10 Insanely Cool Video Game Mechanics You Forgot About

Siren: Blood Curse is one of the most criminally underrated survival-horror games of the 2000s.

A retelling of the original 2003 Siren game, Blood Curse follows a group of characters who get entangled in the spooky goings-on of a Japanese mountain village that’s become overrun with frightening monsters known as Shibito.

While players can use a selection of weapons to fight back against the nightmarish beings inhabiting the village, the game puts a greater emphasis on stealth. Getting passed groups of enemies is often the only way to make it out of situations alive. To help players in their endeavours, Blood Curse deploys an ingenious “sight-jacking” mechanic which enables them to see what a nearby enemy sees, displaying their POV in split-screen.

Tapping into an enemy’s vision is a useful tool to help players slip by undetected. However, the tension can escalate quickly when realising that an enemy is heading directly towards the player's hiding place. In another inventive twist, this mechanic is deployed as a warning to let them players know that an enemy has spotted them, giving them just enough time to get out the way.

Coupled with a genuinely enthralling plot, this mechanic made Blood Curse a uniquely terrifying experience.