A new way for horror games if your willing open to it you'll love it
If there were ever a survival horror game that broke the mold, it has to be Siren. A variety of characters, non-linear gameplay, unique gameplay elements, and a storyline you must figure out on your own are the major features in this game. When I first heard about Siren prior to its release, I was hyped for a survival horror game that was created in the style of Japanese horror films since its scare factor was compared to the Ringu, but when it was finally released, it received a wide range of reviews from "near perfect" to "avoid this game." From everything I've read, it looked like one of those "try before you buy" deals since many of the common factors described by difference reviewers were met with opposing opinions. So after paying $5 for the rental and $40 for the game afterwards, it was well worth is and then some. Of all the games I've played in recent times, Siren was a very unique experience.
Presentation
Siren's overall atmosphere is a mix of dread and surreal. Anyone who has played the original Silent Hill cannot help but to draw parallels to it since they were both created by Keiichiro Toyama. The environments are either dark or foggy. No sunshine here, folks. Just misery everywhere you go. There are a variety of scenarios your characters will be trekking through, but you cannot literally walk from one scenario to another. Instead before the start of each scenario, you are given a screen which gives you the character, the scenario, and the time in which the scenario occurs. Then, a movie is played that introduces the scenario which also does a very fine job in setting the surreal, dreaded atmosphere. Some scenarios will only involve one character while the other will involve two character in somewhat of a "escort" mission. Normally, the game is played in 3rd person perspective. Sometimes, you will be required to see things from 1st person perspective when you "sightjack" (more on that later). And the events that unfold are not played in chronological order. Why you ask? That was something I never figured out.
Gameplay Elements
Shibito
Basically, a shibito is like a Japanese version of the zombie. From what I can remember of other survival horror games by the time Siren was released, most every zombie-like creature weren't very "smart." Climbing stairs and closing doors usually saved you from being pursued by these zombie-like creatures, but not in Siren. Some shibitoes will open doors and climb stairs to get at you when spotted depending on what form they take. Some are bipedal, some crawl on all fours, and others fly, and they can attack either by hand-to-hand combat or by projectile weapons depending on the specific shibito. Of course you can attack back by blunt force and by guns, but the shibitoes DO NOT die. You can subdue them, but you better run because they WILL regain consciousness, and they WILL be ticked off.
Sightjack
As stated earlier, "sightjack" is the power to see though the eyes of friends and foes, allowing you to see and learn the actions of your enemies from the 1st person perspective. This is probably the most important element in the game since stealth is stressed to avoid the shibito instead of a straightforward approach to combating them like the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. You sightjack by pressing the L2 button, and then you rotate the right analog stick until you "tune in" to a shibito's point of view, very much like rotating a television antenna until you tune in to a specific station. The face buttons on the controller will allow you to map up to four targets when in sightjack mode. There are usually more than four targets you can sightjack so you will find it common to remap the face buttons. Looking from the shibito's point of view gives clues as to where it is located by recognizing elements in its environment. Most all reviews I have read agreed that the sightjack feature is very innovative, but some have claimed that it was faulty since it doesn't always reveal where the shibito is. I really don't see it as a problem since it poses as a realistic challenge. Some shibitoes will be acting as if they were gardening, eating a meal, or doing some carpentry, reliving a small memory of their past life. These actions usually put them in a position where you cannot tell where they are. That just makes you become a little more cautious knowing that there is a shibito out these somewhere, but not knowing exactly where.
Characters
There are ten playable characters. When you can control these character depends on the storyline as well as your actions that will trigger certain scenarios allowing you to control new characters. Having ten playable characters wouldn't be a problem if some of those characters didn't feel "disposable" or the game was designed to shed more importance to those characters. And even though some of the characters really caught my attention, it might have been better to have less playable characters (like five) so those characters would have been fleshed out more.
Sneak and Shout
Like most games that involve stealth, noise will draw attention to you. This is also true with Siren. When you are close to a shibito and you want to avoid attention, usually your character will squat and sneak by. For some this will be slow and tiresome, and I'm not going to say it was a fascinating experience because it wasn't. But it makes sense, and it fits very well for this game. And sometimes you want to draw attention to yourself by shouting. The shibito is known to be a physical obstacle. So getting its attention to make it move from its original spot and sneaking past it some other way can be your only option.
Choosing a Stage
Siren boasts non-linear gameplay, but it must be clarified in the manner in which it is handled. You cannot take alternative paths or choose whichever characters you want to control at the beginning of the game. You start off with one character, and as you play one scenario to another, you open up other scenarios that will allow for other characters to be controlled. And besides taking alternative paths, as we would conventionally think of as non-linear gameplay, you are allowed to go back to stages previously played to trigger certain events or to collect archives that shed light to the storyline. This I have no problems with. What I do have a problem with in this particular game with is that you are forced to play each stage at least twice, once to progress the storyline and twice to open up things like other scenarios. When going through the scenario for the first time, a mission objective is laid out for you. The second time around you are given a different mission objective. What should have been done was to be able to do everything one time through and have the option of going back to if you had missed something.
Archives
Most games hand you the storyline on a silver platter, but not Siren. You can play the game from start to finish, but then you are going to think, "What the %&#@ just happened?" That's where the archives come in. Throughout Siren, there are a total of a hundred archives to collect ranging from newspaper clippings, journals, photographs, and drawings. These archives give clues to flesh out events and the storyline. In Siren, you have to figure it out on your own or you can just go online and find a plot summary.
Survival
As mentioned earlier, stealth is probably the most important gameplay element. Unlike the more "mainstream" survival horror titles, physical combat is one of the last things you'd want to do with the exception of a very small handful of scenarios. You will not find an arsenal of melee and projectile weapons to choose from with ammo and health packs on nearly every park bench, desk drawer, and bookcase you come across. Usually you come across a blunt weapon such as a crowbar or a hammer, and sometimes you have no weapons at all. And when you do have a gun like a pistol or a rifle, ammo is VERY limited. It's almost like real life when something bizarre happens where you need to defend yourself; you are hardly ever in a position where you have the accessibility of nearly any weapon to choose from with near unlimited ammo. That's how life works in Siren. The key to most all scenarios is to AVOID the enemy while trying to achieve your objective. Also, what little weaponry you can use depends on the character. This is why to sightjack is so important because it allows you to see where and what the enemy is doing so you can plan to avoid or sneak up from behind to subdue them if necessary. And like the realism of the lack of weaponry, there are no life meter and heath packs to count on. Usually one or two shots from a shibito sniper or a couple of hits from hand-to-hand combat will render your character incapacitated. So death will occur more often than most games. This can be annoying at times when you die again and again and again around the same spot, but it does make you more conscious and careful which heightens the suspense of the game. There will be times where you'll take a bullet, but if you can run for cover afterwards, is it said that the red water that runs through your veins would heal you. So when you take that second bullet later on during the same scenario, you should still be left standing as opposed to taking two shots one right after the other.
Graphics
One of the unique things with Siren that has been done with a handful of games is using the likenesses of several Japanese actors while the characters model themselves move quite realistically. As a general rule, most environments were rendered accurately. Running through the halls of an abandoned home, a school, and a hospital were convincing as well as the streets of an abandoned village. But there were a couple of outside scenarios that could be interpreted as either moody or bland. I know that Siren is trying to set a certain tone, but with some of these outside scenarios, a little more "lushness" wouldn't have hurt. And as general, the shibito were rendered decently, but when you sightjack one, seeing their hands and the weapon they are carrying appears to be somewhat blocky.
Sound
Absent from this game is a repetitious music score with the exception of a small hand full of scenarios. Instead, Siren relies on ambient sound or no background music at all to set a surreal atmosphere whether it's in a school or the outer environment of a small village. Having a repetitious music score in every scenario would have taken away from its eerie presentation. As a whole, sound effects were done quite convincingly. Opening doors and toying with locks sound real, and distant rifle shots heighten your level of caution. Sometimes during a brief calm of silence while you are in hiding and planning your next move, a shibito close by would randomly wail, breaking your concentration and sometimes setting your nerves on end. What I did have a problem with was sightjacking a shibito that constantly grunted the same tone over and over again. When you're waiting patiently to learn the path the shibito takes, hearing that constant monotonous grunt grows tiresome and sometimes humorous as if the shibito was reliving some distant memory of shibito love.
Voiceovers
Voiceovers were done very nicely. I must note that since Siren was released in Japan first and later in Europe, the voiceovers were dubbed in English with English accents for the European release. When released in the U.S., the English dubbing was retained instead of the original Japanese dubbing or an option for both. Some reviewers have criticized this, claim that speaking English with an English accent sounded out of place with Japanese people. I strongly disagree. How many of you know someone who is NOT of "white" decent and speak English perfect/near perfect? I hope I got my point across.
Is this Game for You?
If you love blood and guts, shooting at everything in sight, need to be told what to do, and have little to no patience, you are not going to like this game. But for those of you who are not as shallow and are a fan of survival horror games, you should real enjoy this one. When renting, make sure you can keep it long enough to learn how to sightjack effectively while accustoming yourself to stealth tactics. This is the crux of the gameplay. Presented in the style of an Asian horror film is always a welcome touch. And remember those days when most video games gave you a true challenge? Siren is one of those rare gems today that offers such high difficultly with its intense cerebral experience in its gameplay as well as its story "telling." Lastly, you can now find Siren new for only $20.
-AycdRaine