I love horror movies, but I've never really like the survival horror genre. However, how can anyone resist a game set in a supposedly vanished Japanese village in the mountains?!
The game's a remake/update of the PS2 title Forbidden Siren. The story's been reworked to include western characters and new gameplay elements have been added. The game's split into episodes much like a TV drama. Originally it was only available via the Playstation store but has since been released on Blu-ray disc, the option I went for.
The game takes place in Hanuda, a village that apparently vanished 30 years ago and it is rumoured that human sacrifices have taken place here. You play as a variety of characters trying to escape the Shibito, the creepy zombie-like inhabitants of the village.
At first I thought the story was a bit of a mess, but as you progress you gain items such as diaries and mobile phones which are added to your archive. You can view these at any time and slowly unfold the history of Hanuda for yourself. Some of these can be a challenge to find but fortunately you can repeat any part of the game to hunt them down.
The gameplay's a superb mixture of stealth and combat, with a few puzzles thrown in for good measure. The focus, however, seems to be on stealthily evading the Shibito as you often find yourself weaponless and severely outnumbered. The scariest parts for me were playing as Bella Monroe, a young girl who is unable to fight so has to run and hide from the beasties at all times. Probably the only downside was that when you actually had a decent weapon it was often easier to fight the Shibito than hide from them, removing some of the tension.
'Sightjacking' is a new feature to the remake, giving you the ability to see through the eyes of the Shibito but also reducing your peripheral vision so this needs to be used carefully. Being inside the head of the Shibito is really creepy, in one chapter of the game I spent a good few minutes just hiding in a cupboard and watching their routines which vary from the mundane (using the toilet, eating and watching TV) to downright disturbing (a young girl listening to pop music and erratically scribbling in her notebook.)
The character design is stunning, the cast of characters you play are believable and expressive, but it's the Shiboto themselves which really stand out. The inspiration for their appearance came from insects and this really seperates them from the generic Hollywood zombie, I loved the giant maggot Shiboto and Spider Shiboto's running across the walls. The motion capture was performed by dancers allowing for some very weird movements, especially when they're running towards you.
Visually the game is very atmospheric. The developers have gone for a grainy, unsaturated look throughout, reminiscent of video camera footage and emphasised by effects such as lens flare. The lighting effects are the best I've seen and as you often have to rely on just your flashlight, I found myself running from shadows on more than one occasion. The environment itself is very detailed, a lot of research and effort went into creating a recreation of an abandoned rural village.
One of the highlights for me was the sound in the game. The music is quite miminal and sparse leaving sound effects to fill in the gaps. During action sequences however, the music really comes alive, adding to the drama. The Shibito make some very strange noises and you can often hear them talking in a voice that definitely doesn't sound human.
Anyways, I'm hungry now so I'll rap up by saying that although it's a little shorter than most games I enjoy (12-15 hours) it is definitely my new favourite and well worth buying.
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