PlayStation 2

ObsCure

While not quite perfect, Obscure holds its own against the best of the genre, most of which are the very games it seems to be aping: Resident Evil 0-2, Silent Hill 1-2, Parasite Eve, Fatal Frame 1-2, Eternal Darkness. That alone should say enough about the game, but several things stand out: respectable graphics (not quite RE level, but what is?), extremely well defined characterization, excellent creepy atmosphere, plenty of cheap jump-out-of-your-seat surprise "scares" and an all-too underrepresented high school setting. What more can you ask for? Obscure is hands down one of the best, and deserves a lot more promotion than it (apparently hasn't) gotten.

The survival horror genre has been over-hyped and overwrought for so long now that you can often walk into a game store and see a new title you've never heard of before, despite a rabid scouring of your favorite gaming websites or magazines. Such is the case with Obscure, which got little fanfare with its recent release. Its gameplay offers little to invigorate the genre, but that doesn't mean it's not worth your time.

Obscure is probably one of the most entertaining mystery-like games I've ever played. It has everything you could ever want, multiple characters with different backgrounds, great sound distinction, and much more. I would recommend this game for anyone who likes a great theatrical thriller.

I did a double take when I found out that Obscure is launching at a suggested retail price of less than twenty bucks nationwide. For what you get in the package, it's a great deal and far beyond the quality of your typical low-budget title. But even if money weren't an issue, Obscure is still dissimilar enough from other horror favorites like Resident Evil and Silent Hill to warrant a pick-up by diehard genre fans. And besides, the co-op mode is almost worth the price of admission alone, while the hidden bonuses you'll receive for beating the game add even more to its overall value. Just don't expect anything too enthralling when it comes to plot advancement or puzzle solving.

Obscure is the produce of Hydravision, a French development house previously responsible for, umm, well nothing that we know of. The French certainly love their survival horror games (well, the developers of Alone in the Dark did, tenuous link fans), and that’s exactly what Obscure is. Although far from startlingly original, Obscure does have a few original ideas which may pique the interest.

The main problem is that there is nothing new to see. After a certain point, Obscure shows that there are two sides to maintaining interest in a successful horror game: the lack of early action must be balanced in other areas, and when the action starts it must not dull too soon. Obscure falls short because it makes no attempt to vary the use of the team mechanism, and it adds no new monsters. But hopefully Obscure's legacy will be a game that ties its horror sensibillties with the varied action of something like Resident Evil 4. Now that could be exactly what horror fans want.

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.

So, should you play Obscure? If you're a big survival horror fan who's looking for a new game that plays like an old game, then yes. However, even genre fans may be annoyed by the slow pace, "2 hip 4 u dawg" dialogue, and overall feeling of survival horror déjà vu. It's definitely worth a rental (you can beat it fairly quickly), but even at its budget price tag, only avid collectors of everything survival horror may want to own this one.

While the Resident Evil series might have overstayed its welcome, you can give Capcom credit for finally realizing that enough was enough. The developer ditched the franchise's tired survival horror conventions, said good-bye to Raccoon City, and wound up with one of the best games so far this year in Resident Evil 4. This groundbreaking release set a new standard in action horror, mirroring the accomplishment registered by its classic predecessor nine years ago. Some people, however, aren't getting the hint that gaming has moved on. Judging by Obscure, a survival horror throwback best described as Resident Evil in a high school, French developer Hydravision is stuck in 1996. While this textbook copy of the Capcom classic is a competent regurgitation of the genre's clichés, your patience will be tested by déjà vu from the moment the first monster bursts out of the walls.

Obscure’s concept is a simple one: adopt the formula and setting of a teen horror movie – you know, like URBAN LEGEND, SCREAM or A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET – and deliver it as a game play experience in a videogame format. Nice concept, especially with the resurgent interest in the genre at the theatre box office with recent hits like THE RING 2, WHEN DARKNESS FALLS and BOOGEYMAN. But can a movie formula work as a videogame? That’s the question.

While there are some ideas that I really enjoy in Obscure (the enemy design is interesting and switching characters works well), there’s just too much wrong here to make the experience something special.

Once you've overcome these shortfalls, and settled down into the familiar gameplay "locked door, find key to locked door" routine, and tried not to yell rude words at your television as the second character you're controlling blocks your path, you'll begin to notice the impressive (and dare we say, innovative) qualities this game possesses. Like the in-game music; it's ethereal wailing that sounds as if it came from a Medal of Honor sound engineer's side project, but it's still spooky and perfectly sets the tone.