Siren

The sales clerk looks at my copy of Siren with diffidence.

“What the hell is this?”

I just shrug my shoulders and dummy up. No sense in getting an outsider involved. Back at home I open the package and leaf through the instruction booklet. “The man on the roof is watching you,” it says. And indeed, he is looking for me and if he sees me, I’m dead. I run across a bridge and shots ring out in the dark. Crouched next to a decrepit woodshed, I hear the bullets ricochet off to the right. I think I gave him the slip. I call out to Yoriko and more shots crack the night air as she follows my path across the bridge. Did she make it? After an interminable wait I hear footsteps behind me and her face emerges from the darkness. We’ve got to make it to the hospital. Ahead I can see a flashlight beam weaving drunkenly in the trees. We stumble through the forest, running toward the light. Getting closer we see a man hunched over, mumbling to himself. He hears us and whips around, shining the bright light into our eyes. It’s hard to see clearly but there is something very wrong with him. His hands are black and gnarled, like a burned corpse. Blood runs from his eye sockets. Then we see the scythe in his other hand but it’s too late. Game over.

“First use the light. Then the machine for the peeping person.” What the hell is this? I meet a strange woman. She is dressed like a nun but her god lives in the dark spaces between stars. She says to me; try to ignore the air raid sirens, remain very still and concentrate. The barriers between our minds become more permeable as the town of Hanuda slides deeper into the realm of the dead. Be patient. It’s like tuning in a far away station on the radio. Can you see what the shibito sees as he crawls through the wreckage of the town? Can you see through the dead man’s eyes? If you want, indulge in a little scopophilia. He doesn’t know you’re there yet. But don’t ever let him see you. If you see yourself in his eyes the only thing you can do is run.

I think I am beginning to understand. Siren is not a game that you play. It is a problem that you work on. An alchemical text to decipher or an alien artifact whose function is not clear. It may be a toy or it may be a weapon. The fact is, most people are not going to like Siren. It’s too hard. It’s too opaque. It asks too much. And what does it give in return? Nightmares, and possibly a heart condition. Those things and the glimmerings of a real experience, something that is all too rare in the world of video games. “Go to the bloody crossroad” but step quietly. Watch out for broken glass. No good. He sees you. Run.

directed by Keiichiro Toyama

Sony Playstation 2
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
2004

Review by J.B. Fleming written 7/14/04

Previously published in Cemetery Dance issue # 51, 2005. An expanded version can be found here.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica X

I played the original version of Code: Veronica on the Sega Dreamcast and liked it quite a bit. This time around I played the Sony Playstation 2 version called Code: Veronica X. I liked the game less the second go round but I must admit that it is still compulsively playable.

First things first; the differences between the Dreamcast and Playstation 2 versions are minimal. Visually, Code: Veronica X is slightly sharper but most people would not notice unless they were looking closely at the games side by side. Code: Veronica X also includes a few cut scenes that were not in the Dreamcast version but they add very little to the story and total up to maybe an additional five minutes. Steve’s hairstyle has been changed so that he no longer resembles Leonardo DiCaprio. That’s pretty much it for the differences. So, let’s look at the game.

Code: Veronica’s graphic presentation is excellent. Everything is rendered in real-time by rock-solid 3D polygons. The environment is detailed and realistic. Spooky lighting effects help set the ominous mood. Cut scenes are usually handled by the game engine and they look great. However, there are some scenes that are shown as pre-rendered cinemas that seem out of place sandwiched between the slick, real-time polygon scenes.

Also of note is the vocal talent. Previous Resident Evil games were notoriously famous for the poor quality of their voice acting. This time Capcom spent some money and did it right. Aside from an excess of Canadian accents the voice acting in Code: Veronica is very good. The sound design and music are also A-list. You’ll never forget the chilling sound of a zombie beating against a chain-link fence.

The controls are tight and responsive. However, the menu screens are confusing and awkward to navigate. I never could get used to the button layout on the Dreamcast and the Playstation 2’s button configuration is just as carpal tunnel syndrome inducing.

Code: Veronica is a game of inches. A survival horror convention is that the player’s resources are always limited. The director of Code: Veronica; Shinji Mikami has said in interviews that he tries to design the Resident Evil games so that the player is constantly on edge and desperate. The feeling of fear is heightened by limiting the amount of ammunition and recovery items so that the player never has quite enough to feel safe. It is a delicate balance to strike; make the game challenging but don’t let it become punishing. Code: Veronica walks that line well but can become exhausting after a while. Everything is in short supply in Code: Veronica. Ammo, First-Aid, the number of items that you can carry, even the number of times you can save the game are all severely constrained. Killing zombies in Code: Veronica can sometimes be an annoying distraction; robbing you of valuable time and resources. This forces you to plan your movements well in advance. A leads to B, which gives you access to C, but you will need an item from F, and you will need fight your way through J, K, and L to get it. The whole thing becomes at its heart a complex, three-dimensional puzzle. Everything has to be lined up and in its right place to succeed. There is a point in the latter half of Code: Veronica where I began to feel that I was actually playing a vast and bloody game of Tetris.

Sony Playstation 2
Capcom
2001

game review by Jeffrey Fleming, 2002