably going to feature the same perspective in some capacity. Now that Kojima’s Silent Hill ship has sailed, Silent Hill: Townfall can swoop in to make things right.

After the Silent Hill 2 Remake and Silent Hill f, Townfall Can Kickstart a New Era

This current era of new Silent Hill games has been pretty solid. Not every Silent Hill game has been a hit, but the Silent Hill 2 remake and Silent Hill f have been great examples that there is still plenty of juice in the franchise. With these entries being successful and in third-person, it’s surprising that Townfall is already shaking up the formula, when Silent Hill 2‘s remake and Silent Hill f nailed the third-person angle.

Silent Hill isn’t the first iconic horror series to experiment with a big change to first-person over third-person. Resident Evil 7‘s first-person was a huge risk on Capcom’s part, but it proved to be the right call for the game’s setting and story. Throughout Resident Evil 7 and Village, first-person was used in a way that still made it feel like you were playing a Resident Evil game; players just got to experience the series’ world in a new light.

These kinds of in-game perspective shake-ups for long-running franchises aren’t always necessary, but they can be a great way to make a series feel fresh again. Silent Hill: Townfall‘s setting and story might be far more effective as a first-person experience, and it’s going to be fascinating to find out exactly how it changes the overall vibe of playing a Silent Hill game.

We may never get to see what a Kojima Silent Hill game would have looked like, but an entry like Silent Hill: Townfall hopefully has the chops to follow in P.T.‘s footsteps and demonstrate that first-person is a good fit for the series. A full-length first-person Silent Hill game is taking a big risk by subverting expectations. As risky as this decision is, though, it’s a move that could make Townfall one of the best Silent Hill games of this new era.

Systems

Released

September 24, 2026

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood, Strong Language, Violence

Developer(s)

Screen Burn