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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action/Adventure Developer: Hydravision Publisher: Playlogic |
When the original “Obscure” game hit store shelves in 2005, it introduced gamers to a brand new take on the survival horror genre with
cooperative play. Although the game had mixed reviews, the co-op theme was worth the praise and was carried over to the sequel,
“Obscure: The Aftermath” which was brought to a variety of different gaming systems. The mix of cooperative play and survival horror is
still enjoyable, environments were executed wonderfully and the music added a chilling level to the game.
Now, more than a year after the original release of the game, “Obscure: The Aftermath” is making its way to the PSP. A fairly straight
forward port of its console predecessors, the game on the PSP once again follows a group of college students whose campus is
overrun by a vast number of monster and mutants thanks to a sinister dark flower that appeared around the school. Unfortunately, the
PSP version of the game is a member of a much different gaming landscape than the launch environment of it predecessors. After
playing other games of this type, like “Dead Space” and “Resident Evil 5,” most players’ expectations for the survival horror, and
especially the cooperative survival horror, genre have been raised quite considerably. Regardless of the platform, “Obscure: The
Aftermath” doesn’t quite feel as special as it did when it was first released.
The main point of the game is for players to guide two characters, from a group of roughly six, through various narrow environments
filled with a variety of enemies. Each character has a particular skill that he or she is very good at, such as moving heavy object of being
acrobatic. Like most survival horror games, “Obscure: The Aftermath” combines basic exploration with a nice dose of puzzle solving,
item collecting and some battling.
The controls for the game have been changed over nicely for the PSP, with movement mapped to the analog nub and the camera is
controlled with the D-pad. Players are able to pull out their assigned weapons by holding down the L trigger and hitting the
corresponding face button, and they are able to use those weapons by holding down the R trigger and hitting the X button. This is all
fairly standard and the lack of a dual analog setup doesn’t hurt the game’s controls.
While playing through the game alone, players will need to switch between characters constantly in order to properly solve puzzles or
clear the way for the other characters. For example, at the beginning of the game players must use the acrobatic character to jump up
onto a ledge and then use them to pull his girlfriend up after she is suddenly attacked by one of the many nasty looking monsters that
appear throughout the game.
“Obscure: The Aftermath” is a very strange mix of some extremely scary moments with some of the craziest nonsense they will ever
experience. At first glance it may seem as though the game is purposely trying to mock the infamous teen horror movie genre that it
resembles so well, but there isn’t very much that is done to capitalize on this dynamic and the game just ends up losing its edge in the
end.
The very unusual balance between the game’s serious horror and the sometimes awkward horror is made even more curious when
players take a look at the game’s audio. On one hand, the soundtrack, as was the case with the other versions of the game, is
extremely creepy and beautiful at the same time. The music is filled with the strings, beats and choirs that one would expect to hear in a
horror film. “Obscure: The Aftermath” actually has a great musical score, which is one of the many highlights of the game. On the other
hand, the game has some of the corniest voice acting to be heard in a game for a long time, which is obviously done intentionally.
Of course the game has some flaws and unfortunately they extend into the game play. AT times players will notice that there are some
odd load times throughout the game when the PSP is trying to catch up in order for the player to interact with a certain object or while
going into a cut scene. For a horror game, this can interrupt the overall experience and spoil the mood that is set. This problem is
intensified when a second player is introduced into the game. A second player can drop in and out of the game at anytime, preserving
the game’s focus on cooperative game play. While everything runs very smoothly during the game, picking up an item or opening a
menu can be a little bit slower with two people viewing the interface than when players are playing alone.
The game play of “Obscure: The Aftermath” is fun to play with a friend, but the PSP version of the game runs into some problems that its
console predecessors didn’t. The game loads awkwardly and can hurt the overall pace of the experience. However, at the same time,
the PSP benefits from the multiplayer which allows both players to move around without screen constraints.
When “Obscure: The Aftermath” was first released on the consoles, it didn’t have the same landscape that the PSP version of the game
finds itself in. When players consider the competitive environment and along with the awful voice acting and awkward plotline, even the
creepy environments and haunting soundtrack can’t help the game stay afloat. This is still a fun to play around with, especially if
players and their friends enjoy survival horror titles, but it is easier to recommend other co-op games over this one.
cooperative play. Although the game had mixed reviews, the co-op theme was worth the praise and was carried over to the sequel,
“Obscure: The Aftermath” which was brought to a variety of different gaming systems. The mix of cooperative play and survival horror is
still enjoyable, environments were executed wonderfully and the music added a chilling level to the game.
Now, more than a year after the original release of the game, “Obscure: The Aftermath” is making its way to the PSP. A fairly straight
forward port of its console predecessors, the game on the PSP once again follows a group of college students whose campus is
overrun by a vast number of monster and mutants thanks to a sinister dark flower that appeared around the school. Unfortunately, the
PSP version of the game is a member of a much different gaming landscape than the launch environment of it predecessors. After
playing other games of this type, like “Dead Space” and “Resident Evil 5,” most players’ expectations for the survival horror, and
especially the cooperative survival horror, genre have been raised quite considerably. Regardless of the platform, “Obscure: The
Aftermath” doesn’t quite feel as special as it did when it was first released.
The main point of the game is for players to guide two characters, from a group of roughly six, through various narrow environments
filled with a variety of enemies. Each character has a particular skill that he or she is very good at, such as moving heavy object of being
acrobatic. Like most survival horror games, “Obscure: The Aftermath” combines basic exploration with a nice dose of puzzle solving,
item collecting and some battling.
The controls for the game have been changed over nicely for the PSP, with movement mapped to the analog nub and the camera is
controlled with the D-pad. Players are able to pull out their assigned weapons by holding down the L trigger and hitting the
corresponding face button, and they are able to use those weapons by holding down the R trigger and hitting the X button. This is all
fairly standard and the lack of a dual analog setup doesn’t hurt the game’s controls.
While playing through the game alone, players will need to switch between characters constantly in order to properly solve puzzles or
clear the way for the other characters. For example, at the beginning of the game players must use the acrobatic character to jump up
onto a ledge and then use them to pull his girlfriend up after she is suddenly attacked by one of the many nasty looking monsters that
appear throughout the game.
“Obscure: The Aftermath” is a very strange mix of some extremely scary moments with some of the craziest nonsense they will ever
experience. At first glance it may seem as though the game is purposely trying to mock the infamous teen horror movie genre that it
resembles so well, but there isn’t very much that is done to capitalize on this dynamic and the game just ends up losing its edge in the
end.
The very unusual balance between the game’s serious horror and the sometimes awkward horror is made even more curious when
players take a look at the game’s audio. On one hand, the soundtrack, as was the case with the other versions of the game, is
extremely creepy and beautiful at the same time. The music is filled with the strings, beats and choirs that one would expect to hear in a
horror film. “Obscure: The Aftermath” actually has a great musical score, which is one of the many highlights of the game. On the other
hand, the game has some of the corniest voice acting to be heard in a game for a long time, which is obviously done intentionally.
Of course the game has some flaws and unfortunately they extend into the game play. AT times players will notice that there are some
odd load times throughout the game when the PSP is trying to catch up in order for the player to interact with a certain object or while
going into a cut scene. For a horror game, this can interrupt the overall experience and spoil the mood that is set. This problem is
intensified when a second player is introduced into the game. A second player can drop in and out of the game at anytime, preserving
the game’s focus on cooperative game play. While everything runs very smoothly during the game, picking up an item or opening a
menu can be a little bit slower with two people viewing the interface than when players are playing alone.
The game play of “Obscure: The Aftermath” is fun to play with a friend, but the PSP version of the game runs into some problems that its
console predecessors didn’t. The game loads awkwardly and can hurt the overall pace of the experience. However, at the same time,
the PSP benefits from the multiplayer which allows both players to move around without screen constraints.
When “Obscure: The Aftermath” was first released on the consoles, it didn’t have the same landscape that the PSP version of the game
finds itself in. When players consider the competitive environment and along with the awful voice acting and awkward plotline, even the
creepy environments and haunting soundtrack can’t help the game stay afloat. This is still a fun to play around with, especially if
players and their friends enjoy survival horror titles, but it is easier to recommend other co-op games over this one.
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