Silent Hill: Townfall may be sandwiched between several big releases next month, but Screen Burn and Konami are going out of their way to deliver a memorable experience. That includes some pretty insane attention to detail, such as with the CRTV. Protagonist Simon Ordell uses it for navigation but can also create distractions against enemies.
Since this is 1996, it captures the feel of CRT screens pretty realistically. But that’s because, as director/writer Jon McKellan recently revealed to Eurogamer, the team fed gameplay footage through actual analog devices and then did a few “modifications” to nail those distortions.
“We 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. That way, this pivotal tool doesn’t just look authentic; it really is authentic.”
Why not just give Ordell a regular map like other Silent Hill games? This is because it would “have an extremely different feel to the story.” Gameplay is one thing, but it seems the CRTV plays a pivotal role beyond that.
Perhaps it has a hand in influencing the different endings that players can unlock. McKellan and producer Motoi Okamoto confirmed that there are five in total, with two “secret” endings locked behind New Game Plus. Each ending is tied to how you play, whether it’s in aggressiveness or how much you investigate St. Amelia.
Silent Hill: Townfall is out on September 24th for PS5 and PC. You can find out about how the team is leaning into classic expectations while “massively subverting” them here.
