Forgotten Horror Masterpieces: Siren

15 Aug, 2010

Survival horror is a bizarre term. Attached to a niche genre of gaming that includes titles such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Clock Tower, the use of the word ‘survival’ is debatable. Indeed, conservation is key but nonetheless, weaponry and health items are usually in plentiful supply. Strangely enough, in many of these so-called ‘survival’ games there’s never any particular reason why your character should ever die. Siren is here to redefine survival horror for good.

In the remote Japanese mountain village of Hanuda, inquisitive 16-year-old Kyoya Suda stumbles upon an ancient ritual being performed in a forest clearing. Running for safety, Kyoya finds entirely the opposite in the shape of an undead police officer brandishing a revolver. The man is a ‘shibito’ – literally translating to ‘corpse people’ – and unfortunately, he is one of many. Procuring keys to a parked car, Kyoya runs over the crazed policeman, though as he begins to retreat the officer reanimates. Pointing his gun at the young boy, he pulls the trigger and Kyoya falls, presumably to his death.

Siren boasts a cast of ten playable characters, all unlucky enough to become trapped in Hanuda after the ritual is interrupted, causing a huge earthquake. Much of Siren’s genius lies in the Link Navigator system which serves to chart the actions of each character in real time. Fulfilling hidden objectives within certain levels will unlock secondary objectives for other characters. For instance, unlocking a door from within Hanuda’s elementary school as intrepid, mild-mannered teacher Reiko in one stage will allow superficial prom queen Naoko access to the school later in the game.

Reiko and young Harumi take shelter inside the school.

From the off, Siren is insanely difficult. Shibito not only have greatly heightened senses of sound and vision they cannot be killed, only knocked out temporarily. Objectives can be obscure to the point where a walkthrough is almost mandatory and the in-game map screen doesn’t display your character’s current location, requiring you to locate a landmark in order to navigate successfully. Playable characters range from a defenceless little girl to a decrepit 70-year old – a 70-year old packing heat but a 70-year old nonetheless. Like proverbial lambs to the slaughter, these people aren’t soldiers or superheroes, they’re normal human beings. For now.

One useful tool at your disposal however is ‘sightjacking’, tuning into the vision of your enemies to see through their eyes and ascertain their individual behavioural patterns. While perhaps not necessarily giving you the edge over your opponents (you’re unable to move or view your immediate surroundings while sightjacking), it obviously tips the odds a little in your favour. As you’ve probably guessed, the emphasis here is on stealth first and foremost. Some characters will hold flashlights, allowing shibito to spot you from much farther away unless they’re switched off. Characters can run, walk or sneak in a crouching position in order to stay quiet enough to remain undetected. Your enemies are so dangerous that alerting them will more often than not result in your character’s death, so being inconspicuous is imperative to your success.

Nurse Mina is killed in cold blood, only to return as a shibito.

Siren is mainly played from a third-person perspective, similar to other games of its genre. Weapons are available in a select few levels, but for a large chunk of the game the darkness is your only protection versus legions of the undead, which isn’t good news. Contextual actions such as reloading your weapon or conversing with a companion are performed from a small pop-up menu. This generally works well, but it can cause issues with more complex objectives later on in the game where your goal isn’t entirely clear. In these cases, simply pressing the Triangle button in the right place can reveal an obscure action to be performed in order to complete the mission. After doing four laps of the level trying to work out what in the world you’re supposed to be doing, this outcome can be exasperating.

Technically Siren is beautiful to look at and listen to. Deciding against facial animation, developers Japan Studio opted for face-mapping, super-imposing photos of real faces taken from several different angles in order to recreate genuine, life-like expressions. This can make the characters look slightly insane at times but in the context of Siren it works brilliantly. The locations are well-designed, beautifully rendered and wonderfully creepy, a thick layer of dense fog bringing back fond memories of early Silent Hill games. Graphically, the game is solid. Its soundtrack, however, is pure genius.

Like so much of Siren, the soundtrack is influenced by Japanese horror cinema. Films such as Ring have clearly had an impact on the game’s design and the sound is no exception. The ambient background noise featured here is more than enough to instil fear and dread in the player. Shibito make charmingly disturbing sounds as they go about their business, while the sightjacking effect is a pure recollection of the terrifying brilliance that made The Cursed Videotape so scary.

Blind Miyako has to use sightjacking to find her way.

Siren isn’t without its flaws. Controls aren’t as fluid as they should be, objectives can be silly and pointless and the game itself is horrendously difficult. Opting to go for an English dub was Japan Studio’s biggest mistake. The translation and voice acting are abominable, the actors delivering line after line of increasingly robotic, emotionless dialogue. In this case, a Japanese voice track with English subtitles would’ve been far more appropriate. Having said that, Siren is still a shining gem of a game, in danger of being criminally overlooked due to its concept, origin and unforgiving difficulty.

This twisted tale of religion and ritual is unique in its bleakness, especially surrounding the plight of twin sisters Risa and Mina and young runaway Tomoko’s desperate search for her family. It’s a story so well-crafted it’s comparable only to Konami’s Silent Hill 2, another deliciously dark yet beautifully realised narrative tinged with just as much tragedy. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry… well actually you’ll probably just cry, be it out of fear or frustration, but players willing to persevere (and overlook the laughable voice acting) will uncover one of the most atmospheric, satisfying and genuinely terrifying survival horror games of this generation.

Siren, known as Forbidden Siren in PAL regions, is a PlayStation 2 exclusive. Online retailers are your best bet in finding copy and you can generally pick it up pre-owned for around £5.

Is there an underrated survival horror title you’ve played that you loved? Would you like us to spread the word of its genius? At GGS we’re huge survival horror fans so leave a comment below and we’ll get hold of a copy by hook or by crook (assuming we haven’t played it before of course!).

Next Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.