Sony
The originalSilent Hillgames felt like lightning in a bottle . Team Silent was a ragtag chemical group of developers within Konami who were look to create something different in the repulsion distance . While the entire team would be disband by Konami after the fourth entry , the director of the originalSilent Hill , Keiichiro Toyama , departed the squad on his own accord right after its initial release to form his own squad under Japan Studio . Called Project Siren , his next project would n’t become a house name on the floor ofSilent Hill , butSirenhas become something of a cult classic in the decades since its dismissal . It even earned itself a cameo inAstro Bot , which may have been a tricky one to identify for most .
With interest inSilent Hillreinvigorated thanks to the impressiveSilent Hill2 remakeandSirenbeing added to the Classics collection on PS5 — and with Halloween right around the quoin — this is the stark game to cancel that psychological repulsion itch . WhereasSilent Hillgames sense more like refinements in a core concept through different fiber ’ position , Sirenattempts to expound upon horror in a grander way while still hand that distinctSilent Hillflavor . Just like the original game , however , it is n’t without a few warts .
Sony
Nonlinear horror
Sireneschews the traditional format of elongate horror games and rather divide itself up into 10 discrete , interconnected portion . Rather than toy as a exclusive protagonist , you will control 10 different fibre over the course of instruction of a 72 - 60 minutes menses , each of whom has their own aim and motivations for coming to the haunted town of Hanuda .
However , the series of events you receive are not present in chronological order , and sure natural process you do or do not take as one role can impact what find when you keep in line someone else . The game will loop itself until you’re able to find the good serial publication of events to break up the story by thinking four - dimensionally across every character .
I initially find this setup puzzling when I played it on the PS2 , as the game does a poor job of explaining why you are being sent back to already completed stage . However , the add Link Navigator does make conk out back through any former stage easy once you ascertain to decode its confusing layout and coloration - fool grid . Upon revisit it , I have add up to appreciate how the reposition perspectives and looping narrative build toward find like a real incubus ; I will never escape until I dominate my fear and retrieve my own path through .
The game itself is a fascinating web of folklore , occultism , and occult supernatural powers . I became deeply seat in easy piecing together the moody story of Haruda and its people through note and environmental clue . get new part of the mystifier helped ease the monotony that would ’ve otherwise coiffure in while repeating level for a 2nd or third time . As is the character withSilent Hill , Sirengave me plenty of room to theorize and revise my intellect of outcome up until ( and even beyond ) the conclusion .
The vista ofSirenI am more conflicted about is its gameplay .
On a basic level , it is a third - person , stealth - focused horror experience . You will direct your current character through one of 10 sections of Haruda , collecting clues and item and avoiding the primary enemy call Shibito . These are zombie - like enemy who stumble around the dingy search for you , but are n’t at all mindless — they will wield melee and firearms to hunt you and will do a good job of dog you down . Most of the time , your fictional character will be unarmed , though you may discover some scrimmage weapons and a rarified firearm . However , armed combat is punished in almost every condition . Shibito will deal deadly wrong in just one or two hits , and it would be generous to call your combat abilities janky . Swings have unmatched timing , terrible grasp , and long recuperation times that heavily encourage you to stick to stealth .
WhereSirenstands aside from any other endurance repugnance secret plan is the Sightjack power . Instead of only relying on your special vision and audio cues to sneak past Shibito , all your theatrical role have the power to see through the eyes of nearby Nonproliferation Center , both favorable and hostile . Seeing a monster approaching in the dark , or bump into one rounding a recession for a jump scare are efficacious , but familiar shipway to evoke fear . But closing your character ’s eyes , only to see yourself being stalked by an enemy you did n’t recognize was there elicited a unique case of panic I had never felt before . It invoke up retention of horror chronicle I had heard about the great unwashed going bivouacking by themselves and afterwards discovering a photograph of them that was taken while they were gone . Only inSiren , the concern was n’t just creeping , but immediate .
Frustrating puzzles
Puzzles are core to the horror genre , andSirenis no elision . I always get a bit aflutter when play my first mystifier in a horror biz due to how delicately they need to be handle to not break the tenseness . Unfortunately , Siren’spuzzles are almost universally unintuitive to the point of foiling . It borders on the type of logic mass jest about with old distributor point - and - click games , as it ’s nearly impossible to by nature intuit the think result . A meek example would be a puzzle requiring you to drop a light bulb down a garbage chute to make a Shibito to inquire . Afterward , you need to drop an EEG machine down the shoot onto its head to invalid it , which are scarcely the two uses I would ever imagine using those specific point for .
The only save grace to these mystifier is that there ’s no room to die . alternatively , you will either need to get lucky , look up the reply , or resort to using every item with every interactable target in the environment until you get a response . It would be a minor mar in any other secret plan , but repulsion title likeSirenrely so heavily on absorption that these puzzles terminate up dragging down its strongest moments . If you do plan on visitingSiren , this is one representative where using a mystifier guidebook will only heighten the experience .
Sirenfeels very much like that originalSilent Hillin spirit . It is rough around the edge and a piddling obtuse , but declare oneself an experience nothing else does in quite the same style . Siren 2 — and the PS3 reimagining calledSiren : Blood Curse — still delivers a stain of Nipponese repulsion wholly its own . I think that unparalleled dash constitute it something that will never have mass appeal , but it will strike that much severely for those who associate with it .
Siren is useable now onPS Plus for Premium contributor .
