Konami masterfully updates itself with the authentic terror of the 21st century

I won’t be the one to complain that after every gaming event we get a new title to try out on the spot. Xbox already made that move last year with Hi-Fi Rush and now it’s Sony’s turn with its State of Play, in this case passing the spotlight to Silent Hill: The Short Message.

Konami has decided once and for all to revitalize one of your favorite sagas with a good battery of titles and, while the remake of the second part is still the main course, the Japanese company has seen fit to put a wonderful appetizer on the table, totally free.

There are two aspects that immediately draw attention to the work as soon as we grab the PS5 DualSense. The first of them is that we are faced with a first-person game, which is a radical change compared to previous installments of the franchise, and which is intended to create greater immersion for the player. The second is about the modernity of the problems it deals with Silent Hill: The Short Messageas it reflects the internal conflicts of the 21st century.

We control Anita, an 18-year-old girl who wakes up in a completely abandoned apartment block and without knowing for sure how she got there. Through the different messages she receives from her friends Maya and Amelie she will verify that something very strange is happening between the walls full of graffiti and the prevailing dirt. As it could not be otherwise in the series, reality begins to distort little by little to reflect the sins and the murky past that surrounds the protagonist.

The leitmotif that weaves together all the events, which we will not spoil, is based on people tormented, afraid and afflicted by terrible circumstances that they have had to suffer. For many of them, the only way of escape and approval in our era is social networks and, although they can become a very powerful tool to project themselves to the world, the medicine that society can give you back is very hard. Furthermore, the very pressure that we impose on ourselves is often the real trigger for chaos.

The individual intends to grow, but the messages he receives crush him to the point of no return that no one wants. The video game is very aware of what it transmits and shows its social awareness with messages about seeking help if we need it. So it they explain its own creators:

“We choose to focus our story on young characters like these. Characters who are suffering and lost, for whom one more small setback can end up pushing them into an ever-deepening spiral of anguish. But at the same time, even the smallest kind gesture can save them. And that is why this game is a message, one that we want to send to all those who suffer the pressure of this conflict.”

Throughout scenarios formed by memories of Anita, the Konami team takes us to dilapidated apartments, suffocating school hallways and rooms belonging to that cursed reality so characteristic of Silent Hill. It will be in these situations when we have to run for our lives, because a strange creature will chase us relentlessly. The only way to escape from it is, while we stay in the race, to find out which is the correct path to the door that returns us to the real world.

They are sequences of great tension, as we cannot stop hearing behind us how the monster writhes towards us in an example of the great sound design of Silent Hill: The Short Message. We listen to the steps we take, the creaking of doors, and the soundtrack knows how to quicken our pulse when terror is about to rush before us. We are only talking about three chapters that will last us about two hours of gameplay, perhaps a little more if you look for all the possible documents.

And it is that Anita’s capacity for action is very limited and we can say without problems that we are facing a textbook walking simulator. There are plenty of newspaper clippings, letters and even cell phone text messages to read and give us all the context we need to understand what exactly is happening. And it is ironic that the only thing we have in our hands accompanying us and allowing us to maintain a thread with reality is the mobile phone itself, since in turn it is the focus of many evils that the work deals with. It illuminates the path with the flashlight and allows us to connect with our friends, although we miss having integrated it more with its own mechanics.

The game looks very good in all its visual aspects, although it is far from being an experience that stands out for belonging to this generation of consoles. It is true that it takes advantage of the PS5’s feedback functions, but it does not exactly stand out for its graphic power. Of course, it should be noted that there is passion towards Silent Hill in several moments, because those of you who go with your eyes open will find very obvious nods to the classic maps or the sign that greets each visitor to the cursed town.

iGamesNews’s opinion

Surely the worst thing that can be said about Silent Hill: The Short Message It’s just that it lasts too short. Living Anita’s journey is not only knowing her story, but we probably see ourselves reflected in different events of his life. It is a current and fresh perspective on how the saga can be adapted without problems to a younger audience and with problems different from those suffered by Harry Mason and James Sunderland.

Of course, a little more action capacity is missing, since we only encounter one puzzle in the entire game and the last loop in which we have to escape from the creature can be frustrating. However, they are small nuances for a game for which we have not paid a single euro and which, as a whole, shines brightly above the fog that surrounds the building in which we are lost.

Konami, for its part, does not seem to find the key when it comes to offering its projects to external studios. Silent Hill: Ascension was a failed experiment by Genvid Entertainment and Bad Robot, while in this case Hexadrive has managed to get its vision right. We will see what Bloober Team will finally offer us with the return of Silent Hill 2but while we can taste with great pleasure Silent Hill: The Short Message.

Precio de Silent Hill: Short Message

You don’t have to pay a single penny to taste Silent Hill: Short MessageWell, Konami is giving it away completely free in the PS5 PlayStation Store. It is an exclusive title for the Sony console.

Silent Hill Duration: Short Message

My departure to Silent Hill: The Short Message It lasted close to two hours and I managed to see the end credits after having explored in depth. I have discovered many documents and I have only had to repeat the chases against the abominable creature that hunts Anita less than five times.

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