6 Things to Know from Silent Hill: Townfall's Glowing PS5 Previews 1

Despite a small bit of release date movement, the month of September is still jam-packed with PS5 releases — so much so you'll probably have to pick and choose what games you pick up. Silent Hill: Townfall, out on 24th September 2026, increasingly looks like it has to be one of them.

Ahead of launch, select press outlets have played the first few hours of the horror game, with the embargo lifting today. I've read and watched a handful of them, and here are the things that have stuck out to me most.

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The New CRTV Device Is Critical to Everything

6 Things to Know from Silent Hill: Townfall's Glowing PS5 Previews 2

It seems like you won't get far in the Scottish town of St. Amelia without the new CRTV device protagonist Simon carries with him: it's important to every mechanic and feature in the game.

The pause screen does seem to display an overall objective for the point of the game you're at, but the CRTV is what will help you complete it. The device offers clues and hints at where to go next if you tune it.

Should you encounter an enemy, you can track it by holding the CRTV up and displaying its position and proximity to you — including through walls. It also comes into play during puzzles, so don't drop it or leave it behind when you're playing.

Combat Is More Methodical and Likened to Alien Isolation

Fighting the monsters of the Silent Hill series is never the focus in any of its games, but in Townfall, it sounds like you'll need to take your time and plan your actions more than ever. The combat system is based around melee weapons, but there is the occasional gun you can find.

Your best move is to approach situations stealthily and avoid enemies rather than fighting them. While one preview mentions picking up a revolver, the writer touches on it actually being a hindrance: the sound of firing the weapon attracted more enemies and they didn't have enough bullets to deal with them all.

There are comparisons to Alien Isolation, which largely revolved around hiding from Xenomorphs and using your device to track them. There's a similar mechanic in Silent Hill: Townfall thanks to the CRTV.

There's a Revive Mechanic

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Should you die in battle, you'll have a chance to continue playing right where you are. If you have a Filled IV Bag equipped and you die, you'll be revived. You come back to life with a small bit of health, so you'll still need to recover your HP from there.

It's Open, But Not Open World

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Simon finds himself in the Scottish town of St. Ameila, and in the early game at least, it appears you can freely explore it to your heart's content. It sounds like the area operates like Silent Hill 2 does: you can walk its streets and see many of the sights, but you have to trigger story progress to open up new areas.

There's a lovely-looking map guiding you around: your position is marked on it, as too are telephone boxes, and locked doors. There's also a numbering system to the opening area that's part of the pamphlet Simon is doodling on, but there's no Legend to compare the numbers to.

There Are Black Bars on the Screen by Default

Silent Hill: Townfall is displayed in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which puts black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. The game is obviously designed around this look so you're not losing any visuals, but I know this can be off-putting for some. However, there is a toggle in the options to make the game display in full screen.

PS5 Pro Is the Best Place to Play

Previews confirm Silent Hill: Townfall will offer Quality and Performance modes: the former runs at 30FPS while the latter offers 60FPS on the base PS5.

On the PS5 Pro, the game is already utilising PSSR2 functionality, so it'll offer an even better resolution. There's also ray tracing support, but it's not clear if that's only found on the PS5 Pro version of if base PS5 owners get it too.

Silent Hill: Townfall releases for PS5 and PC on 24th September 2026. Below, I've embedded a variety of text and video previews for you to take a look at.

GameSpot

Between engaging with the CRTV and sneaking around gurgling monstrosities, Silent Hill: Townfall is the most mechanically varied in the series, which is a highlight for me. Screen Burn Interactive’s Silent Hill: Townfall is shaping up to usher Konami’s psychological horror franchise into a potential renaissance.

Polygon

After this demo, Silent Hill: Townfall rocketed to the top of my most-anticipated list for the remainder of 2026. Even weeks after playing it, I can’t get that disorienting, dread-inducing opening sequence out of my head, and I’m itching for the chance to get back to Simon’s awful adventure. I’m probably going to be playing the whole thing standing up, with every light in the house on. But there’s no doubt I will be devouring this game come fall.