Siren

At first Forbidden Siren looked to me like a sort of Silent Hill rip-off, but appeared to be far better than I expected. It is definitely NOT a rip-off, it's only in the same genre. The setting of the whole game is in a Japanese village. This is very original, because most of the horror-action games are placed in the U.S. The village is suddenly in a state of doom. Things that were gone for 30 years are suddenly back, and dead people reappear...Also the still living turn slowly in Shibito, which are some sort of monsters. First thing that is very annoying, is the dubbing. Luckily, you can't let the bad English-dubbed voices make the game suck in my opinion. The game is difficult, that without a doubt. You die easily, but that happens mainly because the game plays so much differently than the ones we're used to in this horror-action genre. The "sight-jacking" for example, is very important. With it, you can see through the eyes of the enemies. That way, you know where they are, and what they're doing. It has one of the most original ways of telling the story I've ever seen. Throughout the story, you play about 10 characters. You play with levels, which I thought at first sucked. I like one big area the most with this sort of games. But, they did this to be able to tell the story better. After every level, you see a list of all characters, with a timeline underneath each name. Every level you play, has a place on a timeline. This may sound complicated, but once you see it, it's quite clear. In most levels you can get 2 endings, which result in 2 different new levels. To actually get the second ending, you must do something in another level first. Example:If character A goes through street X on Day1,12:00, and that character opens a locked door he comes across, thanks to that, character B can go through that door when he goes through the same street on Day2,01:00. This may seem difficult, but they made it easy to find out what you must do the second time you play a level. There's still more to it, but it has already been much to explain. All I want to make clear, is that Forbidden Siren is a terrific game, once you get it. The story is also really, really good. Real Japanese horror-style story. Not too ultra-happy-ending and so, but really grim and dark.

I really want to love this game. I do.

Amazing graphics, enemies and plot lines, and a distinct reference to Silent Hill.

But that annoying Triangle button that you have to press every time you want to do something is just plain stupid! It's a waste of time.

Sight Jacking is equally frustrating, as it takes you forever to understand why you're doing it in the first places (something that nun failed to tell me).

I'd watch it being played, but I don't think I could handle playing it myself. It's too annoying.

This game is an odd one. Granted I am sure the fact that all the characters are speaking with a British accent has to do with the American company that got a hold of it, but that is not the only problem with it. The main problem is that it is to hard. I like how the story plays out in it, you go through scenarios using the various characters in the game and see how the story unfolds through each person's eyes. You will go over the same terrain others did with different objectives, you will go over certain areas during certain times, things you do in a level may make it so another can proceed through the level later. Like I said though it is to hard, I got used to progressing through the levels and surviving, but I really do not see how one is supposed to traverse this game without the help from a guide as you have to do some rather strange things at times to make it through a level the right way. One level you had to go into a house and wet a towel and stick it in a freezer so another character could use it later as a distraction. How the heck is one supposed to come up with this on his own without the help of a guide, seriously? I stopped playing this one as I got tired of running from my room to the room with the computer so I could find out what strange things I had to do in the level to progress through it. It is annoying, perhaps one day I can buy a laptop and set up a wireless single so I can have a computer right there with me or I can find an old guide. Because trust me, you really have to be an individual who thinks way outside the box to get through some of the levels correctly. Shame, the game is very atmospheric and the story is interesting, just gets annoying trying to figure out how to get through some levels properly.

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 on such info, 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 for 99 cents, 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!