Konami has released free-to-play PS5 game Silent Hill: The Short Message
The surprise release is available to download now, exclusively on PS5
Konami has officially revealed Silent Hill: The Short Message, and has announced that it’s available to play today exclusively on PS5.
The trailer shows the protagonist attempting to end her life by jumping off a building, but instead she finds herself in an alternate dimension filled with horrors.
“Following messages from her friend Maya, Anita finds herself at a crumbling apartment block, infamous for rumors of suicides,” the game’s description reads.
“Drawn inside, Anita soon finds her sense of reality shattered as she encounters bizarre, otherworldly spaces, haunted by a twisted monster.
“Maya’s message was clear – can’t leave til you find it – but what is it that Anita is really looking for?
“An all-new, modern Silent Hill experience, powered by the latest in game technology, now available free to play exclusively on PlayStation 5.”
Details on Silent Hill: The Short Message were revealed back in November, after the game was certified by the Australian Classification Board.
According to the ratings board, Silent Hill: The Short Message is an “exploration‑based psychological horror game” that includes depictions of suicide and self‑harm. Its full text on the game, which includes some plot spoilers, has been republished in full below.
The ratings board also gave a detailed description of the game’s contents, which can be found below (and contains some spoilers):
Silent Hill: The Short Message details, via ACB:
Strong suicide themes, horror violence and coarse language: an exploration‑based psychological horror game in which players control characters in an apartment building called The Villa in modern‑day Germany.
The player assumes the role of a young woman, Anita, who must explore The Villa through first‑person gameplay in order to collect clues and uncover what has happened to her friend. Anita is exploring a bathroom environment which features a bathtub filled with bloody water, blood‑splattered tiles and a razor blade on a bloodied sink. Upon examining a razor, Anita experiences a flashback.
In a cut‑scene depicted through a first‑person point of view, a voice yells, “This is all your fault! Bad things happen because of YOU!” and a hand holding the razor enters the frame. The character’s left arm enters the frame with horizontal scars evident across the character’s wrist. The scene cuts to a black screen before the razor makes contact with the character’s wrist. The following shot features an image of the character’s left arm with old and fresh scars.
In a cut‑scene depicted through a mixture of third‑person and first‑person shots, the player character stands on the edge of the building’s rooftop, looking down. It is implied that Maya committed suicide by jumping off the ledge of the rooftop. The player character, in a distressed state of mind, speculates that she will never compare to Maya. Echoes of her mother’s abusive tirades are heard in the background as Anita prepares to jump and says, “Maybe I can be like her… Here goes…” In a first‑person shot, her feet are seen near the edge of the ledge before, in a third‑person shot, she steps off and begins to fall.
Throughout the game, cut‑scenes depicting self‑harm and suicide are followed by black screens which feature white text encouraging players to seek treatment and help if they are at risk of self‑harm and suicide and to offer support if they see people around them struggling. In the Board’s opinion, depictions of suicide and self‑harm within the game occur in the broader context of discourse exploring issues revolving around mental health which encourages players to seek help or offer support to those in need. As such, the impact of the depictions does not exceed strong in impact and can be accommodated within the MA 15+ classification.