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> Results: ObsCure
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Something very strange is happening at Leafmore High. Following a string of mysterious disappearances and unexplained events, five students decide to spend the night at their school to face whomever, or rather, whatever, is responsible.
Such is the premise behind Obscure, a value-priced adventure that can best be described as Evil Dead meets television's The O.C. The result is a decent interactive horror movie with a few unique gameplay elements. The story begins with Kenny, an athlete who has his gym bag swiped while he's in a locker room after school. He chases this peculiar figure behind the school and into a creepy building with underground caverns. Of course, none of the students noticed this before, right? Here, Kenny meets up with a missing student and together they must solve puzzles and battle some hellish creatures using found weapons and a flashlight. The next scene introduces other teens holed up inside a cafeteria, including the tough Ashley, a curious reporter, Josh, and a slacker, Stanley, who is adept at picking locks. By taking advantage of each of their unique abilities, characters can work together to fight nasty creatures and solve puzzles. These include deciphering notes and maps, or unscrewing wall vents to climb out of a locked library. Gamers can change characters at any time or give commands to teammates such as "stay put," "follow me" or "swap weapons." Tapping a button brings up relevant documents, inventory (tools, keys, first-aid kits), a map of the school, character bios and more.  An interesting addition to the single-player style is a cooperative option for a second player to join on the same television (or computer). This can take place at any time throughout the adventure. The camera remains focused on one of the two characters, so a small arrow points in the direction of the second one in case they step off-screen. Tapping the F key in the PC version will focus the camera at the alternate player. This shared camera technique works for the most part but takes some getting used to. Another interesting element is the use of light. Not only do flashlights add to the creepy atmosphere and are used to locate objects in dark rooms, but they must be shone at certain creatures to remove their dark halos before they can become vulnerable to weapons. The PC version of the game can be tricky to control with the keyboard, so it's best to use a programmable gamepad to map keys to specific buttons. At least players can save the game at any time, providing you have spare computer disks, which are littered throughout the school premises. Visually, the game is relatively impressive, especially for a budget title. The cut-scene sequences are plentiful and are properly scary. The music, performed by popular alternative rock bands Sum 41 and Span, adds to the movie-like presentation. At about six or seven hours on normal difficulty, this isn't a long game. But it's an intense one that successfully combines action sequences as you scramble to defeat the baddies, slower-paced problem-solving while scouring the environment for clues, and characters working together for a common goal. Players who complete the game can unlock bonus content such as an ultra-hard mode, extra weapons and costumes, a making-of movie, a trailer to the game, access to the soundtrack, and more. 
Obscure has the same kid-friendly issues as other survival horror games, notably the Resident Evil franchise. The wrinkle with Obscure is that story takes place in a high school, making the target audience (ESRB rating aside) ostensibly teenagers. The monsters the students fight are not religious or occult based, but are instead a bizarre mix of plant and animal life. The horror in this game includes transformations of sickly teenagers into grotesque, Lovecraftian creaturesﾗall of which attack the characters and require killingﾗand smaller creatures akin to dogs which like to chomp on available humans and need dispatching as well. The game's creatures expire in pools of their own blood, though both the corpses and the blood disappear after a short time. Violence is not restricted to the monsters, as the main characters (all students) can also die in this game, with the death of at least one character a near certainty due to game mechanics.
From a characterization standpoint, males and females alike in this game are stereotypes of teenage life (e.g. the athlete, the cheerleader, the geek, etc.). The females wear skimpy clothing, but aside from some minor innuendo, the sexuality from both genders is kept to a minimum. There are also a few instances of foul language which are tame by adult standards. The gameplay is a mixture of straightforward puzzles and arcade action, where resource management (in the form of conserving ammunition) becomes vitally important at higher levels of difficulty. Thankfully, Obscure offers several difficulty levels and the "easy" setting has enough save-points and resources to allow a first-time teenager the ability to complete the game with a minimum of frustration. As an additional play option the multiplayer portion of the game allows two players to fight the monsters side-by-side and works well as a kid-adult pairing with either being able to take the lead-role when desired. In conclusion, though the game does indeed have blood, violence and minor foul language, it contains nothing that a modern horror film doesn't, and any teenager that can comfortably watch (or enjoy) today's horror films will have no problem with the subject matter or graphic nature of Obscure. Kid Factor by John Pollock Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: ObsCure |
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