Siren

"This game is probably 2004's biggest survival horror surprise."

Before I even start this review, I've got to say just a couple of things: I am not good at any games that deal with the survival horror genre. The reasons? Either the games are way too hard, or the games are just too scary. All right, let's start this review. You would think that after reviewing two mediocre Japanese games that I wouldn't try another one. But my choice of what game to rent was between Mister Mosquito or Siren, so I picked this. There was almost no hype for this game, which might have helped me give this game a better score... Here is my review for Siren on the PlayStation 2.

Gameplay: Very Good, 8
Okay, I'm going to try as hard as I can to not talk about the story because you can only play in story mode, like any survival horror game. There are no load screens... Actually, the load screens are in-game cutscenes, so you don't feel like you're waiting for something to happen. Also, it makes the game flow more freely, like a movie. The game itself is so difficult, that I had to stop playing the game after the third stage. This game is not for the occasional gamer. What I mean by that is, if you're not the type that likes a good challenge that will take you awhile to figure out, this is not the game for you... The ability to see what any type of human being is able to see through psychic power is called “sightjacking”, which you will have to use plenty of times if you want to get through a stage. It's kind of like the film Being John Malkovich, except you can't move the character that you have “sightjacked”. Instead you are able to see what they see, and if a shibito (zombie/undead creature) can see you, then you are in major trouble. These shibito wield a variety of weapons and they know how to use them, in light or dark. But not all player-controlled characters have weapons at their disposal. This means you have to stealth your way across many enemies, which can be very tense. Inside stages, there are subtle details that will help you later on during the same stage. Let's say there is a building that has a four-digit number on it. This number may help you unlock a lock or be a secret code... To wrap this category up, I have to say that the gameplay is the most in-depth experience that I've had in a long time.

Story: Perfect, 10
The story is set in the small village of Hanuda, Japan. A mysterious ceremony in the woods has accidentally been interrupted by a young man named Kyoya Suda. Now that this ceremony has been interrupted, Suda is now running for his life from a police officer who suddenly appears from the woods. Kyoya hops into a truck and runs over the officer... While Suda tries to think over what just happened to him, the police officer gets up and shoots him in the chest. When Suda awakes, he is in a river of blood and starts panicking. Everything about the town has changed... The people are now shibito, the city is in ruins, and the vast mountainside that once surrounded the small village is a vast river of blood. Kyoya Suda must escape with his life... Oh, guess what? THIS IS THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF THE GAME! As you can see, the story is very involving and has a lot of depth. This is how it works, you start out as Kyoya Suda and after a stage or two you become a new character. Like the film Pulp Fiction, the complete story is told from the perspectives of different characters. Also like Pulp Fiction, the story won't be told in chronological order. This makes the actions of one character effect what happened what happened to a character in the past. The story is very suspenseful and will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is the first ten I've given as of yet... Surely this category deserves the grade.

Graphics: Very Good, 8
The graphics on this game are quite incredible. But I have to mention it's flaws first. The faces of characters seem very realistic, but the in-game faces looked liked the characters were glazed... I'm not exactly sure how to say it, but the faces looked too cartoon-y and the facial motions runs together. The cutscenes have a filter on the camera to make the game footage seem old and scary. But the filter makes the cutscenes look a bit cheesy and it takes you out of the experience of the game. If these two flaws weren't in the game, the graphics would have been tip-top.

Sound: Okay, 6
Like my past four reviews, I will talk about voice acting first. For some reason, these Japanese characters have British accents. With the nationality that these characters are, the accents don't match up at all. The acting was a little shaky, but overall, was pretty good. The music was very eerie... at the main menu. It would've helped if there was music inside the game experience. Individual sound effects are good... But that's not a memorable aspect of the game, now is it? Sound production could have been way better than this, especially for the quality of this game.

Control: Good, 7
There were a couple of problems that I had with control. Let's say you want to look around... The only thing that your character does, is look around; they can't turn their bodies. This means that the only way you can get your camera angle to change direction, is that you start walking in that direction, making the right analog stick virtually useless. Also, when your character enters a building, the camera angle changes it's location, so you have to change your train of thought and press the left analog stick in opposite directions. Those are really my only problems with the control.

Replayability: Very Good, 8
I must stress this: the game is unbelievably difficult. If you get frustrated from survival horror games, you might not want to play this one. But if you want a challenge, this game is for you. You can get alternate scenarios and endings depending on how you play this game each time you start up a new game (after you beat it, of course). This game is not for the average Joe. It takes a lot of intelligence and skill to beat this game.

Overall: Very Good, 8
This game is really incredible. I recommend this to anybody who likes a challenge, puzzle-solving, or even the survival horror genre. To some, it might be seen as frustrating. Overall, it's a really fun puzzle game that does take a lot of time and effort to play. I suggest you check it out... You might be missing out on something if you don't. Oh, one more thing for the people that review games on this website: just because there's a word minimum, doesn't mean that you put less effort into your review. One last thing. Starting next review, I won't only be focusing on the negatives, which means I won't sound like I'm complaining anymore. Why shouldn't I have done it this time? Because I wrote this review (like all of my reviews) on notebook paper. I can't really edit it as fast as a computer can, and it took me five days to write this particular review. I will work harder for your reading pleasure. Til we meet again gamers...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/06/04