An episodic horror game you say? Intriguing
A TV crew from America arrive to research and film an exposé on the urban myth of Hanuda, the Vanished Village, where human sacrifices are said to have taken place.
Hanuda is a dark, eerie world, frozen in the 1970s, at times surrounded by a red sea. An ancient curse has been set upon the town and you, as the visitors, must save the remaining inhabitants including the beautiful Miyako. In order to survive you must defend yourself from the vicious Shibito, or living dead, and other terrifying monsters.
Throughout the game you will play each of the visitors to the village. The game’s unique Sight-Jack System enables you to switch seamlessly between the visions of the hunted and the hunters. The chilling environments and antagonists are enhanced by amazing graphic effects, an advanced physics engine and shockingly realistic facial animations.
Siren Blood Curse’s episodes are available to download from PlayStation Store or as a collection on Blu-ray Disc. Containing all of the game’s 12 spine-chilling episodes, the Blu-ray Disc version also features additional exclusive content, such as interviews with the developers and actors, plus behind the scenes footage.
Enter an incredibly realistic world that drags you into the horror of Hanuda village
Enhanced Sight-Jack System and a huge variety of actions enables fast paced dynamic gameplay
Available as episodes released via PlayStation Store or on Blu-ray Disc
Episodic games have been quite successful thus far and it seems that more games are jumping on the bandwagon. Siren is another one of those who have and while the game is superb, it’s a close call if it really works as a 12 episode game instead of one continuous game. Blood Curse retells the story of the original Siren, it’s not a remake as much…it’s more of a director’s cut. Although I think its best that I point out that I never played the Siren games before, so I can’t compare them to Blood Curse.
The version I got for review was on Blu-Ray, so no long download times for me, but instead a very length install time. Although thanks to that, load times are short. The story is definitely the best part of the game, since gameplay can be linear and easy. Control is a bit clunky when compared to the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, although it’s definitely inspired by the two big horror franchises.
You won’t play the same character in each episode, you can be a normal teenager in one and the next you can be a little girl who has no weapons at all. It mixes things up and cuts the story up well, its told very well. If there’s one thing that isn’t in short supply with Blood Curse, its tension and a spooky atmosphere. You feel it as soon as you start playing, you’ll think “Oh F***! This is damn creepy” and you would be right to think it, the game is very scary indeed.
Regarding the story, I won’t give away any spoilers as I believe it’s best you see this game for yourself. All I can say is that you will fully enjoy it from Episode One all the way to Episode Twelve. There are moments of the game that remind me of Silent Hill, which is not a bad thing at all.
Visually, the game can look a bit grainy at times, but it just adds to the tension. There are times where it looks like a high resolution PS2 game, while others it will look amazing. For a game that was intended to be downloadable, it’s not bad by any standards. It could have used a polishing for the Blu-Ray disc, but it’s not worth grumbling about. Voice-acting is pretty impressive as are the sound effects and superb atmospheric music. It sets the scene for the game very well.
The Verdict
Siren Blood Curse is an amazing horror series that you will love from start to finish. It’s very reminiscent of Resi and Silent Hill with its style, but it makes it its own with a killer story and some great memorable characters. It won’t change the genre, but it just makes it that bit better.
