Overall, Siren can be a frustrating experience, but ultimately one that is well worth a sampling.
Right away, you'll be able to tell that this is not your average game. Instead of a single hero, you'll be cast in the role of ten different characters and asked to venture forth on a number of missions. Most of these will consist of crossing a Shibito-infested area of the village to get to another, but often you'll be asked to go on a scavenger hunt to find an item hidden in the village, or to find a way to defeat all the Shibito in an area. This last is no easy task, since most Shibito will get right back up after you've finished pummelling them to the ground. To add to the difficulty, in addition to the spoken objective (Get from Point A to Point B), there will almost always be a hidden objective that you'll have to discover. Usually this takes no more than doing a bit of exploring through the village to find an item, but there are also times when you'll have to move an item to a different location, unlock a door, or open a valve so that another character coming through that same area later will be able to complete their own objectives. Add to this Siren's disjointed method of storytelling, and you'll find yourself re-exploring areas and redoing some missions over and over again to unlock every possible objective.
But wait, there's more! This is where it gets really frustratring for gamers without that wellspring of patience. Remember when I said that Siren has no tolerance for mistakes? Well, get yourself caught by a Shibito and you'll be starting a mission over again. While most Shibito are lumbering brutes with gardening tools to hack you up with, there are a number equipped with hunting rifles and revolvers that will make short work of your character. Most of the missions are really short (in theory), so if you die, it's back to the beginning you'll go. And even if you can start at the midpoint of a mission, this is more often a curse than a blessing. You see, one of Siren's flaws is that if you have to start over, it undoes all the little extra work you've done. That means that if you unlocked a secondary objective or picked up some Archive items before you made your "whoopsie" and got gobbled up, you'll have to do it all over again, which is sometimes impossible from the midpoint. (Psst. That means you'll have to come back and play this mission again later)
Siren's story unfolds like a mixture of Fatal Frame meets Pulp Fiction. Since the story elements appear out of order, you'll often be given a critical piece of information before one of your other character needs to recreate the scene. For istance, in one mission, you'll come across the gutted remains of a car. In a later mission, you'll actually have to set this car on fire to lure the Shibito out of another area. All of the information points to a pretty typical Japanese horror movie plot: Someone's been doing some crazy ritual to summon an ancient, alien god, and now everyone's been turned into zombies. Now it's up to your characters to set everything right again . . . Oh wait, but there's one problem: Siren is not a happy, feel-good video game. Without giving away too much of the plot, it's pretty safe to say that the dark overtones Siren sets in its opening sequences are going to be the general theme throughout the game as you're carried along through its twisting (and often surprising) plot.
Naturally, the game has its own set of flaws. I've already mentioned its overwhelming difficulty (and there is no way to alter that setting). A few players may be thrown off by its graphics. While the environments are incredibly well rendered (you can tell what the background objects are without needing the game to say, "This is a coffee pot."), the characters during the cinematics look a little . . . off. This is because Siren utilizes a graphical engine that pastes the actor's face onto the animation. This looks pretty good until they start speaking. Add to that tidbit that the actor's are Japanese, but being dubbed into cheesy British accents . . . well, you get the picture. This effect is a little jolting during the first few sequences, but as the game moves along, it creates the effect of being a poorly dubbed Japanese horror film. One of the other glaring flaws is that this game won't lead you by the hand from objective to objective. If you're completely lost, you may get a hint on how to unlock another level, but for the most part, you're on your own for how to proceed.
When you're trying to navigate through a dark area the first time, this can be incredibly frustrating. However, after you've been at the game for a bit, you'll start to learn the areas like your backyard, and you'll be able to quickly find those items that are "out of place." Plus, the game helps out a little by altering the camera angle so you can see a key on the ground or whatnot. The best tip is to realize that Siren's puzzles are all based more or less or real solutions. You won't have to set chess pieces up on a board to unlock a door in this game, oh no, no, no! Rather, you'll have to find a number of keys squirreled in all sorts of places, or find objects that can be used to distract the Shibito from their patrol routes. Some of these may seem a little obscure (i.e. "What the hell do I do with this cassette tape?"), but all solutions can be reached logically. Truthfully, however, you may have to resort to a FAQ to find those distracting objects in the first place, but SOMEONE had to write that FAQ, so obviously they can be found with a little bit of effort.
(I relied heavily on a FAQ, but I'm not known for my patience.)
Overall, Siren can be a frustrating experience, but ultimately one that is well worth a sampling. Here's the breakdown:
Gameplay - Solid for the most part, although there's no real explanation for how to use your weapons or how to break free from a Shibito death grip. Even the use of the "sightjacking" technique isn't fully explained. (Come on, concentrate? How the hell do I do that to a controller?) Everything else (like the disjointed storytelling) takes some getting used to, but adds to the experience.
Graphics - Again, background elements are really good, loved the dark atmosphere; character models are excellent, until they speak, which kind of mars the overall quality.
Sound - Perfect! For the most part. Even if you think those British accents are horribly out of place, you can't beat the Shibito groans as they go about their patrols, and the thunk your melee weapon makes when you hit it against the background objects. I really would have appreciated having the voices in the original Japanese with subtitles as an option.
Value - Meh. Siren's got a pretty restrictive storyline. Although it may be worth replaying just for the experience, there's really not a whole lot of change from play to play. However, most retail stores have this for $20, so you can't beat that.
Tilt - What can I say? This game is grossly underappreciated by the GameSpot community. It is overwhelmingly hard, but it's worth plugging away at, and GS's high 6 for a score just because of the difficulty and the graphics is a little much. Give it a try, at least a rental, before you make the final judgment, but in the end, Siren's a lot of fun.