Call of the Siren

I recall seeing a forumer confessing that he only buy exclusive games, even to the extent of buying exclusives for console he doesn't own which he will then play on his friends' console whenever he gets the chance.

While it does sound pretty extreme (especially the part about buying exclusives for console he doesn't own), being a fanboy myself i do understand what he means and admit that i enjoy exclusive games too. Yes i enjoy exclusive games simply for the mere fact that i don't have to share my games with gamers who don't invest on the same platform, nothing to do with the myth that multiplatform games will be dumb down or compromised, those are just convenient excuse fanboys will use to defend their precious hardware in my opinion.

For a while back, i have been contemplating if i should get either Siren: New Translation or Silent Hill: Homecoming since their release are only months apart. Having played all the previous Silent Hill installments, i do have some attachments to the series and frankly, i'm interested to to see how the new development team will take on the series. The only thing i'm displeased about the new Silent Hill game is it's no longer exclusive to the PS3 platform and worse, during the recent E3 conference Konami announced that it's also going to appear on the PC platform. Now seeing how much i loathe my favourite games appearing on the PC platform, Siren is starting to look like the next best alternative.

After all, Silent Hill creator Toyama is still very much involved with this Siren and the game is also due for a blu-ray release in addition to the PSN release. The only problem is Siren is sort of a semi remake of original which I already played and though I enjoyed the chilling atmosphere and graphics, I couldn’t keep up with the timeline of the game.

I Spy with My Eye

Forbidden Siren was Sony's answer to Nintendo and Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube. Helmed by Kenchiro Toyama who earlier directed Konami's survival horror classic Silent Hill, Siren manages to push the envelope on what can be achieved in the genre even further. Siren shares a lot of similarities to Eternal Darkness but in many ways, it is far better though it failed to achieve the critical success of the former upon release. Like Eternal Darkness, the story of Siren is told through the eyes of ten different survivors over the course of three days though it never feels like a Lucasarts adventure game as the story doesn't transverse across the globe to different characters set centuries apart. The characters looked eerily realistic and the game does a good job of keeping track of the story and events through a simple timeline table.

Siren also relies upon a 'gimmick' of their own in order to set it apart from the rest of the pack but unlike Eternal Darkness, it's so much more than just a gimmick. Sight-jacking allows the players to see the world through the eyes of the predators in the game, where you must learn to plan your move around them to avoid being seen as your characters are usually unarmed. This heightens the sense of danger as you find yourself playing both the stalked and the stalker as well as adding an element of strategy to the game. Later, playing as a 70-year old hunter, Akira you have to use sight-jacking to pick out your targets and play a game of cat-and-mouse using your sniper rifle, i kid you not.

While over the years of playing Resident Evil and Silent Hill has jaded my senses, it's games like Siren that really jolt my senses and get me excited and optimistic about the survival horror genre, Toyama-san you just moved up a couple of notches on my list.