	Siren: Blood Curse
	Developer: SCE Japan Studio Publisher: SCEE Release Date: Out Now Players: One	Words By:
It wasn’t quite my cup of tea as I like my in-game frights to be rather less forced, but Forbidden Siren on the PS2 was certainly a chilling entry into the survival horror genre, supplying our reviewer DC with plenty of scares and a genuinely foreboding and disturbing experience, despite some of the worst and least appropriate voice acting we’ve ever heard. Blood Curse is Sony’s next-gen (well, ‘this’-gen) sequel and we pay a return visit to the creepy, zombie-infested village of Hanuda. Blood Curse actually takes place at the same time as the events from Forbidden Siren. This time around PS3 owners can download the game in 4 chapters via the PlayStation Network, this is quite a good option in case the game isn’t “your thing”, and has been done quite craftily by making each of the 12 episodes into an individual character’s story, so that you have to buy all of the downloads to see the whole thing. This will fill in a few plot holes and shows previously experienced events from other character's perspectives as the plot intertwines. I think it’s a nice idea and what the original concept of “episodic gaming” was all about. Amongst the frightening and gory moments and intense atmosphere the game lets itself down with a few clunky controls which are definitely a hangover from the PS2 game, and the dialogue is still rather weak. At least Blood Curse’s inclusion of Western characters (an American television crew sent to report on the strange events in Hanuda) means the voice acting doesn’t sound quite as daft or out of place. Blood Curse is extremely linear and doesn’t allow for any plot branching – the game will even send you marching back to a certain event or character to produce the required outcome in order for the plot to continue. So despite 7 characters don’t expect multiple endings. Apart from the awful “Eastenders” voice acting, Sightjacking was probably Forbidden Siren’s most notable feature, and allows you to see what’s going on through other character’s eyes. This supernatural power returns inBlood Curse and allows you to get a more useful view of a certain area, or determine what path an enemy takes so that you can distract and avoid them, or use whichever weapon or object (there are 50 in the game) you have in your possession to its best advantage. Sightjacking is done via a split screen so you can continue to move around whilst still seeing what’s going on through someone else’s eyes, a major improvement on Forbidden’s sluggish way of doing it. Blood Curse’s graphics are a mixed bag, as you can see from the screen shots the game is artistically sound, with some nice water, lighting and particle effects, and the grainy film effects add to the atmosphere, but the environments lack imagination or interactivity by today’s standards, and this contributes to the game’s high level of linearity - you soon get to realise that there’s little need for exploration or experimentation. The main characters are highly detailed and show facial expressions but some of the Shibito (that’s the zombies) sometimes look like they’ve shambled straight out of the PS2 game. Nevertheless it’s a scary outing and will certainly make you jump from time to time. The timing of the game’s release is quite good and fortunately doesn’t clash with a Silent Hill or Resident Evil, and will probably appeal to fans of either.

Best Bits
- The ominous, scary atmosphere never lets up
- Sightjacking is cool
- 7 different characters
- Lots of weapons

Worst Bits
- As linear as a game can be
- Some inane dialogue
- The controls still feel clunky and responses are sluggish


by: Diddly