Siren: Blood Curse Review - IGN (2025)

Unlike traditional survival horror titles, Blood Curse doesn't follow a conventional plot structure from point A to B. Instead, Blood Curse, akin to the original Siren, changes back and forth between different characters, focusing on what their individual situation happens to be as they try to survive the streets and surroundings of Hanuda. For the most part, every one of the usable characters in the game has similar control mechanics, such as attacking with the Square button, crouching with the Circle button or being able to strafe by holding down the L1 button. Similarly, they can use the directional pad to turn a flashlight on or off by pressing up on the D-pad, yell to other characters by hitting right on the D-pad, or set flares or traps by hitting down on the D-pad.

However, perhaps the most important ability that the characters will have available to them is the ability to perform what's known as sight jacking, where you literally view the world from the viewpoint of either another human being or one of the monstrous villagers known as Shibito. By holding down L2, players go into a trance where they hone in on anyone in the immediate vicinity. By tapping L1 or R1, you can change from one to another, allowing you to see what they see and where they are. Even better, you can lock these perspectives in, assigning each one to a face button so you can quickly switch back and forth between them. This is particularly useful when you're in the middle of trying to sneak around specific areas and are trying to avoid being picked apart by the Shibito.

Speaking of chapters, gameplay within Blood Curse is broken into a mix of introductory sequences, gameplay chapters and cutscenes, all wrapped up with a trailer for the next episode. This is a great way to get a bite sized scare as you make your way through the complex and at times convoluted story, but it's a double-edged sword as far as the first episode pack is concerned. See, Episodes 1 and 2 are so unbelievably short, it almost makes you wonder whether the game is actually worth the gameplay. In particular, the first episode is one of the largest downloads of the 12 and yet is essentially more like a teaser. Players are introduced to the college student, Howard, who is forced to escape and eventually kill a monster that looks like a police officer. Essentially, the first episode teaches the basics of the game, including how to hide, pick up objects and weapons, and fight with combos and power strikes.

Episode 2 is significantly longer, and introduces players to a bunch of new characters. Sam, a professor, and his ex-wife, Melissa (who's the reporter for the news crew), actively search a mining facility for their little girl Bella, who's been lost during the confusion of the ceremony. Episode 2 also returns to Howard, who discovers a strange woman calling herself Amana, who attempts to take care of him while mentioning his "gift." While you discover that this relates to sight jacking, and even learn some of the basics of this ability (which will serve you extremely well throughout the title), you also discover the tedious nature of the game's escort missions, of which there are several. Unfortunately, during these sequences, your "wards" won't really lift a finger, even if they're being attacked, so you'll need to constantly keep an eye out for them so they don't get killed. This leads to a higher focus on combat in these earlier stages, making it seem as though the entire game is combat-based with chapters that can be completed in 15 minutes or less with the right tools.

It's only when you get into Episode 3 that you start to truly get a sense of the tension and suspense that SCE Studios Japan was looking for, which is the prominent feature with Siren. The title is designed to ramp up the anxiety and claustrophobia that you feel within this village, and Episode 3 starts to showcase this, brilliantly. Players start by taking over Bella, who's trapped in a derelict hospital infested by Shibito. What makes her chapter so terrifying is that because she's a young child, she's not able to defend herself against the monsters like the adults do. This demands a stealthier approach to every stage, as you have to sneak past Shibito as they patrol the hallways. This added focus on stealth extends the gameplay significantly, because speedily moving through stages will quickly get you killed.

Episode 3 also develops the gameplay much more, as players are presented with a lot more sub-goals and goals within a chapter. Fortunately, not every sub-goal needs to be accomplished, although it does help you succeed in your tasks. What's more, they aren't the simple "pick up item X and bash monster Y into ground" tasks. While the excellent segment of play with Bella is somewhat counterbalanced by another predictably boring escort mission, it does wind up highlighting that this title is much more complex than you might initially think. In fact, Episode 3 winds up overcoming the weaker elements of Episode 4, which lets you simply blast your way through a village and eventually break into a family's home to escape monsters.

Now, while the presentation for the first pack of episodes was an issue because it highlighted the brevity of each chapter, the smaller segments work perfectly for the second pack. Part of this is because the pacing of each gameplay chapter is substantially longer, including many more sub-goals that can be completed. The other part of this is that each act closes with surprising twists that propel the story into the next act, building upon the momentum of the previous installment to make the plot much more intriguing.

Episode 5 starts out within the hospital grounds, as Melissa keeps looking for Bella and eventually has to track Sam and Seigo, a mysterious doctor with a shotgun while avoiding Shibito that are scattered throughout its floors. What works so well with this is that, while you have a character that can defend herself, she's also attacked by a completely new kind of monster. As a result of its speed and mobility, players will tend to focus much more on stealth and resort to attacks as a matter of self-defense rather than as a viable tactic. It also hosts a surprise that is truly unexpected, although its repercussions ripple through some future episodes.

Episode 7 is essentially Howard's act, as he dominates the action with is multi-staged missions. In this stage, the student stumbles into a nest of Shibito, and has to try to either destroy, evade or drive away a large number of monsters. This is easier than it sounds, especially because you'll be climbing through a series of shacks, connected rooms, and alleyways, all of which are excellent areas for ambushes from lots of monsters. The 8th and final act casts you as the cameraman, Sol, for the first time. His section within the game is a rather interesting one, particularly because he'll split his time between himself and Sam, both of whom need to act to help each other escape from their locations. The chapter comes to a close with a return back to Melissa and Bella, who have to escape from the hospital once again with the Shibito close on their heels.

The third and final episode pack works rather well, with a great sense of pacing for the story. It may not have the same breakneck tempo as the previous four episodes, but the manipulation of the story threads feels just as cohesive and compelling, primarily the largest jumps and surprises are saved for these chapters.

Episode 9 picks up where episode 8 left off, with a chase sequence for Bella and Melissa. The sequence here isn't terribly difficult -- in fact, it's one of those segments where your skills up to this point give you a definite advantage in the game, but it's the resolution of the Bella and Melissa section that impacts the rest of the game, and has giant effects on the gameplay.

Episode 11, keeps up this theme by turning a number of older elements on their head, including finding and destroying the Shibito brains that control the other monsters. While this is a concept that players have become accustomed to in the previous episode pack, these monsters are a bit trickier to find, so both Seigo and Howard in their respective sections will have a harder time escaping the creatures following them. Both have an additionally tricky time because while Seigo has to deal with one of the larger Maggot Shibitos, Howard has to protect and escort Bella through the Shibito Nest, which is no easy feat. However, the section is handled rather well, keeping an offsetting tone that carries over to Episode 12. Here, to use the colloquial term, all hell breaks loose. Players will engage in one of the most disturbing chase sequences in the game with Sam (complete with another hair raising escape), a showdown against a number of beasts, and a final climactic battle against two opponents. While the fight sequence at the end isn't terribly difficult, the wrap up of the story is pretty good, and you feel somewhat glad for one of the characters, who goes through a lot in the game and eventually emerges as with a new role that they gladly take on.

That aside, the visuals of Blood Curse are truly incredible for a downloadable game. Shown in 720p, characters are large and distinct, and the monsters are quite disturbing. While watching the villagers running around with blood streaming from their eyes and ears is freaky enough, watching a flying Shibito with wings from its back and eye sockets is even weirder. Plus, if you're looking for a truly strange experience, you'll want to hit the R3 button and experience the game from first person view, which can raise goosebumps on your arms as you hope that the next corner doesn't have a monster waiting for you. That being said, there are some issues, such as some environments not looking particularly incredible, especially with a flashlight shown on them. Part of this is probably tied to the artifacting and pixilation that takes place during some cut-scenes, which could be a direct result of the downloadable episodes in place of a disc. Camera angles can frequently leave much to be desired, because the default one won't show as much of the surroundings, while the more pulled out option restricts the turning radius of the camera. The same can be said for the moments when you sight jack, because the screen will be split in half to show the other perspective, which can frequently cut off the location of an incoming threat. One other minor issue is the fact that the in-game mini-map reveals practically everything. It points out goals, sub-goals and other items that players will exploit. Instead of discovering where some of these things are, you always know, making it much easier to determine where the goal is so you can make a bee-line for that objective.