If only Forbidden Siren got its game crippling flaws sorted...
Forbidden Siren's story spans three days and follows the unfortunate exploits of 10 characters who find themselves trapped on the Shibito infested Island of Hanuda. Forbidden Siren takes the "Tarintino" route of story telling by portraying events out of chronological order. Admittedly this makes the story a little hard to follow sometimes but the Link Navigator does a reasonable job of detailing what is happening to each character as and when, but still, the story does become convoluted in many areas and if it weren't for the whole premise of the game I wouldn't have particularly cared for it.
Forbidden Siren is an unashamed Survival Horror title. That means that every flaw and weakness in control is carried over here, and yet the game still manages to become even more cumbersome. The game's reliance on the triangle menu to do all in game actions such as opening doors, shout to distract the shibito is distorting and breaks the immersion and flow of the game. That's not to say it's completely bad. It does become tense when you're fumbling around to get a door open when shibito are coming to get you but that's not enough, really, to excuse this poorly implemented system. All other stables of the Survival Horror comes into play. Limited control movements - particularly when using weapons - very obscure puzzles in some instances - the only truly unique innovation of this game is the SightJack. Being able to look through the eyes of the Shibito and allies is truly a thrilling moment, especially when the shibito spot you and you see yourself through their vision. There's more to it than that, obviously. To learn the routines of the shibito and to sneak by without being spotted, it's essential to master the usage of SightJack. It works by pressing L2 and rotating the left analogue stick to "tune" a reception and then assign the vision to a hot key - one of the face buttons.
The graphics, though primitive by today's standards, still hold up pretty well. The oppressive and bleak atmosphere is laid on thick and fast, grainy filters to accentuate the rawness of the ever present threat and a really dirty grittier filter for cut scenes. What's also impressive is the facial animations that really brings the characters of the game to life. By using real footage of the actors portraying the characters on their in game model brings this other worldy feel and it works brilliantly. Particle effects, particularly with the lighting, is strong throughout. Sound wise, Forbidden Siren is definitely a mixed bag. Solid sound effects throughout and obviously carried out with a talented hand. Music comes across effectively with a foreboding attitude that complements the atmosphere of the visuals. But the voice acting... Dreadful. Absolutely dreadful and very nearly destroys the atmosphere. Thankfully, the atmosphere is so strong that it isn't, yet it is definitely weakened.
Forbidden Siren is a challenging game and you will die often, resulting in a trial and error way of gaming. On an initial run through the game it should last about 12-15 hours - maybe more if you collect all the archive items. Its convoluted storyline is still intriguing enough to satisfy, with its mysteries and well thought characters. And the SightJack game mechanic adds the uniqueness to the game that's worth experiencing at least once. If you have an appetite for a very traditional survival horror title and one that offers something truly unique, Forbidden Siren is for you. All others, proceed with caution.