User Reviews (1 - 11 of 64)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Disturbing intriguing storyline but not much else...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Now, I stuck with this game and played it all the way through to the end.
So I can say it was one of the most challenging survival horror games and be honest about it. Moreso than those reviews that state they never finished the game.

Story-wise it was interesting and different from what I've played before. I wouldn't necessarily compare it to Silent Hill. Silent Hill has a far more solid story. Whereas Siren has numerous plot holes that leave you quite confused at the end. A lot of questions are left unanswered.

You never know why or what exactly is happening in the game. You're left clueless while trying to survive in this frightening reality where zombie-like people, Shinobi, are trying to kill you.
Whether or not being left clueless was intentional to make it scarier, it made it rather complicated. So you may not understand it on your first try.

As for the gameplay itself, this is where I'm sure you've heard most people complain. And for good reason.

I won't lie. It's frustrating because there's no savepoint at all. So if you die, you die. And you restart the entire level over, unless you've gotten to particular checkpoints. So your strategy is: NOT to die. The problem with that is, of course, there is basically a hundred possible ways to die in a level.
Mainly by just getting hit or shot four or three times by Shinobi.(Female characters are two or one hit) Did I mention there's no health item at all?

Apparently the game developers thought it would increase the horror if they made the character's health and stamina realistic. Now, I admit, it does add to the anxiety of not getting caught or seen by Shinobi. Which can create fear. But for most people it can turn irritating.

**This game is STEALTH-BASED. Meaning you're not meant to go out and kill Shinobi. It's very STRATEGIC, because you have limited ammo or melee weapons. You're mainly sightjacking (seeing through the eyes of Shinobi) and learning their movement patterns and then deciding what you need to do to get by them.

Without a doubt this story frightened me in a way that left me feeling uneasy and unsettled. Not keep-the-light-on scary, but just psychologically frightening. It's a very interesting and different type of horror I've seen.

If you're a very patient person, who doesn't mind taking their time, or like strategy games, you will enjoy this a lot. If you're a fan of the J-horror movies that have those plots that are complicated and need a lot of thought, you may enjoy this.

What most people don't realize is that this is NOT Silent Hill. It's not a game with a lot of monster-fighting action. You're practically helpless, and depend on strategy and stealth. So action lovers, stay away.

Overall it was fair for me. It had its up and downs.

A Waste of Time.....and Life...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I stopped playing this game after about 10 minutes. I have never quit a game no matter how bad it is, I usually stick it out, but this was just ridiculous. It's just question after question. "You have the key to the car, would you like to insert?" yes "would you like to open the door" Yes "would you like to get in the car?" YES! meanwhile, someone is trying to shoot at you during this whole situation.
It was just too obnoxious for me to even go pass the first few minutes. Unless you're into that kind of thing, have fun! For me, not so much.

I would rather perform my own root canal!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: January 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I am an avid survival horror fan and anticipated the release of this game as it sounded great. Once this game hit the shelves, I had to own a copy for myself and added it to my collection. I have owned this game for about four years now and must have attempted it at least a dozen times on separate occasions. I really wanted this game to be worth the money I paid for it, but after attempting it for the last time I was willing to give it... all I can say is that it has to be by far the WORST game I have ever played... EVER!

This game had the potential to become a great addition to the survival horror genre, but every element traditionally found in these games was NO WHERE to be found! Actually, taking everything into consideration, this game lacks all that is needed to make a good game in general!

The graphics are just plain terrible! From the hype this game was given, it was hard to believe that this aspect was one of the game's selling points! The developers decided to use a different technique to render the graphics; by wrapping images onto 3D planes. This could have been an interesting and new style for visuals, but it failed to deliver! Everything in the game seemed to blend together and no definition is found in the any of the details. Character faces where horribly pixilated and a "fuzzy filter" is placed over all of the environments! No where will sharp and clear imagery be found. I guess the use of a "fuzzy filter" could have worked in some instances, but I found it to be annoying as it only made it difficult to see where I was going and what I was even doing!

The game had no story! NONE! Right from the beginning, you expect to be given something, some clue about where you are, who you are, what you are doing, etc, but instead, you are thrown immediately into gameplay without a tutorial, no information, nothing to spark your interest and worst of all, even after completing a few missions, you still do not get ANYTHING! What type of game expects players to continue playing as there is no point and no motivation to keep going? Even something small would have been nice, but this game did not deliver in this aspect as well! This game could never be placed in the survival horror genre for this huge flaw alone!

Survival horror games rely heavily on music to create an unsettling mood in the audience. I completed quite a few missions and NO music was ever heard! The developers obviously saved a lot of money by neglecting to include a haunting soundtrack! How in the world can you expect your players to find this game appealing aurally without any sound except a dissonant siren and gun shots from enemy weapons?! Even the worst games I have played had some music which complemented gameplay!

The gameplay is really lacking and is perhaps the worst aspect of the game! Cumbersome controls, annoying action menus and unexplained EVERYTHING takes all of the fun out the game and immediately frustrates the player!

The player is expected to perform mundane tasks flawlessly without any guidance. Walking is easy as long as your character does not physically hit anything, stumble or need to turn around. Once your character hits something, they will immediately stop and take their time recovering from the small collision... if you stumble, you character is most likely going to die from a gun shot wound fired from some enemy... and if you have to turn around, make sure no enemies are close as every character is difficult to maneuver in the obscure environments and hit everything causing this cycle to repeat over and over!

The action menus are a joke! In order to complete the most unexciting tasks, you are prompted for each small movement involved! In the first mission, you are required to escape an enemy by getting into a truck to drive away, but this requires multiple steps such as: "would you like to unlock the door?, would you like to use a key?, would you like to turn the key?, would you like to open the door?, would you like to get into the truck?, would you like to sit down?, would you like to close the door?, would you like to put the key into the ignition?, would you like to turn the key?". You would think that this would make the actions in the game more realistic, but everyone can perform mundane tasks with no brain power, so this becomes utterly annoying and ridiculous! This is what the games designers came up with to create fear in the player and it failed miserably!

By the way, nothing is explained prior to attempting any mission. You have no map. You have no weapons. You do not know what to do. If you need to find items to solve puzzles, there is no way of knowing what they are and where they are located as they do not blink or stand out in any way. Good luck avoiding any enemies because the `sight-jacking' ability is useless and only confuses gameplay even more. Your character is VERY weak and cannot handle any physical abuse so getting hit just once could send you back to the beginning to do it all over again and again! This is why many people will tell you that an immense amount of patience is required in order to simply play this game... and even more beyond that is required to enjoy it!

I feel sorry for the many people who purchased this game and ultimately gave up after trying so hard to like it; hence, the reason why I attempted it so many times. This game is horrible and EVERYONE should avoid it! It is not survival horror and IT IS NOT LIKE SILENT HILL! Everyone who compared this game to that masterpiece obviously never played any title in the Silent Hill series! I do not recommend this game and hope that I save someone from wasting their time and money and keep them from throwing their PlayStation 2/3 out the window!

I can't believe all these good reviews...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Rarely have I been so motivated to review something. I was looking for a copy of "Clock Tower" (much superior to this game) when I noticed "Siren" listed in the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" area. I couldn't believe the approval rating. Am I the only one who played this piece of junk while _not_ smoking crack? I not only hated this game, it angered me, it irked me, it roused an undying fury in me that I will carry to my grave. Possibly beyond.

I have nothing good to say about this game, except that apparently some people, somehow, enjoyed it, and good for them. For me it was the height of awfullness. Bad graphics, bad story, worst gameplay I have ever, ever seen. Yah I think someone at the start of development had some good ideas, too bad we now have "Siren"... Too dark, horrible controls, no sense of direction, path, or goal. Being constantly disoriented and hearing fumbling sounds from my nearly dark TV is irritating, not scary. Not fun.

So anyway, I just want to warn you, of all the bad games I've played this is the worst, it was a real disappointment after reading reviews and expecting some decent scares along the lines of "Resident Evil" or "Silent Hill". Hey I can stand a bad game, but this one was so bad I quit after about 15 minutes, it went to Goodwill (sorry folks at Goodwill). Yet another reason why I'm getting leery of sinking money into games.

If you're one of the lucky few who can somehow enjoy this piece of garbage, then more power to you. Otherwise, check out some of the really good games people don't seem to know about, like "Ico", man that one will reward you.

Big dissapointment for a true horror survival fan.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I can't write a full review on this game, due to the fact that I barely got anywhere in this game. I will give it this, it had a frightening feeling. The atmosphere was spooky, and graphics were good.
Here's where it went downhill..
The action is thrown at you. If you're into that type of action game, it will be good for you, but for my Silent Hill style of play, I wasn't ready for it. I didn't know how to react or what to do. I don't see how anyone could get past the first stage. I remember that you could do any fighting, but you used some type of psycological power with your brain. It was dumb. I was in a situation (no more than 7 minutes in the game) where I had to use some dumb mind reading ability that some chick just taught me in the game, the place that i was at was filled with zombie people that I barely got past. What makes it worse, was some guy was shooting at me. And i couldn't see crap at all! You could have no knowledge of what to do without the walkthrough! and that I looked at after I sold the game.
All in all, you'll have to try it. I didn't make it past the beginning, i'll say. But yet, i'm not good in the whole "everything is in your control" type of games. So i'll stick to my silent hill and what-not.

ENGAGING

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: November 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My son had purchased the game: SIREN and said it was a super good game to play! He is very happy with the choice he made for this game!

Not enjoyable to play!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: September 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is probably the worst game I have ever played. While the graphics and atmospheres are genuinely creepy and had the potential to be grand, I really have to say the fault lies in the design of the play. The entire game depends on so much "stealth" that it loses all its fun. I am not a video game expert, and certainly have not played enough games to qualify as one, but this one royally sucks, without a doubt!

Not scary, not spectacular, just original

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Basics:

The graphics are horrible.
Controls are poorly designed.
Voice acting sucks!

Additional:

There is not much of a scare factor here, only frustration at numerous loading screens.
The monsters, they never die! Oh dear God, please save us!

Seriously, though:

This game is no fun. You will waste a good portion of your time discovering this fact of reality.

Probably The WORST Survival Horror Game EVER.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I purchased the game Siren because i heard a friend tell me that it was a creepy game so i decided to add it to my collection, not knowing how HORRIBLE the game was.Reason 1,the grapics and story line sucked.
Reason 2 the beginning of the game failed to interest me and keep me playing.
and probably the main thing that brought the game to a dead end is the SIGHT JACKING which was jus a REALLY dumb idea for the game. and i couldnt see where the HECK i was goin. ALL IN ALL DONT waste money or time on this game.

REALISTIC horror/survival game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I personally loved this game, but there are many who are going to hate it. What made it so appealing to me (and unappealing to others) is how realistic the gameplay is. They set the game up to be a realistic survival game; you die in one shot, you have no idea what's going on, and all your actions effect other characters later in the game. There is nothing in this game that isn't going to be explained by the plot (no magic health drinks, no laser beam guns). Also, for the most part your characters have no weapons, and their only tool is the ability to see through the eyes of their foes (sightjacking). I thought it made the game amazing, it took time, concentration, and planning verses constant button mashing. There is also a certain fear the game instills in you when you have no way to defend yourself. One thing you can use to your advantage; your health regenerates (though, your foes will have this ability as well) as a cause of the red waters surrounding the village (the same waters that are turning the villagers into the undead, and giving you psychic abilities). So, if you do get shot and manage to survive, you can run to a safe place and hide out for a couple seconds 'til you're good to go again. Your foes aren't superman either (aside from being undead), they die just as easily as you, so it's nice when you finally do get a weapon (keep in mind, they do come back to life after a few minutes). The scenery doesn't change much (you are trapped in the village after all), but it is meant to be an advantage to you. You can get use to your surroundings, making it easier to make your way through the game as you progress (you're going to have enough trouble staying alive, don't need to add being constantly lost to the mix). The individual missions themselves are meant to be relatively short(1-15 min.), making up for the constant dying.

There are people who say this game is only for 'hard core' survival game fans, and I don't find that to be true at all. It is challenging, and you just need to have a little pateince. It's actually a very fun game. If you can make your way past the first couple missions I promise you'll get addicted. Well, unless you like games that require no thought process. Other than those people... you'll like it.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next 

Actions