Siren

[PeteJ]

I shall post some impressions tonight or tomorrow...

Just heard that the commercials posted above were pulled from Japanese TV because they were too scary. Nice

[Vaipon]

I'm a few scenarios into the game now, and the atmosphere really is very scary, with great scenery detail. At one point in the second level, I peered into the fog in first person view and could just about make out a silhouette figure standing in a wooden lookout tower holding a gun. Looked very creepy because of the faint visibility of it. Another scary moment which occurs frequently is seeing an enemies' torchlight long before actually seeing them. It can be quite worrying seeing light flashing around, then hearing a faint shuffling before finally seeing a zombie appear around a corner.

The sight jacking is working now, and it's really straightforward to use. It works just like a car radio. You basically hit the L2 button to go to sight-jack mode. Once in this mode, the TV screen is full of static. You turn the left analogue stick to "tune-in" to a character's frequency, and the stick's direction is relative to your character. Say a zombie is in front, you would push the stick straight forward to find his "frequency". Once you have a view from that character's eyes, you hit one of the four main buttons, to store that zombie onto that button (so you can have a max of 4 at a time). From now on, you can instantly jump to that person by hitting L2 and then the relevant button.

So far, I've been introduced to 5 human characters, and the link navigator screen shows where each section is occuring on the global timeline. It's still around 5am in gametime at the moment, so still very dark. I'm looking forward to dawn where presumably it will be a lot like the Silent Hill daytime atmosphere, foggy and eerie.

The storyline is heavily Japanese. If you can wait for the US version of the game, definitely go for that instead of the Japanese release (unless you understand the language). It's certainly playable, but the cutscenes are fairly dialogue heavy, and you really won't know what's going on. One more thing that may put you off is the style of play. Definitely very different to Silent Hill and Biohazard in that there is a load of sneaking around trying to avoid monsters rather than engage them in combat. Guns and weapons are a last resort, and should only be used if absolutely necessary.

Anyway, that's it for my impressions of the game. I'm sure PeteJ will have loads more to say on it and a (p)review soon. I'm enjoying the game though, and if you are an early adopter of new PS2 software, it's definitely playable despite the Japanese.

[PeteJ]

I agree with everything you say, this game is quite fab, though extremely difficult at the moment.

I had a very similar experience with a 'shadowy figure' through the fog, which I wasn't quite sure if I was seeing things, but because I was so engrossed I just backed away not wanting to risk anything.

MGS put me off the stealth genre, but as I was wondering through a forest in Siren, scouting out the patrolling zombies in utter darkness, I just realised I was playing something really special. It's stunningly atmospheric. You do have access to a torch with the Square, but using it can spell almost instant death, so you are virtually always crouch-walking around in the pitch black, only able to see 3cm's ahead of yourself.

With the sight-jacking, (or Take Over, as it is known in the poorly translated English manual) you are able to view whatever the zombies are doing - that includes when they are on your scent. Boy, when they've caught a wiff of you, they really do want you dead...

Getting spotted isn't just a case of running away and hiding behind a crate, it's a case of OMFG THEY'RE AFTER ME. THEY'RE AFTER MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. HELP. HELP. ****. HELP.

At least, it was about half an hour ago. These aren't your average stumbly spastic zombies that groan and moan like there is no tomorrow. These are more athletic, fast, clever and able to climb up onto ledges and even jump off buildings.

At least, that is what I discovered about half an hour ago. What really makes Siren so different to anything else, is being able to actually see and feel the zombies hunt you. Keeping track of four different zombies as you see through their eyes on their patrol, you are given a visual aid to tell you exactly where you are located. Seeing through their eyes as they walk right by your hiding spot is downright terrifying. I was actually trying to steer the zombie away from my position with the joypad, which didn't work, incidently.

And, as I discovered about half an hour ago, the zombies cannot be killed. You shoot them, they go down, then they get up again a few minutes later, looking suitably pissed off and sounding rather scary.

You see, I was spotted, and in a fit of panic I wipped out my pistol and took out the zombie. A quick sight-jack later, I realised that every zombie around was coming down onto my position at an alarming rate. Bloody terrified, I switched off my torch and just legged it. I have no idea where I ended up as I couldn't see a thing, but I do know it was a dead-end and two zombies had followed. In a true heroic final-stand, I switched on my light (which helps aiming) and starting firing. One went down, but I ran out of ammo before being able to shoot the final one. He got me. He got me good...

It's too early to state if this is a world-beater, but I'm fairly sure it'll find a large number of fans throughout the world. Quite simply, it is unlike anything else. And I bloody love it.

[Concept]

Thanks for the latest impressions. Sounds just a wee bit bloody good.

I just hope that if this does get a western localisation, Sony doesn't go and do a Project Zero, i.e. duff the atmosphere up with dodgy English voice acting.

What little I've seen of this game on video so far looks stunning.

[dave heats]

what are the levels like in the game? Are they foggy, repetitive town layouts with 'broken locks' as found in silent hill, or more unique and interesting?
The videos and photos I have seen suggest a more interesting, 'earthy' locale. Any news on a US release btw?

[jimtendo]

My main fear with this type of game being ported in PAL/USA is that censorship issues will arise.

One main example is the Silent Hill 'babies' that got ripped out of the PAL version and replaced by some type of rabid ewok. Yet the babies seem to survive in the JPN & USA version.

Another would be butchered voice acting, and slight change of visuals. For example Disaster Report/SOS escape, where the main protagonist is a blonde.
Just keep the main game the same and do not censor it. Just translate the text.

If only...

[Geoff D]

Thanks for the impressions guys - this is sounding boss so far.

Agreed on localization issues - having voices in Englsih etc is fine, but they should keep the Japanese soundtrack in as an option.

[PeteJ]

Well just look at the warning on both front AND back of the box!



I can't see this one making it world-wise without some serious cutting. So far I've yet to see anything that warrents this warning however...


(don't worry, the warning isn't part of the boxart )

[Vaipon]

One main example is the Silent Hill 'babies' that got ripped out of the PAL version and replaced by some type of rabid ewok. Yet the babies seem to survive in the JPN & USA version.

Only US Silent Hill has the rabid babies in it. They are replaced in the Japanese version as well as the PAL release. I have the Japanese version of Silent Hill 1, and they are nowhere to be seen, replaced by the teddybear looking things.

[Valiant]

Could you explain how the real world clock works in this game in a little more depth? Ever since "It came from the Desert" on the Amiga used this device to brilliant effect I've been fascinated by the uses of this mechanic in games. Do certain events happen at specific times in specific locations? Is it set out over one day or a few nights? How does the time factor effect other areas of play?

Thanks.

[Vaipon]

Ok, I'm really starting to love this game now. I've had a number of truly amazing encounters, and the variety of different ways to hide and outsmart them is really impressive. The sight-jacking concept is now second nature, and it's genuinely amazing how you have to play the game using all the enemies POV cameras to keep your bearings. At first, I thought it was a little too difficult to be enjoyable, but it's all just a matter of mapping the areas out and scouting around carefully to build a picture of how all the enemy patrols and locations come together. The main difficulty is that all this has to happen in your head, you don't get a realtime map showing positions like the MGS radar for example. One absolutely brilliant feature is that even if an enemy hasn't seen you, you can see your own location from their POV shot by a blue crosshair which gets larger the closer you are. By using a combination of enemy views, you kinda "triangulate" where you are in relation to them both, allowing you to plan your strategy. It's actually incredibly tactical, and nothing like I originallythought it would be. It's really very creepy crouching around in the fog and hearing moans coming from zombies as they try to locate you.

Regarding the clock, there isn't a realtime clock like ICFTD unfortunately. You play a series of interlinked scenarios with different characters, and the "link navigator" screen shows how they are all related on a timeline. You can take as long as you want on a scenario, and the clock won't advance though, it's not realtime.

This game really is a new concept. I'm actually really seeing the potential of MGS3 without a radar now that I've played this. I still need a translation of the story though (only getting obvious points through watching the cutscenes at the moment). The English language ver should be amazing.

[saif]

I had no real interest for this game before but I saw the trailer just now on DVD and was well impressed (Project Zero looked very decent too btw).
The trailer was something I found rather freaky but clever. Having now read this thread, the trailer (in game stuff) is making sense and the game sounds very clever and suffciently different to grab me. BUT, I would probably buy it and then leave it on the (metaphorical) shelf. Too scaed to actually play it. d'oh

[Vaipon]

New IGN feature on SIREN is up, detailing gameplay and showing how the game system workswith screens and movies. Good read.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/440/440488p1.html

US release isn't gonna be until 2004 though. There *is* a hell of a lotof translation work to be done though, with reams of text for all the items and characters as well as the speech.

[Concept]

US release isn't gonna be until 2004 though. There *is* a hell of a lotof translation work to be done though, with reams of text for all the items and characters as well as the speech.

Oh dear. Why the hell can't they just leave the Japanese voice cast in? I'd prefer that to a most probable chessy American dub.

The game's set in Japan and it's already aimed at a niche audience. It'd make more sense to play to the game's strength in atmosphere by keeping it consistent and maintaining the original voice cast. I'm going to check that IGN report now. I hope there's news of Sony keeping a dual voice option in for a western release.

After witnessing the decimation of Fatal Frame's atmosphere thanks to horrific English voice acting, I can envisage if this game doesn't have mainstream economic appeal, chances are there probably won't be much attention paid to hiring a decent voice cast.

Can't wait.

[Vaipon]

Oh dear. Why the hell can't they just leave the Japanese voice cast in? I'd prefer that to a most probable chessy American dub.
Can't wait.

I totally agree with you, American voice actors would just be inappropriate for this game. Thinking about it though, I actually believe that they'll keep the Japanese voices. The IGN article mentions that the characters in the game are modelled to look and behave exactly like the actors providing the voices. It would seem that this has been done to make the game more realistic. Replacing the voices with English voices would destroy this likeness completely, as all the characters are quite obviously asian in appearance.

Even if they do leave the voices alone though, there is a mountain of text in this game, mostly making up the item screens and the various hints etc. Still a big translation job I reckon.