The choice to longer set its Silent Hill video games in Silent Hill could also be one of many smarter ones Konami has made lately.
Whereas on paper it sounds prefer it shouldn’t make a lot sense, by giving builders the liberty to make their Silent Hill adventures wherever they like as an alternative of all the time having to set them in a small American city, it opens up the collection to a a lot wider number of experiences.
In any case, anybody who’s performed only a handful of earlier entries is aware of that Silent Hill is only a metaphor for the protagonist’s trauma, so does it really want to happen in the same surroundings every time? Final 12 months’s implausible Silent Hill F, with its rural Nineteen Sixties Japanese setting, delivered the strongest doable message that no, it doesn’t, and now Scottish developer Display screen Burn is placing the identical level throughout with Silent Hill: Townfall.
Townfall is ready in 1996 and takes place in St Amelia, a Scottish coastal village. It doesn’t exist in actual life, however as somebody who spent a lot of my childhood visiting Scottish fishing villages, it’s stunningly genuine anyway (particularly to St Monans, the Fife hamlet it’s primarily based on).
The streets and homes themselves are brilliantly offered but it surely’s the tiny particulars that actually make the distinction right here. The Put up Workplace (or its trademark-shimmying equal, not less than) has precisely the form of charmingly crap promotional posters on the wall that you’d count on to have seen there on the time. Residents with computer systems hold their floppy disks in these little packing containers with the clear lid (and a few of these are locked, resulting in puzzles the place you need to discover the important thing).
Even the images of individuals dotted across the village look authentically Scottish, which can sound like an odd factor to say, but it surely’s one thing that’s very laborious to place into phrases. There’s a sure look that outdated Scottish household images from the 70s, 80s and 90s have, and it’s completely replicated right here (to the extent that I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ‘replicated’ in any respect, and simply consists of actual outdated images of family and friends of the event staff).
Later, when the sport takes gamers to a different housing property elsewhere, it’s much more authentically grim. I’ve been to many procuring districts that regarded like this again within the day (with apologies to the effective folks of Motherwell and Cumbernauld), and whereas I respect the overwhelming majority of Silent Hill followers will merely see this as a brand new, detailed city to go to, on a private degree I’ve by no means had a sport conjure up imagery from my childhood in such a starkly genuine method earlier than.
Certainly, as I regarded by way of the digital artbook accompanying the sport, I discovered a bit of idea artwork that actually exhibits my very own hometown of Coatbridge, so it’s no shock in any respect that I associated to it so strongly.
This makes it all of the extra irritating, then, that Silent Hill: Townfall – for all of the issues it does exceptionally nicely – has some infuriating downers that had been substantial sufficient to spoil the expertise for me.
Townfall tells the story of Simon Ordell, an American who wakes up within the water at St Amelia. When he scrambles ashore he finds a village that’s seemingly been deserted – that’s, aside from the mutated creatures shambling across the streets. Simon additionally finds himself speaking with a mysterious nurse referred to as Zoe and a chap referred to as Richard, who tells Simon he will help with no matter unknown incident has occurred.
The principle gimmick in Silent Hill: Townfall is the way in which it performs with tech to create stress. Simon is armed with a CRTV, a small handheld gadget which replaces the radio from different Silent Hill video games. The CRTV could be tuned to seek out clues and brief video clips revealing among the plot, however its predominant use is as an enemy tracker.
While you hear a quick burst of static, you possibly can take a look at the CRTV and tune it to discover a monster close by. The CRTV’s scanner can detect enemies wherever they’re and exhibits them as a type of silhouette, so you possibly can conceal behind partitions and level it in a creature’s route to watch its actions.
Some could think about this dishonest a bit, and will really feel it removes the stress considerably, however contemplating Townfall is performed from a first-person perspective as an alternative of the third-person view the collection is often recognized for – and due to this fact you possibly can’t flip the digicam round to get a greater view of what’s occurring round you – it’s a great tool to personal (particularly throughout the irritating sections, which I’ll get to).
With out spoiling issues an excessive amount of plot-wise, there are sections of the sport the place you aren’t armed with the CRTV and as an alternative personal a small pager. This additionally doubles as a radar of types, however a much less efficient one – as an alternative of explicitly displaying you the define of enemies, it simply includes a round gauge with black dots displaying their location, which means you possibly can inform roughly which route they’re standing in.
This being a Silent Hill sport, fight isn’t all the time inspired, and gamers are suggested to cover once they can and solely combat when they should . While you do, nonetheless, it feels strong sufficient, with gamers capable of collect a modest however efficient number of planks of wooden, metal pipes and some kinds of gun.
Firearms are significantly satisfying and pack extra of a punch than they often do in a horror sport, however this simply cements their place as a final resort, a luxurious you possibly can’t go losing (particularly in case your nerves get the higher of you and also you miss a shot, dropping one in all your treasured bullets).
The place the sport falls aside is in particular sections involving a personality referred to as The Weight. It is a bigger enemy which wanders round as if it’s carrying a big weight on its again, therefore the identify. Not solely is it virtually invincible, when it catches you it triggers an animation the place you die immediately.
Stealth is the secret right here, then, however that’s problematic when the primary space The Weight seems in is an virtually pitch black, underground space with numerous corridors and a bunch of doorways, a few of that are locked. Basically, you’re anticipated to do the same old survival horror routine of attempting doorways, discovering keys and different vital gadgets, all whereas this massive clunky sod is stomping round.
The principle downside right here is that the Weight seemingly appears to have some type of sense of the place you roughly are. You’ll be able to throw a brick or bottle at a wall downstairs to make it come and examine, then run upstairs to try to discover with out being bothered, however someway The Weight will nonetheless discover its means again to the place you’re comparatively shortly.
You may also conceal in lockers to keep away from detecting from The Weight, but it surely then takes an age to smell across the locker, then slowly amble out of the room, and even then it tends to only stand across the door as an alternative of investigating all the ground, which means there’s a hell of loads of ready round for an opportunity to someway sneak out with out it seeing you, and while you do get into the corridor every part’s so darkish you need to flip your gentle on and danger it seeing that.
This part is deeply irritating – not simply when it comes to the precise stealth gameplay itself, however as a result of till this level the sport is ticking away properly and this brings every part grinding to a halt.
“This part is deeply irritating – not simply when it comes to the precise stealth gameplay itself, however as a result of till this level the sport is ticking away properly and this brings every part grinding to a halt.”
To get by way of these sections, as in most survival horror video games, you need to hold checking your map to see which rooms you’ve visited, which of them nonetheless must be tackled, and which of them have gadgets you need to return to after you have the suitable key or what have you ever. To maintain the stress going, the sport doesn’t pause while you learn the map – it’s checked in real-time.
That is all nicely and good at each different level within the sport however I want you can learn the map whereas hiding in a locker, as a result of standing out within the open and planning your subsequent transfer whereas The Weight is arsing round close by is simply too dangerous. Some will argue that provides to the stress, however the way in which it’s executed right here usually feels low-cost.
Right here’s the actual kicker, although. Simon can equip an IV drip which principally provides him an additional ‘life’. If you happen to die whereas the IV drip is provided, the display blacks out, however then fades again in once more as you stand up, gaining just a little further life from the drip. Wherever else within the sport this works nice. Right here, virtually each time the drip introduced me again to life, The Weight was nonetheless standing close by, which means he immediately noticed me and one-hit killed me straight away once more.
Every thing round The Weight sections is implausible. Exploring an deserted housing scheme and one other giant location (can’t spoil the small print as a result of it pertains to the story) is a deal with, and each areas are given much more lavish consideration to element than the opening fishing village space.
There are some very intelligent puzzles in right here too, particularly one involving dictaphone tapes and time journey. And one shock part – the sport’s fifth ‘Half’ – includes a repeating visible that’s each darkly hilarious and brilliantly intelligent (this part additionally options the sport’s greatest enemy, a screaming widow who costs the participant with a material over her head and images of her lifeless liked one hooked up to her).
After which, frustratingly, The Weight seems once more. This time in a fair darker part, and this time with out a map. And the entire thing falls aside as soon as extra.
It’s infuriating as a result of in each different sense, Silent Hill: Townfall is a sport I’d suggest. The world design is immaculate (particularly if you happen to’re from Scotland), the environment is nice, and the performances are robust – even when not one of the predominant characters are literally Scottish.
The puzzles are balanced sufficient to make you assume with out ever getting really stumped, the music is hauntingly efficient and the story’s quite a few twists and turns are partaking.
It’s uncommon, nonetheless, that I discover sections in a sport that hit a brick wall and kills the momentum lifeless like Townfall does.
For a sport that has made me really feel extra immersed and engaged than most horror video games I’ve performed shortly, to yank me out of that immersion and alter my mindset from “what’s occurring right here” to “how do I reverse engineer this man’s bloody AI” is deeply disappointing. It’s, to make use of Scottish vernacular, an actual boot within the baws.
