While the Silent Hill franchise in recent times has been known to jump between different time periods, Silent Hill: Townfall writer Jon McKellan has explained the reason behind the upcoming horror title’s 1996 setting. In an interview with GamesRadar, he spoke about a variety of factors behind the decision, like its post-Margaret Thatcher 1990s setting in a small working-class town playing a role.
The fact that the technology of 1996 wasn’t quite advanced enough to help a survival horror protagonist is also a big factor. After all, smartphones as we know them now wouldn’t be a thing for more than a decade. “It’s almost like the perfect time for horror where you don’t quite have enough technology to help you. You don’t have a smartphone. You don’t have maps on your device to help you get around, but it’s also not so far back that you don’t have anything at all.”
The studio behind Silent Hill: Townfall – Screen Burn – also tends to use archaic technology as its core themes when it comes to storytelling.
“Especially, like, Screen Burn’s history, our games are quite, you know, dealing with archaic technology and old computers, and we were able to bring some of that into Townfall by setting it in a period where that kind of tech is new for Silent Hill, but not too modern.”
“It feels like the right time period for that. A couple of different factors all made the ’90s feel like the right time for horror.”
McKellan had previously spoken about using old technology for the development of Silent Hill: Townfall. Earlier this month, he said in an interview that the development team would take gameplay footage and cutscenes “and actually run them through old hardware, old TVs, pocket televisions, to create something that was truly authentic. We would damage the cables, hold magnets to them, and then get that footage back into the game. This way, this pivotal tool [the CRTV] doesn’t just look authentic; it really is authentic.”
Silent Hill: Townfall is slated for release on September 24th, and is coming to PC and PS5. The title will put players in the shoes of Simon Ordell, who finds himself revisiting the docks of St. Amelia, Scotland. In his attempts to “put this right”, Simon will also find out more about his connection with the town and the people who once lived there.
Interestingly, much like Silent Hill f, Silent Hill: Townfall won’t take players to the eponymous town. This likely plays into ideas that Konami has been exploring about how Silent Hill can be more of a phenomenon rather than simply a single geographic location. This was last discussed by Silent Hill f writer Ryukishi07, who said that series producer Motoi Okamoto told him about the idea.
“I discussed a lot of things with series producer Okamoto in a meeting after I received the request [to write Silent Hill f],” said Ryukishi07. “Like ‘Why is it set in Japan?’ and ‘What exactly is Silent Hill?’ In the end, we came to the conclusion that Silent Hill is not just the name of a place; it is a phenomenon. Looking back, I think I was able to create a pretty satisfying base for the story and world from this.”
