I am not a huge fan of survival-horror games. However, not one to shy away from quality titles, I will occasionally purchase software from the genre if it piques my interest.

“Siren: Blood Curse,” a Playstation 3 exclusive, is one such game that immediately grabbed my attention. I recently downloaded the demo to see if the game was worth more than just a quick glance.

Hit the jump for my impressions.

“Siren: Blood Curse” focuses on the spooky Japanese town of Hanuda, where players must avoid being slaughtered by the zombie-like enemies that inhabit the area.

According to PlayStation Universe:

The Survival Horror title takes place in the Japanese settlement of Hanuda, where a US TV crew are on location investigating the legend of the “Vanished Village”, which is said to have played host to human sacrifice 30 years ago.

Players will eventually “discover the horrific curse that haunts Hanuda”, and must battle against hordes of the living dead in an effort to rescue the survivors.

The developers make it quite clear that blood is one of the main motifs of the game (hence the title). For instance, the title screen features eerie music playing over a blood red screen (complete with droplets and ripples).

The demo features two short missions. Each one has a main goal. For instance, the goal in the first mission is to search for other survivors. However, along the way, you are given other objectives (goals and sub goals) to complete. These are relatively easy and consist of things like finding a weapon, busting the lock off of a door or avoiding an enemy.

The demo, like a lot of current-generation titles, features a limited and somewhat dull color palette. The few settings I saw made heavy use of three colors: gray, brown and black. This scheme is actually favorable as the use of bright, fluorescent colors would ruin the demo’s creepy atmosphere. Plus, the presence of the dull colors accentuates the red sky and red clothing worn by the characters. Therefore, the lack of variety actually works in the game’s favor.

The demo starts as your character, Sam Monroe, awakes in an unfamiliar location. The first thing you will probably notice is the extremely dark environment. For most of the demo, the only respite from the darkness is provided by Sam’s flashlight. In fact, it was so dark, that I completely passed a staircase (that was right next to me) and nearly barged right off a cliff.

After climbing the steps, you come into contact with the first Shibito (the zombie-like creatures). I don’t know if the enemies are actually zombies, but it was the only comparable creature I could think of.

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