I remember playing the original Siren on PS2 when it came out. I also remember, after about 6 hours, asking myself, "what the hell am I playing?" It was a jumbled mess of a game that was part survival-horror and part Metal Gear: Dear God, Please Kill Me. The story structure was laid out in a confusing timeline, played out-of-order, causing you to have to go back and replay sections to find an alternate path so you could progress further in the game. At first it sounds kind of interesting, until you find yourself caught in a wrinkle in time and playing in a circle of frustration for hours. I eventually had to give up for fear of stroking out and/or strangling myself with the DualShock. Apparently Siren 2, which never saw a US release, was a much better game due to the developers fixing a lot of the stupid from the original and making it playable. This is why I'm looking forward to the downloadable PSN title.

Siren: Blood Curse is a remake of the original game, by the original developers. The story involves an American film crew -- replacing the original's cast of Japanese characters -- who are investigating the legend of the vanishing village, Hanuda. The development of the game is said to further improve upon what the team did with Siren 2 in making it less suicidal for the player.

The game will be available today in 3 packs of 4 episodes, priced at $14.99 each or $39.99 for the whole kit and kaboodle. There's been no word of a retail release for the US -- Japan gets to chew on one in the near future -- so if you're a physical media whore such as myself, you may want to hold off a bit or throw money at an import shop. In the meantime, you can download the creepy but short demo from PSN, which definitely plays better than the original PS2 game, but doesn't let you know if you're playing a merry-go-round.

[via Playstation.Blog]