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| Since the original Forbidden Siren's release the game has garnered enough of a following to sire both a sequel and a celluloid outing - Sairen - which received a Japanese release in February. And it's not hard to see why. With its brooding sense of fear (it was, after all, helmed by the director of the original Silent Hill), disturbingly realistic visuals and unique gameplay in the form of sight-jacking, Sony's first survival horror would have creeped players out in high style, were it not for clunky controls, a ridiculously high difficulty level and amateur night voice acting. I concluded my review of the original with the rather optimistic: "Survival horror nuts after something a bit different will find plenty to enjoy, especially if you're after a game that drips Japanese cool. "If they can clean up the controls, improve the sight-jacking and ditch the RADA cast, there's potential by the bucket load here." Sadly, the sequel, while definitely an improvement, treads the same grisly ground as its forebear, warts and all. FORBIDDEN SIREN 2 Format: PlayStation 2 Graphics: 8 Sound: 6 Gameplay: 7 Enduring appeal: 7 Overall: 7 Almost 30 years ago the inhabitants of Yamijama mysteriously disappeared; and as the bowel-emptying shrill of a warning siren deafens the island, an eclectic cast of characters find themselves fighting for survival against the Shibito (living dead) and the Yamibito (people of the dark), who react to light in opposite ways. Turn on your torch to attack the Yamibito and the Shibito will come a-running; well, a-shambling. The combination of stealth and survival-horror still frustrates with its heady difficulty level and clumsy controls, while the stop-start, episodic nature of the game cripples the pacing with its heavy reliance on cut-scenes (not aided by the fact they tend to give my five year-old PS2 something akin to a stroke). Yet there are notable improvements over the original. With more emphasis on weapons and less sight-jacking, which complicated an already convoluted experience, there's definitely more fun to be had this time. There's no denying it's an effective and unmistakably Asian slice of horror storytelling, as the various adventures of this disparate band of survivors intertwine like some blood-splattered version of film Magnolia. It' s also a fantastic looking game that wrings every last drop of grunt from the PS2 in its twilight years. But on the sound side the game is once again let down by the voice acting. I'll say it again - the original Japanese language with subtitles would be infinitely preferable to these home county hams. Horror survivalists who prefer the molar-shredding psycho-terror of Silent Hill over the zombie busting pyrotechnics of Resident Evil may find plenty to love here. However, if blasting the undead of Raccoon City is your idea of a satisfying scare-fest then Forbidden Siren 2 will likely frustrate more than frighten. Still, this is the most ambitious survival horror you will play this year in a slowly improving franchise that has cult written all over it. VOTE What do you think of Forbidden Siren 2? Hit Miss Maybe Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion Story from BBC NEWS: |