Silent Hill: Townfall Launches in Scotland, with PC Outperforming PS5 Pro in 4K Benchmarks

Key points

• The game was developed by Screen Burn, a Glasgow-based studio, and published by Konami and Annapurna Interactive.
• Silent Hill: Townfall is set in 1996 on the fictional Scottish island of St. Amelia, inspired by the real village of St Monans in Fife.
• The protagonist, Simon Ordell, is an American safety inspector who washes ashore with no memory of his arrival.
• The game features a first-person perspective, emphasizing stealth and improvised melee combat, with a handheld CRT device used to detect monsters.
• Benchmarks show the PC version (RTX 5080, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, DLSS 4.5) achieving 91 FPS in close-up scenes and 72 FPS in demanding scenes, compared to 60 FPS on the PS5 Pro.
• The PC version offers superior visual fidelity in fine geometric elements, hair, clothing folds, and reflections, while the PS5 Pro provides stable frame rates at the cost of microtexture clarity.

Background

Silent Hill: Townfall is the third new entry in the Silent Hill franchise in three years, following the 2024 remake of Silent Hill 2 and the 2025 Japan-set spinoff Silent Hill F. The series has seen a resurgence in popularity, with Konami expanding the franchise to new settings and developers. Previous benchmarks have shown that high-end PC hardware, such as the RTX 5080, can outperform consoles like the PS5 Pro in demanding titles, particularly when using advanced upscaling technologies like DLSS 4.5.

How outlets are covering it

GameGPU and TechPowerUp focus on the technical performance of Silent Hill: Townfall, highlighting the PC's superiority in frame rates and visual fidelity over the PS5 Pro. BBC and The Verge emphasize the game's narrative and atmospheric elements, noting its shift to a Scottish setting and its impact on the horror genre. BBC's Laura Cress highlights the game's authentic Scottish setting and its themes of trauma and guilt, while The Verge's Andrew Webster notes the franchise's revitalization and the potential for future expansions in different settings. TechPowerUp's W1zzard provides detailed technical analysis, noting the game's support for DLSS and FSR but the absence of Intel XeSS and frame generation. GameGPU's Evgen Kovalov emphasizes the PC's advantage in handling fine geometric elements and reflections, while BBC's Laura Cress notes the game's atmospheric tension and the impact of its sound design.

Why it matters

Silent Hill: Townfall marks a significant shift for the franchise, moving away from its traditional American setting to a Scottish island, and introducing a first-person perspective with a focus on stealth and improvised melee. The game's performance benchmarks highlight the ongoing gap between high-end PC hardware and consoles, with the PC version offering superior visual fidelity and frame rates. The game's success and Konami's plans for annual releases suggest a renewed focus on expanding the franchise to new settings and developers, potentially revitalizing the horror genre in gaming.

What to watch

Konami's lead producer, Motoi Okamoto, has expressed interest in releasing a Silent Hill game annually, potentially in various European and Latin American settings. The success of Silent Hill: Townfall may lead to further expansions of the franchise, with new developers and settings. The game's performance benchmarks may also influence future hardware developments, with a focus on improving upscaling technologies and frame generation features.