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Setting a new standard of horror?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Well, to rate this game fairly you need to look t it from a different view. Unlike other games in the horror genre (e.g Silent Hill, Resident Evil,...etc.) this game actually tries to set a different standard of horror. A horror that's constantly looming and lurking.

This game is composed of little games led by different characters, and they range from the very young to the very old, the very fit to the very blind! Yes blind!. Each character has their share of strength, weakness and weapon (if any for that matter) and the missions are set at different times of the day (or night) in a (something went wrong type of) village.

Now, as I have read from other reviews on this page that the gameplay is frustrating at (or all) times, but that is due to the fact that they are playing the game alone! This game should not be played alone as I have discovered, but you should surround yourself with a group of people (family and/or friends) as each character may or may not appeal to you.

As aforementioned, the horror is constantly looming and lurking by the loitering "Shibitos" (zombies in japanese it would seem!) at the corners, behind the bushes or falling at you from the sky! You can choose to sightjack the "Shibitos" (as in tapping to their vision telepathically to view their positions) or opt for our (the gang and I) quick method of legging it! (running for the character's life!) since you cannot kill a "Shibito" by shooting or bludgeonning as it will only curl to slumber for a minute or so.

This game should be given justice and not be compared with the like of "Silent Hill" or "Resident Evil" as it really does strive to set a new horror standard. Just stick to my advice of not playing it alone and legging the character throughout the mission and you maybe able to complete the game. We have. Twice!

A Japanese friend bought the JAPAN version of "Siren 2" boy! does it look creepy. I can't hardly wait for the english version to come out so the gang and I could pull our socks up and start legging it again!

For once a scary game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: April 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Even though many think other horror games are really scary(resident evil,silent hill,fatal frame)U have to check this out! The games plot is excellent!! It involves a scary town in which every 30 years red water will appear! It gives eternal life and many of the people think this.(I know its sounds wierd but stick with me) The people drink the water and become shibitos(living dead). Now u may think zombies are stupid well shibitos are one hell of a enemy. First thing is they are dead but have human traits. Which means they can have weapons! These consist of guns,melee weapons, and even a sniper rifle. Now another thing is they never die so u better becareful if you run into "ONE" now if u run into a group. Bend over and kiss you A$$ goodbye. Now this might seem bad buts its good! Its soo original too. Another good thing is the sight jack! U can see what your enemys are doing. See where they are there pattern of inspect. The sound music and grpahics are top notch. The acting is pretty good but not great. There are only some minor issues. The controls feel sloppy and when u hit things u always bounce off. Anything else its a great game for survival horror fans tired of the old same game. I must say check it out! Rent or buy it today!

Amazing Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am confused by some of some of the other reviews. I was expecting this game to be really hard, especially for me because I am not very good at solving puzzles and trying to figure things out. I don't even have much(if any) experience with these kinds of games. The games I owned before I got this was Simpsons Road Rage, Simpsons Hit and Run, American Idol ect.......... My point is no games like Siren. I thought it looked good so I got it. I have had it for 3 days and am on mission 8 or 9 and the game play time is about 3 hrs. What I am surprised about is that I saw a review that was saying it's so hard, and you die so much. I am not even good at these kinds of games, and I have rarely died. I feel that the puzzles in this game make it so much more fun, and in my opinion the puzzles are not even hard(if you can even call them puzzles). I also love(although sometimes hard) when you are trying to sneak around the 'shibito's'. I am really surprised to see that some people say that it is SO hard when at the few games like this(ones where you have to find certain items and stuff)that I HAVE played I am usually terrible at, when this one didn't seem that hard at all! I also saw that someone said they couldn't find an item to smash the gate in the level with the 70 y/o man. I had the same problem, so I did a little more searching in an area I hadn't gone to yet, and instantly found a key on the ground right next to a gate, and got through the level. I think people make themselves think it's harder then it is when really it's quite simple. There is ALWAYS a way through the level you just have to search everywhere and you WILL find what it is you need. Overall I think this game IS challenging but the challenges are fun! The cahllenges can be frustrating at times, but the challenges are what makes this game! You have to be patient at times waiting for the 'shibito' to be in the right place to not spot you so you can sneak around them. So if you are an impatient person(which I generally am with games) then this may not be the one for you, but give it chance, because this really is a GREAT game!

One more point. I don't mind the voice acting at all! Some people didn't like it. I thought it was really quite good actually. This game is a great price! It's worth WAY MORE! GIVE IT A CHANCE AND BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three Days in Hanuda - An Extremely Demanding and Scary Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Oh boy - this is the kind of game that most developers are AFRAID to make. It demands a LOT from the gamer, and doesn't coddle him/her in any way, shape, or form. If you cannot handle a challenge or do not wish to think (a LOT), this is not your game. But if you do, this is most definitely a five-star experience.

You begin in the remote Japanese village of Hanuda, and there is weirdness afoot - an ancient ceremony is disrupted, an earthquake shakes the ground, loud sirens sound from out of nowhere, and a blood-red sea appears (even though the village is well inland, in the mountains). And the dead begin to walk the earth.

If it all sounds very apocalyptic, it is. But its an apocalypse thats localized to Hanuda, leaving you to wonder why that's so - why is this particular place so cursed? Stay alive long enough and you just might find out.

And thats the hard and SCARY part- you're not a hard-bitten machine-gun toting superman in this game, you're just a regular person. Actually, persons, since you play as one of ten main characters in an ensemble cast. Through the shared experiences of these survivors over three days, you slowly begin to unravel the mystery of just what has happened to Hanuda, and why.

You won't always have a weapon. What you will have is your wits - and the psychic ability to 'sightjack' - being able to leap into the mind of the dead (or living) beings around you, and see what they see, hear what they hear. Its actually a tremendous advantage, but it requires patience and intelligence to use, something not every gamer nowadays possesses. They want a thrill ride. Siren is not a thrill ride - its a "Are you smart enough and tough enough to survive?" challenge thats a hard slap in the face. Casual gamers need not apply.

Stealth is a big part of the game - as in a real situation in which you're alone and surrounded by enemies, you don't want to attract attention unless you have to. If you do have a hand-to-hand weapon, you can usually take a shibito (Japanese for 'the dead') down one-on-one, but thats only a temporary measure - in a minute or two, that Shibito will regenerate and get back up again. You can't really kill what's already DEAD, after all.

Even a gun (yes, do you get them sometimes in this game) is but a temporary savior, due to your finite supply of ammo. With the Shibito's ability to regenerate, a gun is no substitute for you being able to THINK of a way OUT of there.

If you're getting the idea that this game celebrates brains over brawn, you'd be right. Another part of that are the various Archive items you'll find along the way - clues, as it were, to the mystery of Hanuda. Some you'll even find by looking through the eyes of various Shibito as they patrol the town - clever, that.

The music and 'look' of Siren is quite appropriately creepy. Fog and mist are in abundance, and many of the missions are at night (which, incidentally, is the best way to play this game- at night, alone, with the lights turned off and the sound turned up). The voice actors do, unfortunately, have rather thick British accents, but thats a minor quibble and quickly forgotten as you begin to immerse yourself in the world of Siren.

The game will punish you (immediately) for bad or ill-thought out moves. Nor are there many moments where you'll feel like you're 'the king of the world'- a successful survivor of a place thats gone to hell, more like. But if you can handle it, Siren is a very rewarding game that'll actually make you a better, more thoughtful gamer.

Good luck - you'll need it.

Survival Horror At Its Worst!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: May 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Being a fan of the Resident Evil series, I rented this game, figuring it would be good for a horror game. Wow, was I WRONG.

Let's start with the presentation of the game. It takes an interesting, yet very confusing, take to its storyline. You bounce around over the course of 3 days, playing as a variety of characters at different times. These are NOT in chronological order, however, leaving you to piece together day 3 with day 1, not to mention keep all the characters straight. The technical side of it isn't much better; the graphics are not what you'd expect from a PS2. Environments are okay, but the facial expressions are weird to watch. Also with the characters is VERY bad voice acting; not only are they British, but can't act.

Gameplay itself can be very annoying, with a dash of horror. Few characters are armed, and the weapons system is a pain to use anyway. You have to practically be in the creature's face for weapons to have any effect, and then they DON'T DIE!! They fall down for 30 seconds, then get right back up and come after you again. Other than that you've got 'sightjack', which is looking through other NPC's eyes, but isn't very helpful, especially when you can't figure out where the creatures are. Basically, you'll either spend the game running away or attempting to crawl past them, which takes forever.

Other than that, the game plays like Resident Evil. Finding items, opening doors, staying alive, etc. Staying alive, however, is a task, since you can only take 2 hits from a firearm, 3 hits otherwise, and there aren't any health items around. All in all, this is definitely not a game to waste your time on unles you've got a good memory, loads of patience, and a lot of time.

Great game but can be frustrating

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If they ever took the Japanese horror movies Ju-On (The Grudge) and made it into a video game, this would be the result.

My impression of the game fluctuated a lot as I played the game. At its lowest, Siren ranked about a two out of five stars. At its best, maybe a four. I'll give it a four because I think the overall uniqueness of the game calls for that.

THE GOOD

* Awesome graphics. Most survival horror games have these type of graphics. You see it in the detail of the characters' movements, facial expressions, and so on. I liked the realistic human expressions. I think it worked in this case.

* Outstanding realism. Some might consider this a negative, but I liked the fact that your characters aren't superheroes. They withstand as much as you would expect a human to withstand if they were chased by shibitos (zombies).

* Interesting plotline. The plot flows as if Quentin Tarantino decided to write the script. In other words, it's extremely disjointed, and jumps back and forth in time and characters. I thought that was a plus because it made the game play more interesting. I liked seeing how the story unfolded with each character.

* Good characters. I liked how each character was unique. Perhaps not all share my point of view, but I do. I think you get attached to the characters as you play them, and you feel bad for them when bad things happen to them.

THE BAD

* Very confusing game play. This takes a while to get used to because not all of it makes logical sense, and unless you're insanely good at this type of video games, or you use a walkthrough, otherwise I'm not sure how anyone can get through this.

This is how I understand it, and I could be wrong. Each scenario for each character has two mission objectives. In other words, you play each setting for each character twice. There are aims, mission objectives, and mission objective fulfillments.

Aims are immediate goals you have to complete. You don't have to complete them, though. They're not required for the game to move forward. For example, in one scenario you're asked to burn a bridge. The point is to make sure the sniper you want to kill can't move to the other side of the bridge. But you can kill him without burning the bridge if you want.

Mission objectives are things you do to end the scenario, and as I said there are two. You can't finish two objectives in one go. You have to play it twice.

Mission objective fulfillments are the most confusing aspect of the game. In many cases, one character has to do something for another character's mission objective to be fulfilled. This wouldn't be so confusing if it fits in naturally in your overall mission, but it doesn't, and without a walkthrough you're left to guess what you have to do. For example, in one case, while being chased by zombies, you have to go to a shack, find a radio, drop it in a well to attract the attention of a zombie, shoot it when it's leaning over it. In another case, you have to hide a specific character in a specific spot so that she can find a piece of cloth she'll use many stages later.

Three more annoying things about the game play. One is that certain mission fulfillments can only be done in certain mission objectives. That means that in some cases, if your character is to turn a valve somewhere for another character, you have to do it in mission objective 2, not mission objective 1. That only happens some times but it's enough to annoy you.

Another annoying aspect is that sometimes your game allows you to start midway in a scenario. So for example if one scenario is really long, and your character dies, you won't have to start over. That's great, except that everything you did - all the archive items, mission fulfillments you did in the first part of the game is lost unless you replay the whole thing.

One more annoying thing is that, sometimes even when you've completed the first mission objective, had the conditions fulfilled for you to advance to the next mission objective, you still can't advance. I didn't get a good reason for this, but it's frustrating because it makes you think you missed something.

And finally, your characters are stupid. If they're using a crowbar as a weapon and knock a shibito-zombie wielding a gun down, your character won't be smart enough to take the gun.

Other than that, the game's quite fun to play. But be aware of the annoying gameplay.

One Of The Scaryest Games I Hav Ever Played

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Well i am not going to write much but my first thoughts for this game is AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....

Right that might hav sounded cheesy but i am not kidding, not only does the foggy ground, rivers running red with blood and not being able to see 6 feet infront of u start to scare me but the enemys are like nothing i have ever faced before. They hav a set path that they walk around during the entire level but if you are spotted by them or you kill them they will not only change there path but they will look in sheds houses and behind objects for you. If you are lucky enough to kill one then if you wait there for about 5 mins it will come back to life, they look creepy, sound creepy and laugh at you while chasing you. There weapons consist of rifles, pistols, crowbars, knifes and many more. The monsters are nothing like i have ever seen because if you run into a shed or building they will follow you and they will also follow you onto the roofs of buildings. One more thing that i found realy disturbing was the use of real life faces on the characters and the enemys i hav never seen that on any game in my life. If u like these types of games then i would like Silent Hill 4: The Room. If you wish to contact me my hotmail address is Drittz_48@hotmail.com

fun game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This was a very fun game too play. Even though some of the missions from this game is hard. And the graphics from this game is sharp.

siren rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

this game really really rocks. since this game is very scary and fun.

A decent game to play on a stormy night

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

At the end of the day, Siren will appeal to fans of Asian horror cinema, but sadly not as much to everyday gamers. Asian horror is a pretty slow paced genre - think of The Ring, a great film but damn it moves slow.

And Siren pretty much plays out like that. It looks creepy, and has its scary moments, but you're forced to wade through the muck to find them. The story revolves around a town that suffered an earthquake, which started the (emergency?) siren blaring. Soon after, the waters all began to run red with blood. Add in pagan rituals, and the overall premise is to uncover the deep mystery surrounding the town. You're given a few characters to help accomplish this.

The device that sets Siren apart from other horror games is the ability to "sightjack", that is, see through your enemies' eyes, which, in this case, are mostly zombies. By assigning the four play buttons to any four zombies, you can cycle through each one and see what's going on in different areas of the level. Through their eyes, you appear as a glint of colored light, which gives you an idea how close you are to them. You can also sightjack your friends, who you either lead or follow though the levels, using both controls and scripted commands such as "hide."

Interesting ability aside, the game mostly utilizes this for stealth purposes, and it grows old as you progress. There's not a lot of whack-a-zombie action, leaving you to evade enemies and find any items you need to get pass the level. Sometimes you have to repeat the same level with different characters, which only makes it worse. And seeing through enemy eyes makes you yearn for control of the enemy body, something sadly missing from the game.

Where Siren makes up for its moments of uninspired gameplay though, is in its creepy feel. Environments are dreary and gray, fog covers the land, the rivers are red with blood. The woods and buildings look realistic, reminiscent of the night scenes in the Gathering Of Developers game, The Blair Witch Project. Add to this a scratchy film grain effect and things get damn freaky. Siren even uses the "flashlight in the dark" thing well, even if it reeks of Silent Hill. What's creepiest, however, is the face mapping technique they employed. Real faces add life to the characters that I've not seen in other games before, which molests the creepy meter a few notches higher.

Overall, a decent game to play on a stormy night, even if it tends to go in circles.

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