I talked about my love for Resident Evil not too long ago and how we need a Resident Evil Code Veronica Remake and that series is one of, if not my favorite game series of all time. However, for many years, I would say that it was neck and neck between Resident Evil and Silent Hill in regard to which horror series I liked the best. Like many people, I am very excited for the Silent Hill 2 Remake, I think it looks like it is going to be a lot of fun, I am also pretty pumped up about the new Silent Hill movie that is coming later this year too. However, to tide us over, Konami released, Silent Hill: The Short Message, and having played through it twice now I wanted to share my thoughts on it.
There has been a bit of controversy in regards to the way the game “romanticizes” suicide and to be honest with you, while that did not occur to me, after reading about it more, I can certainly see why some people would feel that way. I do think it is awesome that Konami put this out for free and at an hour or so long, it is a fun return to the world of Silent Hill after what feels like a very long time ago.
We play as a young woman called Anita who is living in Germany and she has been getting a series of strange texts from one of her friends called Maya…. Who killed herself. She also has texts and calls with another friend, Amelie. The setting for the game is this abandoned building where many young people have gone to kill themselves, including Maya who was a talented and popular artist who dealt with a lot of brutal bullying and harassment at her school. Some of the stuff is really hard to experience and I would bet for many people, this is a real trigger.
Controlling Anita, we explore the complex, finding out stuff about Maya, but in typical Silent Hill fashion, we also have to deal with our own trauma that comes from our childhood and dealing with our mother. Silent Hill: The Short Message would not be a Silent Hill game if there was not some kind of monster chasing us and here it is this horrific looking monster covered in Cherry Blossoms. The monster is pretty awesome and when it is chasing you, your anxiety will be through the roof as one wrong turn and BAM, you are dead.
Silent Hill: The Short Message is a very short game and I guess that the best comparison is PT, which I still have saved on my launch PS4! However, I did play through this twice as I enjoyed it so much, but I do not think it has anywhere near the replay value that PT has. The game looks great with realistic looking character models and some clever use of FMV to move the story along too.
In all, I was very entertained by this game and for free, you really could not ask for me. It has gotten me even more pumped up for The Silent Hill 2 Remake that is out later this year! What are your thoughts on Silent Hill: The Short Message, do you think it is as good or better than PT? I would love to read your opinions on this in the comments section.