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Oh the rage...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: November 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Never has a videogame made me so angry. Do not be misled, this game might look very spooky and chock full of Survivor Horror Genre-goodness, but in fact it is one of the most soul-sucking, brain-deadening games you will ever have the misfortune of playing.

To begin with, the "options" menu that you constantly have to go to in order to perform even the most mundane of tasks (example: It takes 5 or more different steps just to sit in a parked truck) is downright idiotic. WHY do I have to press the action/related buttons over 10 times just so I can drive a normal motor vehicle? Was this vehicle secretly built by aliens with technology far beyond any human capacity? Or were the devlopers just experimenting with new forms of gameplay torture? (I personally believe the later. Think what you will about the aliens)

Secondly, it is ridiculously easy to die in this game. Go ahead, you can dish out the "But it's scarier since it's so realistic! People don't use health drinks/first aid kits/etc. in real life!" Then I will pull out my hair and tell you to try playing the game for 30 minutes straight. Even 15 minutes is a challenge since you will die dozens and dozens of times within the first 5 minutes and get so frustrated you will want to elbow-drop your PS2. I swear, these characters would die if they stubbed their toe, that is how easy they are killed. Even if you manage to get to the end of a mission, when you are so close to the end of one measly, simple "Get from point A to point B" mission, you will most likely run into a bad guy and die instantly. Then the whole cycle of frustration and enraged PS2 destruction begins anew since you will most likely be taken back to the begining of the same stupid level.

Lastly, the voice overs. Given all the above game woes, it is even more difficult to find any enjoyment in this game given it's awful (British?) voiceovers. Most of the characters sound as if they are talking about Afternoon Tea rather than some funky river of blood.

Overall, I have yet to play a more terrible game. This game is sitting in my bookshelf collecting dust because I cannot play it for more than 15 minutes at a time without being thrown into a murderous rage, and would not be able to convince anyone to buy it off me since I feel compelled to tell anyone who will listen just how bad 'Siren' really is.

The Siren is warning you not to Play this game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: September 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Fans of the survival horror gaming genre were no doubt excited by unraveling the mystery of Sirens errie Japanese town with the terrifying past. Sadly, the premise is about as exciting as the game gets.

The Pros

This game is a really gorgeous visual treat. The chracters are rendered with a new technolgy that actually wraps realistic images onto 3d computerized planes.
The setting has been developed well. The village of Hanuda is a scary place cast in eternal darkness surrounded by a sea of blood and of course the Siren going off in the background.

The Cons (and there are many)
The game developers dubbed the game with a British voice over crew which in the beginning is comical but after awhile just feels ridiculous. For some people this may not be an issue at all but for me it just seemed distracting playing a Japanese guy and to hear him shout "Oi Mate! wait up!"

Secondly, the gameplay is terribly limited and re-do's abound. More skilled gamers may not have to replay missions as much but I found it hard not to be killed as 80% of the time your only defense is to run and hide. The game employs a drop down menu to issue command to your character. The menu is easy to use but truly annoying. A good example occurs on the first mission. Your goal is to escape a bad guy via car. The drop down menu asks you 1) Would you like to pick up the car key? 2) Would you like get in the car? 3) Put key in ignition? 4) Turn key to start car?- truly gets to be cumbersome to game play.

Lastly, the game uses a event system/ time table for you to keep track of events as they happen to all 10 playable chracters. While that sounds convoluted in itself it only gets worse that you have to play all ten characters and not one at a time. The game is broken up into missions. For example,one mission may involve a journalist and reveal certian parts of the mystery and these events are recorded on the time table. The next mission you are introduced to a new character and complete the next mission and learn more. You must refer back to the time table to try and piece it all together.

Siren was a truly exciting idea thta really failed to deliver. I don't feel many people actually completed as I myself grew bored and gave up halfway through. If you truly want to be scared and enetertained I recommend Fatal Frame 1 or 2 as both are in my opinion the best (and scariest) the genre has to offer.

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.

Siren! All the fun of looking and walking!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: June 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm sure I'll be jeered by some for not appreciating how "original" this title is. I like games that are original, but I also like games that are scary, fun, and well-crafted. Nothing akin to this game has ever been attempted before, and one can see why, as Siren is completely unplayable. It's as if someone said "You know how those horrible, clunky, Resident Evil style controls severely hamper player enjoyment? Well those controls are too intuitive, lets make the player use a pull-down menu whenever he wants to pick up or use an item!" The visuals are so full of artful (read pretentious) "fog" and film scratches, they turn out to be no better than PS-1 graphics. The sound might be passable, except for the fact that all the Japanese characters have been inexplicably dubbed with cheesy British accents. The sight-jacking feature allows you to see through the eyes of your enemy, as strategy it's all but completely useless, as unless you've run through a level (and died) many, many, many times, you have no clue what the zombies are looking at (Ooh! He sees a twig, and his own hand! That will save my life!) This is one of the most frustrating and pointless games I have ever played in my life, and to make matters worse, ever game-mag I've read is giving this one high marks! As a huge Silent Hill fan, and working from such reviews, I was ready to plunk down cold hard cash to buy this title sight unseen, until I read some reviews from actual gamers. Thank God I rented it first! This is why I write this review, as a service to you. Do not buy into the hype! This game is as scary as athlete's foot, and twice as irritating. Unless of course your idea of the ultimate in terror involves crouching behind shrubbery to avoid un-killable jerks (it's a moot point anyway, as you almost never have a weapon, and the fighting mechanics are awful) who giggle like drunken yokels while looking for you with a flashlight. Or perhaps running through poorly rendered woods while trying to lead a spastically controlled, simpering woman-child, who constantly shrieks "It's about time! Hurry up!...Wait! Don't run so fast!" I rented this game with a discount coupon, I'd like to be pithy and say I overpaid But after that imbecile had run away from me into the waiting maw of a giggling pseudo-zombie for the tenth time whilst mewling orders at me, I found out that you can "accidentally" use weapons on your companions. Bludgeoning that twit to death was worth every penny!

Ruined by lack of Japanese language audio track.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 14
Date: April 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

How can you have a game where all the characters are Japanese, the setting is Japan, and yet have all the characters speak in U.K. English with U.K. accents? Talk about spoiling a great thing. Siren 2 is supposed to be on the horizon, and hopefully the game's makers will come to their senses and include the Japanese audio track for all releases. It could have been right up there with Silent Hill, but instead the realism, and thus the intensity and scary factor, is lessened because of the lack of a Japanese audio track, which could have been easily included since this game was released in Japan with such an audio track. Those responsible for releasing this in America must have made a major mental lapse -- I hope so, because if they actually sat down and thought of some "reasons" to not include the original language track, then there's simply no excuse, no justification. Ridiculous, just plain ridiculous.

it's not worth the style.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 7
Date: April 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

it's a gmae of a kind, like fatal frame made it's own
style.
but this is a
"manual labor - countryside espionage action horror game"
nothing more nothing less.
go try it at a friends house .dont waste your money.
i give 1star because it has style.

Sony mother(...)

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: July 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Anotehr poor constructed concept from the Japanese assoicates at SOny, this game fails to deliver the concept of survival horror in every way imagainable.

if you're looking for horror, be wary of this game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: August 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

"Siren" is advertised as a horror game. It has some of the superficial features of horror, but the gameplay isn't creepy at all. It's a stealth game. There's plenty tension, but no horror. I was disappointed. Maybe "Siren" is a good stealth game, but if you're looking for a new horror game with a good story & especially with a creepy ambiance, I recommend against it.

long and boring

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: March 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY.I DONE THAT MISTAKE AND REGRET IT.IF YOU WANT A GAME UNDER THAT STYLE BUY SILENT HILL,ANY TITLE IS GREAT.

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.

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