Obscure (PC) - Video Game Review

*Some readers don't like to game, or prefer to watch others play games instead. Due to this, I've decided to add a Recommended Let's Play Section for certain games I review. This will enable those that don't have the game to watch how the game actually plays, as well as those that are interested in possibly buying the game to get a preview of how it looks.

I've been in a bit of a video game rut lately so my gaming reviews have seen a bit of a slowdown. By pure happenstance, I discovered this one via a YouTube recommendation and thought it might be worth a try. It seems like a lot of gamers share a nostalgia for the old 8-bit days of Nintendo, but my rose-tinted glasses have always favored the early 2000's. With that said, this one really intrigued me and the thought of it having an add-on multiplayer made me curious enough to check it out. 

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Where You Can Find It: I bought this one on Steam for PC, where the sequel is also available.

General Information
Obscure is a survival-horror game that was developed by Hydravision Entertainment. It was released across multiple console platforms on 1 October 2004 (in Europe) and 6 April 2005 (in North America). Although it is a primarily single-player game, it has enabled two-player co-op play enabled. A sequel, Obscure II, was made in 2007, and further games were planned however Hydravision closed before this could happen. In 2016, Obscure was re-released to Steam with slight updates, however the licensed music was removed due to the game's licensing contract with some of the signed performers. I'm really glad that this approach was made to the game, as other games like Alpha Protocol and Alan Wake have been lost to time due to music licensing issues. Generally speaking, Obscure received slightly above-average reviews and holds a 63% Metascore on Metacritic.

The Story
Leafmore High School has been plagued with the disappearance of its students for decades and somehow avoided closure. Five students quickly find themselves immersed in the grand conspiracy behind these disappearances and must survive the night while avoiding the nocturnal monsters that roam the school's halls. Their struggle will lead to the revelation of secrets that have gestated on the school campus for lifetimes.

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Okay, I'm pretty sure tomorrow's quiz answers are next to the principal's box of shotgun shells...

Survival-horror in video games has arguably never been a good home for stellar story-telling, and Obscure certainly falls along the same lines as its predecessors like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. This doesn't make it a bad game necessarily, but I found the overall plot of Obscure to be entirely forgettable with protagonists that are generally more akin to caricatures than actual people. None of the protagonists see any kind of arc, while the antagonist is barely seen and has little to contribute beyond being a threat. Considering the game allows players to play as other protagonists if one of the characters die, I had thought that this would mean there would be different endings that add a level of uniqueness to each playthrough. Unfortunately, the ending is quite abrupt and relatively unsatisfying, which left me somewhat disappointed by the time I finished the game.

The Gameplay
The game plays very similar to the Silent Hill franchise, while retaining an inventory system reminiscent of the Metal Gear Solid series (I wonder if Hydravision were big Konami fans). Players will eventually be able to choose to play as one of five main characters with an optional AI partner joining them as back-up. A second player can fill the shoes of the AI partner, which is highly recommended for this game as the AI partner is not very bright. On more than one occasion, my AI partner decided to stay behind and die against enemies I was running from. I was happy that the inventory systems between characters all pool (with the exception of weapons), so I didn't have to spend tons of time managing everyone's individual ammunition. Despite that, the AI partner is typically very reluctant to shoot much of anything, so I never worried about them running out of ammo.

An aspect of the game I really enjoyed was the use of lighting as a weapon. Most of the enemies exude a dark aura that provides them shielding against your attacks, and also hurts your character at the same time. Equipping a flashlight destroys this barrier and also partially harms enemies, however this requires you to hold the "boost" action when using a flashlight. Boosting becomes a bit problematic in more intense situations as there are times that enemies are on you as soon as you enter a room (the light takes a bit of time to work its full effect). For controller users, boosting was even more of a pain as it requires the player to hold down the right analog stick while also firing with the X/A button (dependent on what controller you're using), which is kind of difficult to pull off.

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Looks like someone forgot their hall pass

I enjoyed the overall difficulty of the game, however there were certainly random spikes of difficulty through the game. The protagonists are not action heroes, so they can't take too much damage before they outright die. Health is only measured by the color of the screen (it turns redder as health goes down), however the screen also flashes red when a protagonist takes damage so there were numerous times I had no idea what my health was unless my character was noticeably limping. Later enemies can kill a character in two hits, which caused me to restart often. I really like the challenge of the game, so I never had an issue with the difficulty, although there was one segment where the protagonists needed to navigate over rickety floorboards that was insanely unfair as the camera made it nearly impossible to know where to go, which caused me to die several times.

Audio/Visual
Like most early survival horror games, the voice acting is pretty atrocious, however the overall audio is great. The version I played was lacking the licensed music, but I really enjoyed the background music all the same. Much of the music was done exclusively via a choir, which was quite the interesting artistic choice as I have not seen that done in most other games. There were also a lot of really nice sound effects that added to the creepy ambience for more chilling segments. I recall one early part of the game where I heard screaming coming from down the hall and was too scared to investigate it (RIP).

Considering this game came out in 2004, I think it looks pretty good. I'd say it's about on par with Resident Evil - Code: Veronica and Silent Hill 2 when it comes to visuals. I liked that I could interact with my environment somewhat by destroying parts of the school like windows and crumbling structures. I must admit that Leafmore High School is an incredibly filthy looking school, which sometimes broke immersion for me as there were times that the setting looked so dilapidated that it didn't make sense for it to be a fully operational academy.

Replayability
My initial playthrough of the game took me a little over 5 hours to complete, which is fairly short, but there's still more to enjoyment to be had. Beating the game unlocks a harder difficulty, as well as "Special Mode," which is essentially a New Game+ version. Players will also unlock new costumes and weapons by beating the game, while being even further incentivized to replay as new modes offer new items as well. At the bare minimum, I'd say the game is worth playing in single player and then replaying with a friend via its local multiplayer function.

The Best of the Best: The ability to swap out protagonists throughout the game and even continue playing if a character dies.

The Worst of the Worst: Your AI partner calmly watching you get strangled by a monster while you call out for help.

Calhooey Score: 6/10 - Above Average

Would I Recommend?
In my opinion, this game is a bit of a hidden gem as I'd consider myself to be a pretty big survival-horror fan and I had never heard of this game. It certainly has some rough edges to it, but I recommend it to those that like games of this genre. Considering it is less than ten bucks on Steam, I'd say new players are in for a treat (especially if they have a friend to play with). If you're not a fan of horror games, or you want something with a deep story, I'd recommend passing on this one.

Recommended Let's Play Channel:

Since I learned about this game from PISTOLPETE, it's only fair that I put his channel as the recommended one for this game.

Spoiler Comments

• Stan leaves Kenny to talk to his sister so he can take a shower and comes back in less than 30 seconds wearing the same clothes he was exercising in. I'm not so sure Stan grasps what hygiene is...
• The opening 15 minutes of this game made me really meditate on the question of how far would I go to get my gym bag back if someone ran off with it.
• Apparently, Principal Herbert was never told school shootings are a thing, so he just casually leaves guns lying around the school campus.
• Honestly, the fact that Kenny whips a gun out of a box he just found (with no reaction at all) made me laugh my ass off.
• That ending was really abrupt. I'm kind of hoping whatever Stan stumbled across killed him, but I won't get my hopes up.

References

(1) Wikipedia. (2020, October 20). Obscure game cover image. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscure_(video_game).

(2) Ribault, T. (2013, February 28). Obscure gameplay image. Hardcore Gaming. Retrieved from: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/obscure/.

(3) Oz, A. (2020). Osbscure monsters gif. Pinterest. Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/502010689703420224/.