Obscure II (PC) - Video Game Review

It's been a while since I finished the first Obscure (you can see my review for that here), but I finally got around to trying this one. I've been curious to see how Hydravision would add on to their first game and I was pleased to experience this with a friend. Although my review of this probably isn't too flattering, I kind of think it's a shame that Hydravision isn't around anymore as I think it would've been interesting to see a new iteration of this series. 

*

Where You Can Find It: I played this on PC via Steam, however it was also originally available on PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Wii, and PlayStation Portable.

General Information
Obscure II (also referred to as "Obscure: The Aftermath") is a survival horror game that was developed by Hydravision Entertainment with Ignition Entertainment and Playlogic Enertainment publishing. It was first released in North America on 25 March 2008 and it is the sequel to Obscure. It is the final entry in the Obscure franchise, although a spin-off titled, Final Exam, was digitally released in 2013. The game holds a slightly above-average 60 Metascore on Metacritic.

The Story
Two years have passed since the events at Leafmore Academy, and most of the old gang has enrolled at Fallcreek University. The new, hip thing for the college crowd to get into these days is smelling strange crushed flowers between partying at the dorms. Corey and his girlfriend, Mei, show up late to one of these very parties after a bad trip only to discover some leafy party-crashers have mangled some of their classmates. Now, Kenny will have to reunite with his old crew and new friends to fight back against these monsters and somehow survive the night.

**

There's a new crew in town and they hate plants just as much as the old one

I'm fully aware that Obscure's main story wasn't all that coherent, but the plot for this game is about as organized as a plate of spaghetti. Characters randomly appear in places they shouldn't, no one reacts believably to their surroundings, and the final act makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I've mentioned before that survival horror games aren't particularly well-known for their deep and intricate stories, but at least Resident Evil and Silent Hill have enough wherewithal to provide the basics of what a story needs. I'm curious if large parts of the game were cut to save money, as I feel like that could generally explain some of the writing's failings.

Considering the fact that this game features some of the old ones from the first game, I found it strange that there was little to no mention of the characters that weren't included, like Josh or Ashley. Considering their characterization was paper-thin in the first game, little has been added to the ones that made it into this sequel beyond the fact that they're all darker and edgier than before (I mean this literally as well in Shannon's case). The newer characters like Mei and Corey actually seem slightly more interesting and I generally preferred to play as them when I could.

One thing I genuinely enjoyed about the story of this was that Hydravision had no issues with killing player characters as the story progressed. I liked the gutsiness with going with this route, however I must admit that it came at the cost of losing the original game's ability to continue the story even if a character dies in-game. As far as I'm aware, there are no alternate endings this time around, and many areas a bit more linear in who the player can choose to play as. This didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, as the characters felt a bit more unique this time around.

The Gameplay
Like the original, players will have a variety of characters to choose from, and each one has their own special abilities like before. Unlike Obscure though, these special abilities are far more unique and important as they generally apply to puzzle-solving. In Obscure, one could arguably play through the entire game as one character and be totally fine. In this one, players will have to cycle out as some puzzles are only doable with certain characters. For example: Corey is acrobatic and can climb certain areas, while Mei is a hacker and can bypass electronically locked doors. I liked the improvement of this mechanic a lot and the puzzles were certainly more complex than before.

***

Kenny is still pretty useless though...

The survival horror staples of conserving ammo and healing supplies still applies, although this iteration has a lot less gunplay. To be fair, there's plenty of guns and unlockable weapons, however it's not the only means of dispatching enemies now. Melee weapons return and are arguably more important than before, while there's a new addition of rechargeable electronic weapons like tasers and chainsaws that enhances what all players can do. For the most part, the use of flashlights and sunlight to harm enemies has been completely done away with, which is frankly a welcome removal.

Audio/Visual
Even after losing some of its licensed music, I fondly recall Obscure's great soundtrack, however that same level of magic just isn't in this sequel. The music isn't bad per se, but it's entirely forgettable. The sound effects are also a little more lackluster, although I will admit that I liked a particular segment where you could hear loud footsteps of an enemy lurking around the house the characters were investigating.

Visually, the game is generally pretty to look at although its graphics are pretty archaic now. I thought most of the character models looked pretty good and the monster design is arguably one of the outstanding qualities of this game. There are some monsters from the first game that make re-appearances, but many of the newer monsters look awesome and present unique challenges. There are siren-like creatures that can float and giant spider creatures made from pregnant women (just to name a few).

Multiplayer

There's local co-op capability in this game, just like before, but it definitely has some drawbacks. Whereas the first game's in-game camera was automatic and generally focused on the first player, this version's camera can be rotated and locks to whomever chooses the focus for. One might consider this a good thing, but some of the areas in the game are quite large and make it difficult for both players to operate within the confines of the camera's vision. Furthermore, Obscure II repeats the same issue of its predecessor by having the second player's character move noticeably slower than player one. Mixing into this issue that player characters can't move far beyond the limits of what the camera can see, and I was left in situations where the second player was literally being dragged around the game. This especially made the final boss level incredibly frustrating as it frequently demanded that players keep distance from each other, which was practically impossible.

****

It's experiences like this that are best shared with a friend

Micro-Transactions/Downloadable Content
As this came out before the era of DLC, this game is blissfully free from any add-ons or micro-transactions.

Replayability
There's surprisingly little to offer in this game when it comes to replayability. The first game offered alternate costumes and fun additional weapons. This one seemingly does not. Considering the fact that there's no alternate endings either, and there is little reason to play this one a second time.

The Best of the Best: The variation of playable characters with unique abilities.

The Worst of the Worst: The nonsensical plot.

Calhooey Score: 5/10 - Average

Would I Recommend?

Obscure II builds on a few of its predecessor's weak-spots, but it neglects some of its strengths in the process. The character variety and fun gameplay is plenty of fun and it's great that one can experience it with friends, but the ridiculous story drags everything down. This is a fun Resident Evil "clone" and I think it can be a lot of fun to play this with a friend, but it has no staying power and you'll likely regret playing it after a few weeks. I recommend it to survival horror fans and those that liked the original. Everyone else should pass on this.

Recommended Let's Play Channel:

Just like before, I have to recommend the one-and-only PISTOLPETE as a good let's play channel. He does a co-op run that I think you'll really enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments--------------------------------------------------

• Ah, college... I'm almost jealous at the prospect of missing out on dorm-life and sniffing from random mortars...
  
• I'm glad we were spared the scene of Kenny raping Amanda.
• That cut-scene of Stan and Shannon making out on the dock was hilarious. Apparently fratricide is a huge turn-on for Shannon.
• Where did Kenny, Shannon, and Stan get their magic pills from? I thought they were cured from the infection at the end of the original game? 
• I'm still baffled how Kenny appears as the final boss despite having been gored with a giant machine and thrown down a massive pit.
• Words cannot describe my irritation with the ending cut-scene. Kenny's spawn destroys the helicopter and seemingly goes free and everyone celebrates like they somehow stopped the creature from getting loose. 

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

*Game Pressure. (n.d.). Obscure II game cover image. Retrieved from: https://www.gamepressure.com/games/obscure-the-aftermath/z359e.

**Prelude. (2008, March 7). Corey, Mei, Amanda, and Sven image.  Listal. Retrieved from: https://www.listal.com/viewimage/249761.

***Game Reactor. (n.d.). Kenny with golf club image. Retrieved from: https://www.gamereactor.eu/media/07/mergrossfra_130701b.jpg.

****Obscure II. (n.d.). Chainsaw and corpse image. Steam. Retrieved from: https://store.steampowered.com/app/254480/Obscure_II_Obscure_The_Aftermath/.