Obscure

"Shock, Horror !"

From the starting sequence of this game you can tell this game will be great. Obscure is all about the American teen horror movie genre. You play as 4 or 5 characters depending on how you play the game, meaning there is not just one path through the game.

The control system is OK but slightly confusing is which sometimes you get confused over which button is map and which is scroll through the map etc. Fighting is also a problem with the controls, meaning you shoot your partner whilst trying to target your enemy or whatever.

The AI is average in which your enemy's will guard themselves as they are not zombies, like Resi. The whole changing partners thing and main characters ability to die is a refreshing touch to this type of game. If your partner gets killed take their weapons and carry on fighting and if you get killed, if any other available partners are out there, you carry on playing as them!

Yes, there are weapons available ranging from a simple wooden baseball bat to a old pistol. The game intertwines perfectly, eg at one point you need to get a rusty chain off a lock, so before that you needed to pick up some paper cups and fill one with acid to melt the chain! Genius!

The Graphics in this game really put it into a league of its own, the visuals are bloody fantastic, from blood flying around when you shoot some demonic light fearing ball of a monster or a 7 foot tall thing or how about admiring the detail of the characters. Shannon wears the tiniest skirt ever just like a teen horror flick, there's a kinda geeky one - Josh but he doesn't look that much like a geek, there's a Jock who looks like a Jock and Teachers who actually look like the real thing.

The Sound's pretty good too, with echoed screams of anguish sounding through the school to the sound of an aluminium bat whacking a monster across the face. It all sound brilliant.

So why not 10/10 you ask your self ? Because this game lacks the crucial "X Factor that games like Resi and Metal Gear Solid posses, not because their horror games but they have a certain air about them that sadly Obscure doesn't yet possess.

Rent or Buy ? Depends on your ability to finish the game if you finish it fast and are happy with beating it once rent it. But if you play the game slower or don't spend a lot of time gaming buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/01/05