During today’s State of Play, Konami gifted the ever-starving Silent Hill fanbase a lot of enticing news today. Not only did they finally show off more of the hotly anticipated Silent Hill 2 remake, but they revealed yet another brand-new game… and it will be available today for free, exclusively for the PlayStation 5.
Silent Hill: The Short Message was revealed after several years of leaks and rumors without any official unveiling. It was shown to be a first-person game in its trailer, the first in the franchise, aside from the fan-adored PT.
In My Restless Dreams, I See That Town… Silent Hill
The trailer shows the first-person perspective present in the game as the player carries a smartphone through an eerie, seemingly abandoned apartment building, assumedly in the titular Silent Hill. Several unsettling new monsters appear to come after the character, chasing them through the narrow hallways.
Perhaps most excitingly, the trailer ends with the words “Full Game Free to Play” and it is revealed that the game will be available later today. Following a twelve-year absence for the franchise, this is certainly an exciting way to pop back into the public eye.
It has been nearly twelve years since the last Silent Hill game was released. Following the lukewarmly-received Downpour, itself tailing a trail of tepidly received games following the dissolution of Team Silent, the developer behind the original four games.
PT eventually released and teased Silent Hills, an expected return to form for the franchise led by acclaimed developer Hideo Kojima. Of course, following the very public falling out between Kojima and Konami, the game was scrapped, and the franchise remained dormant for over a decade.
Silent Hill is Back!
Interestingly, the franchise has been dormant almost as long as it existed in the first place at the release of its previous game. As such, it is quite surprising to find that the first new game in nearly half the franchise’s total existence is not only just about shadow-dropped (barring the many leaks and rumors in the past couple of years) but done so entirely for free.
In an official blog post, it was revealed that The Short Message aims to use the Silent Hill franchise as a way to examine the way modern youth are affected by things such as social media and bullying, with it being called “Konami’s vision of an all-new, contemporary Silent Hill.”
Are you excited that the Silent Hill franchise has finally come back after so many years? Do you plan to play The Short Message? Let us know in the comments and on our social feeds!
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