Konami has confirmed that Silent Hill: Townfall is currently in development. The announcement came as part of the Silent Hill Transmission presentation. The presentation focused on five different projects, including a Silent Hill 2 remake, the Return to Silent Hill film, the interactive media project Silent Hill: Ascension, and the mysterious Silent Hill F. While only a teaser trailer was shared for Silent Hill: Townfall, the game's developer and prior leaks provide an exciting glimpse of why the project is exciting.
Silent Hill: Townfall is being developed by No Code Studios, a co-production with Annapurna Interactive. No Code Studios is best known for two projects, Stories Untold and Observation. Both titles are adventure-puzzle games, the first an episodic horror anthology and the second a larger sci-fi thriller -- though Observation certainly has its horror inclinations. Based on its past work, it's easy to see how No Code is a solid choice for a Silent Hill project.
The trailer for Silent Hill: Townfall is suitably cryptic and offers very little in terms of direct information about the game. Voiceover stating that "you are here to be punished" is heard, along with lines about being stuck somewhere, judgment, and other generally frightening commentaries. The visuals of the trailer swap between a pocket television flashing cryptic maps and charts intermixed with violent imagery, and a beach scene with the water coming and out layered with a red filter.
Leaks surrounding Silent Hill: Townfall have indicated that No Code is making a suitable follow-up to its previous projects. The new game reportedly focuses on short-form horror stories, much like Stories Untold. It's also been described as "episodic," though it's unclear if that means it will be released in pieces or is simply referring to the anthology structure of the Silent Hill game. It's also said that the game was shopped to multiple different teams prior to No Code, including the project that Supermassive eventually turned into the Dark Pictures Anthology.
Suffice it to say, there's a lot left to be discovered about Silent Hill: Townfall. The trailer reveals very little about the game, but it does an excellent job of building atmosphere. In that regard, Silent Hill: Townfall is exciting as a project from the beloved horror game franchise. If the atmosphere is correct, the gameplay will benefit.
Without knowing more about Silent Hill: Townfall's gameplay, it's impossible to say just how true of a successor it is to the Silent Hill franchise. What is exciting, though, is that No Code has shown itself to be a talented horror game developer, and it now has the opportunity to show that with a massive franchise. It is just one of the multiple exciting opportunities for the Silent Hill series to have a resurgence in the next few years.
Silent Hill: Townfall is currently in development.