{
  "id": 5788850,
  "title": "My first 90 minutes wandering through Silent Hill: Townfall's 90s Scottish town were atmospheric… and aimless",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/my-first-90-minutes-wandering-through-silent-hill-townfalls-90s",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-05T15:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechRadar",
    "slug": "techradar",
    "url": "https://www.techradar.com/gaming/playstation/my-first-90-minutes-wandering-through-silent-hill-townfalls-90s-scottish-town-were-atmospheric-and-aimless"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Silent Hill: Townfall immerses players in the atmosphere of a 90s Scottish town, combining the resurgence of Konami's survival horror series with the cultural authenticity of Scottish gaming. As a standalone first-person experience, it marks the first full-length Silent Hill game since Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro's cancelled project, thanks to Screen Burn Interactive's Glasgow studio handling the development.\n\nThe game's setting in the fictional Scottish town of St. Amelia offers an authentic backdrop, particularly during the summer when fog rolls in from the cold North Sea. Screen Burn Interactive, known for their first-person games Stories Untold and Observation, has crafted a hauntingly atmospheric world. However, the developers have chosen not to feature Scottish-sounding characters, which contrasts with the BAFTA-winning game Still Wakes The Deep.\n\nProtagonist Simon Ordell, voiced by Jovan Adepo, is an outsider who has arrived in St. Amelia to \"make it right.\" Simon emerges from the harbor not by boat but seemingly from the water, with a mysterious red wristband and tubes connected to his body. St. Amelia itself is a ghost town, with abandoned shops and \"house for sale\" signs.\n\nThe game begins with Simon receiving mysterious instructions through a public phone box in the town square, urging him to \"save himself.\" As Simon explores the square, he encounters a man being fed fluid from a tube and later discovers protest banners hinting at a nearby crime linked to a company with the acronym CEG. Despite the eerie and atmospheric beginning, the game can feel aimless, with locked doors and the sprint ability yet to be unlocked.\n\nTo progress, players must pay close attention to details, using the CRTV (portable television) to tune in on the analogue triggers and decipher video clips. The CRTV also aids in detecting nearby enemies through sound and static, or players can hold a button while using the left stick to peek around corners. Combat is clunky and relies on evasion tactics, making the unsettling vibes of the game more prominent than hostile threats. Silent Hill: Townfall releases for PlayStation 5 and PC on September 24, 2026.",
  "summary": "We go hands-on with an extended section of the next Silent Hill release at Gamescom 2026.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "PC Gamer",
        "title": "Silent Hill: Townfall is the most Scottish game I've ever played and the most effective horror game I've seen in ages: 'It made sense for us to dig deep into our upbringings, into our past, and try and build a place that felt believable'",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/silent-hill-townfall-is-the-most-scottish-game-ive-ever-played-and",
        "published": "2026-09-04T15:44:34.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "TechRadar",
        "title": "I just saw the renter-friendly dishwasher I've been dreaming of for the past decade",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/i-just-saw-the-renter-friendly-dishwasher-ive-been-dreaming-of-for",
        "published": "2026-09-05T02:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}