ObsCure, a survival/horror game ala Silent Hill, was one of those games that I vaguely remembered existing, but any thought or proacive decision to play it was quickly extinguished by the deluge of other games in 2005. I suppose the same could be said of Obscure: The Aftermath, 2008’s reasonably priced and critically positive sequel. A year later, the second Obscure game has made its way to PSP, and I finally get to satisfy a latent curiosity.
While the original ObsCure closely paralleled The Faculty, the sequel has moved the protagonists out of high school and into college. Right off the bat, I was actually surprised by how good the game looked. PS2 games typically lose a few polys on their way over to PSP, but whoever is handling the port did a fantastic job rendering the game on Sony’s handheld. The character models look fantastic, and the campus settings are appropriately decorated (that is to say, terribly), and often ripe with activity. There isn’t much real estate and some of the venues can start to feel a little claustrophobic, but Obscure exists well within its means.
Anyway, the game began with a character, Corey, trying to get to some sort of party with his friend Mei. Eventually they arrive and wind up experiencing something along the lines of an acid trip, because next thing I know I’m teleported to some insane dark world and forced to beat the crap out of mildly terrifying torso things. Soon after, Corey wakes up in a bathroom and decided he probably shouldn’t have huffed whatever was circulating through or in the previous room.
From there the game switched over to an entirely different pair of characters, Kenny and Amy, and Aftermath’s design become more apparent. It’s still a survival horror game, and you’ll be doing plenty of small arms fire and melee attacks, but the creative hook, so to speak, lies in its character switching system. Each character you encounter will have a specific skill set, which typically involves switching over to a different character so they can better accomplish a direct task. For example, Mei can hack computers to open doors, Stan is the master of old school unlocking, and Corey can jump considerably high. During my time with the build I was still subjected to bookcase moving and box pushing puzzles of yesteryear, but the added character variety was a nice touch. Best of all, the game is playable cooperatively, provided you have a friend nearby.
Other than that, Aftermath was at its best when it adhered to genre conventions. Crazy monsters that make little organic sense, moderate gunplay, a complete social panic ripe mass murder, expendable characters, chainsaws, mad scientists…you know the drill The game was competent, for sure, but whether or not it can reach as high as its peers remains to be seen. Check back with us later in the month for a full review.
