2024-02-04 12:28:07
At the last State of Play, a new Silent Hill was suddenly announced and almost immediately released. Konami has made a very broad gesture by offering the game for free to all PS5 owners. However, given the length and quality of The Short Message, asking for money for this misunderstanding would be a crime and the height of arrogance.
Right out of the gate, Short Message does not hesitate to show that although Konami gave Hideo Kojima a kick in the ass for misusing budget funds when working on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, it decided to keep the work of the “genius” from PT and even tried to use . It turned out so-so.
The Short Message runs through literally in one hour, maybe an hour and a half if the local annoying monster kills you too often in the final chapter. And the whole misunderstanding, which is called a plot in the game, Konami scriptwriters definitely spied on social networks, reading messages from young girls suffering from mental trauma due to unrequited love or lack of prospects – something the current generation loves to share with others, trying to attract maximum attention.
The main character is a certain Anita, who, at the insistence of her friend Maya, arrived at an abandoned residential building in Germany, which was chosen by those who like to paint graffiti on the walls and teenagers who want to quickly leave the mortal world, getting rid of their mortal shells.
Short Message tries to touch on serious topics, talking regarding the problems of teenagers who are harassed by their classmates and misunderstood by their parents, but it does so in a primitive way and through Anita. The main character whines and moans throughout the game that: she is ugly, she has few subscribers on social networks, and how much she envies her friend Maya, who has more likes on her posts, and produces beautiful graffiti, and in general she is all from yourself so amazing.
Konami’s writers also make a rather feeble attempt to show how harmful being on social media can be for teenagers. Most people know this without being told by the company, whose image has been seriously damaged due to social networks, where people mocked it for its attitude to the Silent Hill series.
Wandering around the building, Anita tries to find Maya, periodically stumbling upon the girl’s work, hidden among numerous traces of vandalism, which young artists call graffiti. Through these works, Anita indulges in memories in which she sees the artist and her fall into the abyss of depression.
The life story of the girls is also conveyed bit by bit through notes, diaries and newspaper clippings, which Anita miraculously finds scattered throughout various rooms of the building.
As the storyline progresses, the player begins to understand that, despite the various difficulties in life that Anita had to face, she is only a so-so person, and her unprepossessing appearance hides a truly ugly soul, saturated with petty grievances and bile. It is extremely difficult to associate yourself with such a protagonist; it is very difficult to empathize with her. At a certain moment you want the game to end as soon as possible. No joke, Anita makes an hour in Short Message feel like an eternity.
Towards the end of Short Message, the heroine, in tears and snot, screams “When will this finally end” – this is the only moment in the entire game when you can put yourself in the heroine’s place and really understand her mood.
The game might have been saved by a generally pleasing picture and a richly detailed environment if Short Message had maintained a stable frame rate and not regularly slowed down every time a monster was chasing the heroine through the corridors.
By the way, regarding the monster. From time to time, an otherworldly something begins to chase Anita, which kills the girl with one blow, sending her to the last save. You cannot fight him, you cannot slow him down – the heroine can only run away. Confrontations with monsters cause a lot of problems due to the fact that it is completely unclear in which direction to run.
In the last chapter, the creature can force you to quit the game altogether, because Anita not only needs to run from the annoying creature through very similar rooms that resemble a labyrinth, but also look for the “keys” to the locked door. And the chase starts from the very beginning every time, regardless of how many “keys” Anita already had in her hands.
The only thing I really want to praise Short Message for is the music of the legendary composer Akira Yamaoka, who worked on the Silent Hill games. His compositions will also be heard in the remake of Silent Hill 2 from the Poles from Bloober Team. Yamaoka knows how to set the right tone and create an oppressive atmosphere of hopelessness.
Diagnosis
Silent Hill fans definitely weren’t expecting The Short Message, and they probably won’t be thrilled if the series continues to develop the game’s ideas. I don’t want to worry regarding the heroine, her story is uninteresting and predictable, and the constant whining and moaning only irritates. Luckily, the game is short and free, so you can watch it purely out of curiosity.
Pro
- Detailed and elaborate graphics
- Music by Akira Yamaoki
Contra
- Story regarding teenage problems
- main character
- More annoying than scary monster
- Just one puzzle
- Optimization
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