A new, free PS5 game was released this week, and PlayStation fans — at least on Reddit — are divided over whether or not it is worth your time. This week there was a PlayStation State of Play, featuring games like Death Stranding 2, Stellar Blade, Rise of Ronin, Until Dawn, and Metro Awakening. There were was also plenty for Silent Hill fans. Not only did Silent Hill 2 Remake show up, but Konami stealth-released a new Silent Hill game called Silent Hill: The Short Message. This is an exclusive for PS5, and it’s a free download. As the name suggests, as well as the free price tag, it is short. More specifically, it is two hours long. Over on the PS5 Reddit page, some PS5 users seem to be really enjoying it, but there are many detractors as well.ย
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“Is Silent Hill: The Short Message good? The answer is YES,” reads one of the most popular posts on the PS5 Reddit page right now. “Really recommended it if you like Silent Hill games, especially because Akira Yamaoka did the sound design and the music creates a nostalgic atmosphere. It also tells the story of the protagonist so well for people who suffer from depression and suicidal tendencies.”
The post has attracted over 300 comments, some of which agree with the post. Meanwhile the large number of votes up seemingly echo the sentiment as well. However, many comments — including most of the top comments — disagree.
“The writing was as bad as it gets. Felt like a Netflix show written with tweens in mind. If they the spoken lines and the cutscenes and just kept the text messages the game would be way better and would feel a lot more like a Silent Hill game,” reads one of these comments. A second comment adds: “The whole thing is basically an anti-bullying ad. Not for me. Definitely not scary, which was the biggest disappointment.”
For what it is worth, critics seem to agree with those criticizing the game. Right now the game has eleven critic reviews on Metacritic, which average out to a score of 50. This is a low score by any standards, but for a company like Konami, it is especially low. That said, and as always, feel free to weigh in with your thoughts via a comment or by hitting me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ and letting me know over there.
