Silent Hill: Townfall Preview: Does Resident Evil Requiem have a contender for 2026's top survival horror?

In my eyes, Silent Hill has been in an unusual place over the past few years. While the remake of Silent Hill 2, handled by Bloober Team, was an excellent experience across a multitude of metrics, the other ventures from the franchise have been of wildly differing quality. We've seen forgettable interactive series like Silent Hill: Ascension and even small-scale adventures that failed to leave a particularly impressive mark, as was the case with Silent Hill: The Short Message. Then there was Silent Hill f in 2025, a project with a compelling premise and which, in my opinion, lacked the refinement and edge to allow it to stand alongside the titans of the survival horror genre. I'm also more than familiar many adored Silent Hill f, but I found the game to be a regression when compared to Bloober Team's brilliant remake.

So here we are, on the horizon of an all-new Silent Hill project once again, this time handled by developer Screen Burn and looking to flip the script on the Silent Hill formula a tad by featuring a first-person perspective. It's known as Silent Hill: Townfall, and from what I've seen of a preview build being offered at Gamescom this year, this is a game that won't make the same mistakes as Silent Hill f and will make you realise once more just why the horror genre is better when Silent Hill is a frequent contender.

The setting is St. Amelia, a quaint Scottish coastal town fitted with all of the trademarks and design elements you would expect if you happen to be familiar with the area. Expect terraced housing overlooking the sea wall, tight alleyways separating the various streets, and small businesses offering basic and key supplies for the nearby residents. From a macro level, it's a rather picturesque image Screen Burn has painted, one that is soon brought down to Silent Hill's level when you realise the streets are desolate and empty, a thick fog holds the area hostage, and terrible creatures roam the streets.

Still, the Silent Hill picture, if you will, doesn't immediately come to mind with Silent Hill: Townfall. It may seem strange, but the initial opening of the game, perhaps down to the first-person perspective, feels a little more akin to a modern Resident Evil. The visuals and the graphics are excellent, the lead character of Simon feels authentic, the wider St. Amelia area stands out as a treat to explore, and there's interactivity being implemented that was otherwise lacking in Silent Hill f. Whether this is actually dialling a number at a phone booth to save the game, or even having to be more hands-on and critical with your puzzle solving to overcome the challenges in your path; you can sometimes forget you're playing a Silent Hill game.

And this is exacerbated by the introduction of the CRTV, which is a small handheld television that can be tuned into radio signals to pick up hints about the underlying mystery of this game and even to spot dangers through walls. It's used by simply pulling the CRTV up in front of Simon's face, using the triggers to move a slider to align with signals, and then swapping between them to take advantage of the 'tuned' signal. The CRTV is a unique feature that bolsters this game considerably, but it's also around here where you start to notice the Silent Hill-styled trimmings.

For one, when the enemies appear, you can make no mistake this is a Silent Hill game. We're talking about creatures with humanoid elements stitched together with other unusual items and parts to make for a contorted biomass ripped straight out of your nightmares. They are familiar in appearance to the monsters we've seen in countless Silent Hill games in the past, and on that front, while Simon does have a few ways to fight them off using wooden planks and other melee tools, the main aim of this game is to avoid these hostiles at all cost by using stealth and the CRTV to your advantage.

The other area that starts to make you notice the Silent Hill heart of Townfall comes from the core story and how we follow Simon as he attempts to piece together a mystery surrounding how he has wound up on St. Amelia's shores, why there are no other residents, and how his partner is connected to it all. Like James Sunderland following shreds of information in an effort to find Mary, Simon travels around the town looking for Zoe predominantly, even if learning more about his IV bag and medical wristband are key narrative threads too.

It should be said the demo was mostly geared around the opening stages of Silent Hill: Townfall, specifically the portion of the game after Simon washes up on St. Amelia's dock and begins his adventure. As this is the case, I can't comment on how combat becomes a greater element to the wider whole, or even if additional mechanics and tools are introduced to evolve the adventure. What I can tell you is the first-person perspective and the lack of a HUD work wonderfully to enhance the fear factor and immersive nature of the game, the level design for St. Amelia is top of the line, and the overall presentation is nothing short of premium. We've been treated to an exceptional survival horror game earlier this year in Resident Evil Requiem, and from what I've seen of Silent Hill: Townfall so far, it certainly feels as though Konami, Annapurna, and Screen Burn are shaping up to deliver a capable and memorable contender.

A year ago, I left Gamescom 2025 waxing lyrical about Resident Evil Requiem after finally going hands-on with that game, even if it was only briefly. Today, Konami has stolen the spotlight for me, as Silent Hill: Townfall looks to be something special, a true worthy addition to the survival horror space. If you enjoy these kinds of games, I would encourage you to keep an eye on this project, as from what I've seen, it's going to be something truly entertaining.