Survival horror games have always held a special place in my heart. I love the idea of playing a character and having no idea what is around the next corner waiting to jump out at me. The sensation of not knowing what’s next, and the thrill of ‘do I really want to step into this dark room?’ has an effect that I can’t find anywhere else. But good horror games are scarce and half the time they turn out to be predictable and just not exciting. After watching a few trailers for Siren: Blood Curse, I knew I needed to play that game. I hoped it could be the next one to scare the living daylights out of me and it hasn’t disappointed.

Siren: Blood Curse is an episodic game released over the PSN and has a touch of horror movie and a dash of originality. It’s not a sequel nor a remake of the original Siren games (Forbidden Siren and Forbidden Siren 2) that were seen on the Playstation 2 - in fact, it might be better to consider this game a bit of an unknown quantity. I was slightly worried about its episodic nature but after playing the first three parts, my worry is gone and in its place is a racing heartbeat and I find myself jumping at every sound I hear at night.

Visually, the game looks great. Well… what you can see looks great. The opening cinematic sets up the game and provides all that you really need to know at that point in the game. Set in the dark of night (and in the rain no less), you’re witness to a slaughter by some sort of cult. While watching from a distance with a few of the characters you will soon play, you see a young man run up to the group and try to save someone. Realising he is outnumbered he runs, and this is where you come into it.


The first episode kicks off and you take the role of Howard Wright, the young man that tried to save the victim. While trying to phone help in a nearby building, and learning how to move in a handy tutorial, a cop car pulls up and you find the police aren’t as friendly as you would like. This is your first encounter with the Shibito, a creature who is blood crazy and is a little smarter and faster than a zombie. Naturally, when a guy pulls out and wants to kill me, I get the hell out of there (when the game tells me I should run to a nearby house) but I found myself looking for the small pathway in the dark corner. Dying the first few times was starting to annoy me, but what happened next impressed me so much I couldn’t put it down.

While eventually finding a way to the house, it suggested I find somewhere to hide. So hide I did. Looking out I could see the Shibito cop coming closer and as he came closer this heartbeat started to come over the speakers. As he got closer the heartbeat got louder and faster. It was even making my heartbeat go louder and faster. I sat there hoping he would go away as I looked out from my little viewpoint watching his movements carefully. Then it hit me, less than 10 minutes in and I was already fully immersed in Siren: Blood Curse.

During the game you take on the roles of various different characters - in the first three episodes you get a chance to play most of the characters in this story. It wasn’t until the second chapter that things really got interesting. You obtain an ability called ‘sight-jacking’ where a player can see through they eyes of a Shibto (or another human). The screen is split, so you can flick between different views on the left hand side and then lock one in place - allowing you to move around on the right, while still seeing what the other is up to. While this ability is nice and something that has been seen in the previous Siren games, it is handy to get around Shibto but at the same time freaky to know they are actually coming towards you.

Most characters are armed with a torch and while the right control stick moves the player, the left moves the torch and view. However the view point is limited and you need to turn the character’s body to turn the view around more, which makes it a little tricky when a Shibto attacks you from behind. However Siren: Blood Curse makes use of the SIXAXIS when reloading (when and if you find a gun) as well as when getting back up after getting knocked down. However the reload didn’t work a lot of the time, luckily they also have a button for it as well.


The only real problem you face with movement and using the torch is that it attracts attention. While turning it off to sneak past people sounds fine, it’s the getting past them in the dark that proves to be challenging. This isn’t so bad since if you do happen to walk into a Shibto, or if they spot you attempting to walk through a wall that you thought was a corridor, you can generally find a weapon and fight them off. However while playing as Bella (a young girl and daughter to a couple of characters) you simply curl up and cry when they spot you, sending you back to the last checkpoint. Frustrating it may be but it does keep with the game’s style and simply put, a little girl shouldn’t be able to fight them off, and it does make it interesting to sneak around if you previously just tried to fight everything.

The story is a little weird but since it is only the first few episodes, I’m only looking at part of the story. The characters are interesting and seem to have a lot of depth to them as well as some mystery about them. Part of this depth can be found in the archives that are discovered along the way. These give more background to character as well as an interesting look to the game. They seem to be all real images and video that enhances the game’s depth.

Combining elements seen in Japanese horror movies, immersive and intense game play and a touch of ideas from Blair Witch Project, Siren: Blood Curse is both scary and fun. While the first episode feels short, the later parts make up for it and continue along a storyline with a few twists and turns. It’s exciting and mysterious and one that any survival-horror fan must have. If you’re more into the run-and-gun style games you probably won’t find this appealing. But if phrases like ‘No, get away!’, ‘AHHHH!’ and ‘Please don’t turn around right now...’ are things you like to say in games then you will love Siren: Blood Curse. Truly a new benchmark in the genre and when my heart stops racing I’ll be able to move onto the next episodes.