Obscure

"A great game, destined to live up to its title..."

It's clearly an ironic title. This little game completely bypassed me, only recently discovering it languishing in the corner of a rentals shop. Loose change in my pocket, I decided to rent it out. Being the horror fan I am, it was an oppertunity to see if this game was worthy of an actual purchase. The case looked a little bland, the premise a little cheesy - but it was literally minutes into the game when it dawned on me... this game was good. Like, REALLY good!

The plot revolves around a group of American teenagers who get locked up in their school in the evening, searching for their friend who has gone missing... and, in homage to the U.S. Teen Horror Flicks this so shamelessly copies, it isn't long before the brown and smelly stuff hits the proverbial fan, and makes a nice little mess. The introductory scenario, before the logo hits home, really does genuinely peak the interest - almost exactly as you'd expect in any good horror film. Summing up the story concept simply, some experiment has gone horribly wrong (my Cliche-o-meter just blew up there!). And the teenagers get caught in the middle as the experiment starts to get out of control. Wacky, cliche at it's most blatant - but somehow, refreshingly different considering all the trips to Hell and encounters with the undead that we've had the past few years. The plot is deliciously simple, easy to grasp and is there to keep the game flowing, along with the stereotypical shock moments to reel you in. Sure, it's all cheesy, but ObsCure IS cheesy - it revels and basks in it's total, utter and ridiculously cheesy cliche-ness. And for that reason, the fact it really doesn't try to hide that reality from the player, is the reason the plot is so loveable.

Graphically and musically, though, is where the game really starts to stand out on its own in what is a very crowded market. Visually, this game is a real eye-opener. The cutscenes and gameplay flow very nicely together, and while not even in the leagues of Doom 3 and Resident Evil 4, ObsCure has a great visual style - simple, but very effective. And the same goes with the music, creepy choirs hitting in the right places, and ominous sound effects keeping you twitchy and on your toes. It all pieces together nicely, putting strong emphasis on light and doing the lighting very, VERY well to justify the relationship. The static-at-times-dynamic-at-others camera is sadly an inherant problem for this genre, but ObsCure does a really impressive job at trying to keep it all looking like a movie. It's not perfect, but it works, and that is what counts.

You could say that I'm hinting the game is simplistic, but I'm not. It's simple when it needs to be... but the core game mechanics really are something else. The "teammate command" thing harks to the likes of Resident Evil: Outbreak, assigning a different command to each D-Pad direction. The difference is, it works in ObsCure, and not in Outbreak. ObsCure really does do a spectacular job of the teammate situation - you can do the obvious stuff, like swap weapons, and the clearly needed stay/come commands. However, the other option is the "Help Me" command, and this really does make this game so much more fun to play. Each character has certain abilities - from telling you if you've missed anything in a room (Godsend!) to clues as to where to go next, and what to do. You'll do some wandering and exploring, but the "Help Me" command really puts a dramaticly sharper edge on the blade, and keeps things moving at a good pace. And since the characters know the school and the player doesn't, these clues actually do help and, surprisingly, don't ruin the game.

The creatures in ObsCure however, are limited. But they are very cool, and range from little freaky creature, to speedy infected students, and big pieces of meat which hit HARD. Minimalistic, but effective. The voice acting itself isn't bad either, and much better than some of the more recent efforts have been. The controls are nice and fluid, the atmosphere suitably creepy... ObsCure really doesn't do much wrong. It's only problems are the occassional glitch, some awkward fighting mechanics - yes, you CAN shoot your partner, which in a blind moment of panic as a mutant student runs towards you - well, isn't helpful. But the Boost Shot command goes some way to compensating for this (Yes, guns in an American school. Insert your own joke here please, too many for me to choose from). It's not all that long either, and while it's nice to play a few times, not a HUGE amount of replay value is hidden in this game.

When push comes to crunch however, ObsCure is one of the underrated and overlooked horror game gems of our time - it's so much FUN. It's got all the ingredients, and pulls the game off very nicely. Saving anywhere via discs is great, energy drinks (soon to be banned, says the in-game documentation. Ooh. Forbidden Drink... *drools*) and First Aid Kits heal damage (Well, D'UH!).

All ObsCure needed was marketing, I think. It's a success in what it wants to be - an accessible, wonderful excursion through typically corny American Teen Horror. It does things really well, does not feel or get too dull, and is just generally a really good game.

It's just a great pity that the irony of it all is, that the game will live up to its title. ObsCure by name, and obscure to the market. It really does deserve so much better... but I guess that is the way it goes, eh?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/18/05