Summary
- Silent Hill: The Short Message was shadow-dropped by Konami quite unexpectedly.
- The title has received bad reviews from critics just days after its launch with its short storyline.
- The Short Message has received 50/100 reviews on Metacritic, 3/10 on GameSpot, and 4/10 on PushSquare.
Konami is one of the few OG developers left in the gaming segment. They have one of the best track records for games, but now, their latest title seems to be marring that reputation quite a bit.
Soon after, Konami shadow-dropped a surprise Silent Hill title, going by the title of “The Short Message.” Reviews are raining in, and the title has a 50/100 average score on Metacritic. Of all the critic reviews, only an underwhelming 18% are positive, 36% are mixed, and 45% are negative. GameSpot gave the title a 3/10, while Push Square gave it a 4/10.
The User reviews paint a slightly better picture, with an average score of 6.6 overall. There is a chance the scores will fluctuate once all the reviews have been accounted for.
However, with a score of 50/100 on Metacritic, there seems unlikely to be any overwhelming change to the score, even if all the votes are accounted for.
Now, this does not fare well for the developers who shadow-dropped this title with hopes of setting a premise ahead of the release of the much-anticipated Silent Hill 2 Remake.
Tackling contemporary issues like cyberbullying and social media was the idea behind the Short Message. With a short gameplay, it fell short of the expectations of the players and critics alike.
Another reason is that the gaming community, in general, is very reactive. An unrelated factor might have its hand in the low scores and negative reviews.
The developers did not meet the players’ expectations when Silent Hill 2 Remake’s Gameplay was unveiled at PlayStation’s State of Play event. This is because the gameplay is more focused on action, and there is less than anticipated improvement in graphics and gameplay.
As a result, this might have been a fit of rage that pushed the fans for badly reviewing Silent Hill: The Short Message. However, until the Silent Hill 2 Remake releases, players might be patient and give the Short Message a chance.
About Silent Hill: The Short Message
Silent Hill: The Short Message is a 2024 survival horror game co-developed and published by Konami and HexaDrive.
The game was announced and released for PlayStation 5 on 31 January 2024. The plot follows a teenage girl named Anita after she receives bizarre text messages from her late friend Maya, who died from suicide and must look for things that serve as clues in an abandoned apartment complex in Germany while occasionally evading a monster covered in cherry blossom petals that pursues her at certain moments and cannot be attacked. The game is played from a first-person perspective with no combat involved.
Bullying, the impacts of social media, and suicide are the primary themes of the game. Silent Hill: The Short Message received mixed reviews; while some critics praised its visuals, atmosphere, themes, and the game’s free price tag, others criticized its gameplay, narrative, dialogue and chasing sequences.
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