The game plays like a cross-breed of Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid, in that your adventure takes place in a nightmare world of derelict locations populated by sub-human zombie type monsters, but, with little or no means of attacking them, your success is largely down to using stealth tactics to sneak your way through the game, or to surprise and attack the enemy from strategic hiding places. Unlike the radar map in MSG, here your characters have the ability to see through the eyes of other people, which helps you plan your safest route, or warns you of attack when you suddenly "tune in" to the sight of yourself being run towards from behind! The game's setting is spot on. The many locations are on the small side, but all fully detailed and explorable. The enemies are horrifically realistic, mostly made up of zombified townsfolk who are all bleeding from the eyes and lurching around armed with various weapons and torches to seek you out with. It has been said that survival in this game is tough, and it's true. Be prepared to spend a lot of time watching your characters die as you try to work out the various strategies to passing each stage. The try-die-try again gameplay echoes that of the PS game "Fear Effect", so if that drove you crazy, expect more of the same. The playable characters are exceptionally vunerable to attack, and two swipes with a knife or one well-placed bullet will be then end of you, and the zombie enemies are relentless in their pursuit. In addition to this, when you do actually get a weapon with which to attack the zombies, you have to act fast because they always get up again after being knocked out for a minute or so. It adds up to an exceedingly punishing game, but I guess its actually far more realistic than the life bar and instant healing products of other survival horror games.
More problematic than actually just surviving, though, is working out what on earth you are supposed to be doing. The game is split between several playable characters, each of whom have separate "missions" to complete, and all are played non-chronologically at varying times within the game's 3 day timescale. The levels usually require a very obscure set of conditions to be met before you can accomplish each mission, and sometimes, the same stage will also feature a further, hidden puzzle that needs solving so that different characters can proceed through later missions. The menu for this is a kind of 3 day plan-o-gram with slots for all the characters at different days and times, with coloured lines linking them all up...it's quite a mental feat to piece all this together to work out what is going on. One really annoying aspect of the game is that if the hidden conditions to "open up" later missions are not met in the levels you have already completed, you are forced into a loop of replaying the same levels over and over again until you realise that there is a part of the river you did not think to look in (if you went that way), or a spot on the ground that the game prompts you can be dug up (if you happen to be standing in exactly the right place). Many players may suffer immense frustration whilst playing when they find they are never allowed to go anywhere new. I know I did, and it leads me to believe that only a truly dedicated player is going to put in the amount of work needed to make it through to the end.
This is a real shame, because the general concept and story behind the game is truly original, and there are some genuinely unsettling scenes to be encountered, which should startle even survival horror veterans. The graphics are amazing, characters look and move like real people, but sadly the obviously authentic Japanese setting has been weakened by the saddling of all the speaking characters with British (sometimes even cockney) accents, which is a terrible mistake. Still, the other design strengths just about manage to make up for it. Characters have recognisable personalities and all play differently. You'll soon find yourself with favourites and don't be surprised if you occasionally find yourself moved to sadness at their plight, or terrified along with them.
In conclusion, this is a teeth-grittingly hard game to play. Combining all too easily killed characters with obscure puzzle hunting, in levels where you have no pointers towards what to do or where to go, is a triple whammy that the game struggles to win you over with. Otherwise it is so near to being the most terrifying game on the PS2.
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I took a risk and bought Siren even though I had read many conflicting reviews. I really enjoyed playing this game. However, baring the assumption that you can foresee the future, I wouldn't even dream of recommending this game without a guide. The puzzles and items that you are some how magically supposed to solve are absurd. If you don't heed this warning you will waste hours of backtracking through unforgivably hard levels to get them (after you magically figure out that you forget to grab them in the first place). In fact, completely ignore the fact that there are puzzles (use a guide) because it is hard enough to survive getting from point A to point B. Also, the voice acting isn't that bad the first time you hear it (as bad as using American accent to translate, instead of leaving in Japanese with subtitles), it is that it becomes grating because you will die and have to hear it again and again. Oh yeah, you will get killed by snipers repeatedly, so a great deal of patience is needed to get through this game.I liked everything else about Siren. It is the first survival horror game since the original Silent Hill (original designer of Silent Hill worked on this title) that really felt sprawling and immersing. The Shibito and incarnations of fallen characters are creepy as hell. The visuals are superbly minimal which makes them far more effective and ethereal. The false "heavy metal" ending was really funny. So if you have enjoyed any of the Silent Hill series and always wished they were a little longer, a little more threatening and more challenging give this title a chance.
Again, don't bother with attempting to figure out the puzzles on your own.
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I'm sure I'll be jeered by some for not appreciating how "original" this title is. I like games that are original, but I also like games that are scary, fun, and well-crafted. Nothing akin to this game has ever been attempted before, and one can see why, as Siren is completely unplayable. It's as if someone said "You know how those horrible, clunky, Resident Evil style controls severely hamper player enjoyment? Well those controls are too intuitive, lets make the player use a pull-down menu whenever he wants to pick up or use an item!" The visuals are so full of artful (read pretentious) "fog" and film scratches, they turn out to be no better than PS-1 graphics. The sound might be passable, except for the fact that all the Japanese characters have been inexplicably dubbed with cheesy British accents. The sight-jacking feature allows you to see through the eyes of your enemy, as strategy it's all but completely useless, as unless you've run through a level (and died) many, many, many times, you have no clue what the zombies are looking at (Ooh! He sees a twig, and his own hand! That will save my life!) This is one of the most frustrating and pointless games I have ever played in my life, and to make matters worse, ever game-mag I've read is giving this one high marks! As a huge Silent Hill fan, and working from such reviews, I was ready to plunk down cold hard cash to buy this title sight unseen, until I read some reviews from actual gamers. Thank God I rented it first! This is why I write this review, as a service to you. Do not buy into the hype! This game is as scary as athlete's foot, and twice as irritating. Unless of course your idea of the ultimate in terror involves crouching behind shrubbery to avoid un-killable jerks (it's a moot point anyway, as you almost never have a weapon, and the fighting mechanics are awful) who giggle like drunken yokels while looking for you with a flashlight. Or perhaps running through poorly rendered woods while trying to lead a spastically controlled, simpering woman-child, who constantly shrieks "It's about time! Hurry up!...Wait! Don't run so fast!" I rented this game with a discount coupon, I'd like to be pithy and say I overpaid But after that imbecile had run away from me into the waiting maw of a giggling pseudo-zombie for the tenth time whilst mewling orders at me, I found out that you can "accidentally" use weapons on your companions. Bludgeoning that twit to death was worth every penny!Honest reviews on Siren - PlayStation 2
If you want a game that will last as long as GTA then get this. The story is actually quite amazing to say the least but you will be in it for the long haul.There are several maps and over twelve characters that meet in the story at different times. It is like Silent Hill but slower as you are not given great weapons to defeat the enemy. Instead you have the power of second sight. You do things in the map that are for the characters benefit and to set up something for another character who will arrive there later. The story is sort of like Pulp Fiction in that all the characters finally meet as you take them through the story.
It is very very very difficult and very easy to die but there is a method to the game and once you manage to use the second site to run around the place so that the monsters do not see you it gets a lot easier.
Stick with it, but this is by no means an out-of-box couple of days game play. It is more like twenty minutes a day for the next 12 months.
Addictive but slow.
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Fans of the survival horror gaming genre were no doubt excited by unraveling the mystery of Sirens errie Japanese town with the terrifying past. Sadly, the premise is about as exciting as the game gets.The Pros
This game is a really gorgeous visual treat. The chracters are rendered with a new technolgy that actually wraps realistic images onto 3d computerized planes.
The setting has been developed well. The village of Hanuda is a scary place cast in eternal darkness surrounded by a sea of blood and of course the Siren going off in the background.
The Cons (and there are many)
The game developers dubbed the game with a British voice over crew which in the beginning is comical but after awhile just feels ridiculous. For some people this may not be an issue at all but for me it just seemed distracting playing a Japanese guy and to hear him shout "Oi Mate! wait up!"
Secondly, the gameplay is terribly limited and re-do's abound. More skilled gamers may not have to replay missions as much but I found it hard not to be killed as 80% of the time your only defense is to run and hide. The game employs a drop down menu to issue command to your character. The menu is easy to use but truly annoying. A good example occurs on the first mission. Your goal is to escape a bad guy via car. The drop down menu asks you 1) Would you like to pick up the car key? 2) Would you like get in the car? 3) Put key in ignition? 4) Turn key to start car?truly gets to be cumbersome to game play.
Lastly, the game uses a event system/ time table for you to keep track of events as they happen to all 10 playable chracters. While that sounds convoluted in itself it only gets worse that you have to play all ten characters and not one at a time. The game is broken up into missions. For example,one mission may involve a journalist and reveal certian parts of the mystery and these events are recorded on the time table. The next mission you are introduced to a new character and complete the next mission and learn more. You must refer back to the time table to try and piece it all together.
Siren was a truly exciting idea thta really failed to deliver. I don't feel many people actually completed as I myself grew bored and gave up halfway through. If you truly want to be scared and enetertained I recommend Fatal Frame 1 or 2 as both are in my opinion the best (and scariest) the genre has to offer.
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