Siren Blood Curse

Developer: Sony Entertainment Japan
Publisher: Sony
Released (UK): Dec '07
Released (US): Nov '07

May Contain Spoilers. Siren Blood Curse is the latest instalment of the Forbidden Siren franchise and was released in Europe, Japan (where it was called New Translation rather than Blood Curse) and the US.
The game is a complete remake of the original game but with some adjustments. There is a whole new cast of characters, one reoccurrence and most of the environments have been changed although some have just been tweaked.

The story is based around an American film crew who have come to Hanuda to investigate a local cult and the sacrificial rituals the cult committed thirty years prior.

True to Forbidden Siren form, the story line is a confusing one. I cannot remember if the original had a time line situation but Blood Curse does. The game's time line is back and forth between 1976 and 2007 and times can even join together. The best example is the opening scene...The TV crew are in 2007 but they are witnessing a ritual which took place in 1976 and characters from both time periods can be seen in the same mission. Siren_Hill, a member of the US Playstation forum has done a nice thread on the time line which makes more sense [Here]

The cast in this game are mostly American, except from two from the local area of Handuda Village, Japan.

Howard Wright is travelling across Japan and has found himself stranded in Hanuda after his motorcycle broke down (His blog - http://hw-biker.blog-paradise.com/e/index.html confirms this) but why was he in the deserted village of Hanuda anyway?
We first see him in the opening scene when he stops a religious group half way through performing a ritual. One girl has already been stabbed and he manages to cause a distraction so a second girl can run away.
Howard is the main character in this game and the character we play as the most. His character is of course similar to the role of Kyoya Suda in the original.

Sam Monroe is a College Professor and Folklore expert who is in Hanuda to act as a consultant for a TV show that is being filmed on the rituals that happen there.
His character is based on Tamon Takeuchi from the original game because he is the guy who figures out what has been happening in Hanuda and how to stop it.
Sams part in this game is slightly confusing because there are two versions of him. One is the Sam Monroe who is new to Hanuda and the other is the older Sam, who knows exactly what to do to stop the games events from happening again.

Melissa Gale is a Television presenter who has come to Hanuda to get footage for her show called 'Encounters'. She is the ex-wife of Sam Monroe and was unaware that her ex-husband was going to be the consultant for the show.
Her role is similar to the roles of Reiko Takato and Naoko Mihama from the original game.
She is very protective of her daughter and spends most of the game trying to save her from the wandering shibito walking around. She is eventually sacrifices herself whilst blowing up a maggot shibito in order to save her daughter.

Seigo Saiga is one of the characters local to the area and is one of two of the non-American member of the cast. Seigo is a member of the cult (like Jun Kajiro in the original) and is the guy seen stabbing the girl in the opening scene (notice the white shoes). He is one of the characters stuck in 1976 and relives the time again and again despite killing himself halfway through the game.
He is also a doctor at the local hospital (Shiro Miyata in the original) and always carries a gun (like Akira Shimura in the original).
As a human he is of no threat to anyone, befriending and helping Sam in one mission but as a Shibito, tries to stop Howard from performing his task of finishing off Kaiko, the cults god.

Bella Monroe is the daughter of Sam Monroe and Melissa Gale. She has come to Hanuda with Sam who couldn't find a baby-sitter in time for the trip. She finds herself in the care of Sol after the TV crew were separated. Bella spends most of the game by herself and we first find her hiding in the hospital after Sol promises to come find her.
Bella is the only character who doesn't hold a weapon and cannot attempt to fight the shibitos she comes across. Like Harumi Yomoda in the original game she will cower when too close to a Shibito so stealth is necessary.
She is also similar to Tomoko Maeda who in the original game turned into a Shibito herself.

Amana is also a member of the cult of Hanuda. We first see Amana in one of Howards mission where she finds him recovering from a gunshot wound. She promises to help him escape but they part ways after Amana is flown away by a Shibito.
We play as Amana only once where she tries to recall the memories she lost before the events of the game. Amana's character is similar to Hisako Yao in the original game because she is the one who is trying to bring back Kaiko.
Like Sam, Amana has another version wandering the village [Major Spoiler Here]: Amana is Bella, grown up. This means that Bella joins Sam and Howard as the only characters live through the events of the game.

Sol Jackson is the camera man for 'Encounters' and is a friend of Melissa. An archive item, which shows a film script written by Sol shows that he is in love with his friend and colleague.
Sol dies pretty early on in the game and although his death isn't shown, we can gather he was killed by a Shibito whilst he tried to distract it away from Bella. Sol can be found everywhere as a Shibito, especially if Bella or Melissa are around. His character is similar to the role of Yoriko Anno in the original game seeing that he is in love with one of the more leading characters (Anno took a fancy to Tamon Takeuchi in the original).

Miyako Kajiro (her surname isn't used in BC) is the second of the Japanese characters and is the same Miyako from the original with one difference. She can see in Blood Curse so isn't as clingy as in the first one. You never play as Miyako making her the only non-playable character.
Miyako is the sidekick to Howard for most of the game but is kidnapped by Amana in order to be sacrificed for Kaiko's revival.
The 'Fruit' which is mentioned throughout the game, is Miyako's blood which she gave to Howard after he was shot by Melissa (who had mistaken him for a Shibito).
Even after being sacrificed for Kaiko, she helps Howard to defeat it by showing his whereabouts.

Shibito make an excellent comeback and look better than ever. The same Shibito types are in Blood Curse although a new Shibito has been created for Blood Curse.
You have the regular Shibito which look and act as normal human beings, the Spider Shibito, the Moth Sbibito, the Brain Shibito and the new Maggot Shibito.



Human shibito (above) act just like normal people, carrying on with their daily lives as if they were still alive. They follow a routine just as they do in the original, patrolling the same areas making them easy to predict. They're pretty easy to defeat despite the fact that most of them carry a weapon of some kind. You can just sneak up behind them and impale them with one weapon or another or you can just hide in a closet until they go away.

The Spider Shibito (left) walk on all fours in a yoga, crab-like position which looks quite painful. They are more on guard and will spend time in one spot looking out for any intruders. They can be hard to spot too because they can walk on walls an on ceilings. They do have some limits though because they can't climb ladders and they can't open doors so they're easy to trap. They are quite fast when they see you and can jump on you from quite a distance so watch you're back carefully.

Moth Shibito (below) are Shibito with wings, so they can fly. They hide in bushes and in shadows so they can come out at you from anywhere. They will not hesitate to sweep down and grab you dropping you when high in the air. Some Moth Shbito carry guns so they can shoot you from afar making it harder for you to kill them before they kill you.
In all fairness, they are very seldom around so don't get in your way too much.



The Maggot Shibito is a new form of Shibito to Blood Curse but they aren't common and they sometimes act as a mini boss in the levels where they appear. They are the biggest form of Shibito and look like Maggots but with long arms. They are also in control of the Moth Shibito's meaning that once the Maggot is down, all the Moths go down with it. They're quite vicious and will throw things at you so you really nee to keep your distance and kill them using some kind of trap. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of them.

The Brain Shibito has also returned from the original game but the designers have done massive improvements to their appearance. Each Brain shibito looks different unlike in the first game where they all looked the same. Brain Shibito are your best bet of a scare in this game because they look that disgusting. The Brain Shibitos are much more shy then their maggot counterparts because they run away from you when they see you coming.
There are many Brain Shibito about so I'll go through each one. (I've named them myself because they have no official names - well one does)


Patient Brain (above) - Is seen in the Hospital when playing as Melissa Gale. It a large, black tumour-looking blob that is pushed around in a wheel chair by a Human Shibito nurse. It can't run away like the others because it has no legs but it is protected by the Nurse who will come running at you when she sees you - Knock her down first then you can attack the Brain. Easy isn’t it?

Headless Brain (below) - This Brain is located in the mines when playing as Howard Wright. This has tentacle things coming from its neck where a head would usually be. These tentacles grab onto the ceiling but this brain doesn't move. However, its position changes each time you play the level. This Brain startled me the first time I saw it because it looked violent, in fact it just stays there and lets you whack it to death.


Bee Brain - This is the Brain Shibito at the Shibito Nest when playing as Howard Wright. It looks like a Male Human Shibito but it has a head that is an oversized Bee. This guy is fast and wanders around in the pitch black making him hard to see so you have to trap him (with an animal trap) or cut him off. If you can catch a glimpse of him as the lightning goes off, the effect quite be quite surprising if you run into him unexpectedly.

Yukie (Nurse Brain, right) - Again, it's Howard that comes across this Brain, in the Mines. Yukie plays a small part in the story line because she's close, and I mean very close to Seigo Saigo (think of Mina Onda from the original game). She looks human but has some slug like things draping off of her face and like the Bee Brain, she is very fast and has a huge area to hide in. I remember having a hard time bringing Yukie down - get a sniper gun an you should get her quite easily.


The Sight-Jack has been changed in two ways although one of them is quite the annoyance. The Sight-Jack mode now allows the character to move whilst keeping tabs on a specific Shibito. The screen splits whenever you do this so half of it shows where your character is and the other half shows the view of the Shibito. Good Luck if you have a small TV screen because it's hard to see where you're going when this happens, especially if it's dark.
In the previous games, if a Shibito catch sight of you, the screen would flash re to show you what direction it was coming from. In this game, the screen splits again and will stay, showing you where the Shibito is coming from, until you press R2 to get rid of it. These are very annoying because they are uninvited by the player so they get in the way.

The archive item has returned with 50 items to collect as well as 50 different weapons to find. Some of the archive items are really interesting and give more information and background history of the characters. Sol's ID sheds light to a secret crush on Melissa, A tape can be found with an episode of 'Encounters' on it and Howard's mobile phone has a message on it from a friend. If you bought the game from PSN, there is an option to save some items onto your hard drive. One archive item seems to be an MP3 player and you can download the end music from Siren 1 and Howard’s phone has some pictures on it which can be downloaded. Some of them are quite nice too, if you like Japanese Landscape.

Forbidden Siren always had mixed reactions with the acting, especially the voice over’s, but with an American cast this isn't a problem with Blood Curse. The characters are played by proper actors just as in the first too games although it's not as obvious in this games graphics since it's for a next-gen console with next-gen graphics.
The environments look really good on this game although some areas are too dark to see at times but as a Survival Horror, you would expect it to be dark. The house is especially good, especially when you get into the living room which is very detailed.

The environments have changed in appearance, although some have stayed the same.
You have the Fields (below) where the church is located. The church's location has changed but apart from that, the area looks the same.


The Mines have returned but look completely different to the mines in Forbidden Siren 1 and are maze like in appearance because it has many levels with blocked stairways and elevators.
The house is also here and looks way better than in the original although the layout has stayed exactly the same.
The Hospital has changed, and looks more like it belongs in a Horror Game. It has changed in appearance and has a bit more blood in it as you can see in the picture below.
The shopping area from the original (where the restaurant is) has also changed in appearance and for some reason, is flooded. The picture of the Human Shibito's that is in the Shibito section are seen in this area if you want to know.
The Nest has to be back because it's very important to the story line and it's in much more detail, with items such as fans knocked over and broken plates all over the floors.


The school has gone and the area where Harumi manages to escape in the original game is not here either. Some other areas whose name's I cannot remember have also gone - The level where you had to hear Harumi's message from the tower and the level where you first play as Shiryo Miyato aren't here either.

The problems that the original had have all been erased. Checkpoints are more frequent, the characters are stronger taking more damage and archive items stay in the archive once it's been collected. These problems of course were all dealt with in Forbidden Siren 2 but if you're American, you wouldn't know about them.
The maps are another improvement for the series. You can view the map down from the top by which I mean in a Birdseye view or you can view the map in 3D, which shows each level at the same time. The map also locates where you have to go in order to fulfil your objective which makes the game easier.

Overall the game is fantastic and definitely improves on the original game. For me, the storyline wasn't changed enough to make sense to me so Forbidden Siren 2 has managed to beat it on that respect which means Blood Curse cannot score as highly that. Close but I'll give it...

9.5/10

All pictures have been taken from the Japanese Website which can be found HERE.