Does that line (about Jamie Lee
Curtis) even make sense to you considering I’m writing a review about a
teenage horror game that takes place in an old creepy school? Well if it
doesn’t then let me explain. Much of my misspent youth was done watching
cheesy teenage slasher flicks from the late 70’s and early 80’s. In fact as I
played Obscure, I was instantly reminded of several horror flicks starring Ms.
Curtis. Movies like Prom Night and Halloween II.
Why may you ask? Well for
starters, in Obscure, you find yourself running through the halls of a large
sinister high school after hours. If any of you have been in a school or
hospital late at night, then there is a sense of foreboding that something or
someone is gonna walk around that corner. Maybe it’s some psychological thing
that creeps into the psyche, maybe it’s the fact that you are so small in such
a large place or that it’s weird to be in a location totally alone when you
are used to it being crowded with people. Whatever it is, the folks over at
DreamCatcher studios must have wandered the halls of a university or school
late at night and tried to think of things that might scare us.
Well, I hate to say this, cause I
love scary stuff, but the scares that they wanted to try for didn’t quite cut
it. Obscure involves five differently skilled high school students that find
themselves caught after hours at the school they all attend. Since the school
appears to have been built over 100 years ago and made for some other
dark purpose, I initially was really jazzed at the possibilities this
game could have. Each character provides a special ability that is accessible
in certain situations; for instance Kenny is the athlete, so he can run
faster, hit harder and has more resilience whereas Josh, the school paper
reporter, can see all objects and clues when entering a room. So on, so forth.
The controls that the game has are
something that may cause some players a bit of frustration. The game is played
third-person perspective where the controls reflect direct onto the
characters. Meaning … if you press right on the controller, then the
character you are controlling turns right, regardless of what position that
character is in. This setup is familiar to those players who have played the
Resident Evil series. I actually welcome this sort of setup as I have played
darn near every survival horror game out there and they all seem to have it.
The inventory system that the game has also has a fairly easy turn to it.
Right side covers the weapons (which there are aplenty), left side covers the
items you find that are needed to advance the story along.
Now I’m a pretty big monster guy,
and the monsters in this game really fell short of what I had hoped for. For
one thing, the monsters emanate this black "evil" stuff all around them that
only light can penetrate. But to me, I see the monsters merely being hidden by
the black stuff was a pretty big let down. And even when you did see the
monsters, they didn’t look all that nasty. Sure lots of teeth and exposed
bone, but it just didn’t look all that … evil. Sorry, but it didn’t. Now
some of the other graphics were pretty good, the characters facial features
were done quite well, and the school itself was designed with great care.
Little things like pictures or decay in the walls were clearly designed to
make the player feel ill while playing. I mean, the whole school looks badly
kept and I’m sure the school district wouldn’t stand for the below-par
janitorial work.
Now the voice acting was
completely laughable. For some reason horror games seem to have the worst
voice talent in the genre. Dialogue is merely walked through and the actual
dialogue is as silly as any grade "Z" movie. The sinister background music was
fairly effective as was the sometimes eerie silence. The growls that the
monsters spewed forth was also only average. The game needed to be ratcheted
up several more notches in terms of quality sound effects and voice acting.
Only the music was on par for a scary atmospheric setting.
Now the game does feature an
interesting second-player mode. While playing you often will control a second
character that you instruct to assist you. Certain situations require that two
characters work together to complete a task. Well, when a second character is
found, the game allows a second player to take control of them should you want
to. It wasn’t as clever as it could be, but I must give credit to the
developers for trying something completely different in the genre.
Obscure beckons those fans or
horror games to come play in its twisted schoolyard. Sadly, I just don’t see
but only the hardest of hardcore horror fans playing it to completion.
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Gameplay: 8.0
A familiar control setup to those
players of the genre. An easy-to-use inventory interface and small tutorials
that pop up when new abilities are made available. The players are responsive
to the in-game action and it is fairly easy to attack the critters you run
across in the game. What I didn’t like was the struggling that occurred when a
monster latched on to your leg.
Graphics: 6.7
While the monsters are not the
most impressive looking things the school sure is. Architecture is very strong
and the school has the distinct feel of danger. Which is too bad when you run
into a monster. Characters have alright–looking faces but their movements are
stiff and forced looking. The goofy looking cutscenes have a greyish sheen to
them that makes me think that they were recorded with a camcorder off of a
computer screen.
Sound: 6.4
I wonder how much being a voice
actor pays? Cause as near as I can tell, they paid the voice actors minimum
wage. Was a time where the voice acting in horror games was supposed to be
goofy. Now it’s just really sad. No longer funny, it’s just bad, really bad.
The music had a distinct feel to it like I said, I liked it, it made me get in
the mood for a really atmospheric experience, but the end result was a
letdown.
Difficulty: Medium
It’s not really that challenging
for those players who are familiar to action-style games. Ammo is scarce,
which is par for the course, and being surrounded by several baddies can
certainly put you in a bind. But vending machines are readily available, and
who needs change when you have a baseball bat.
Concept 6.4
The only thing that this game
brings to the genre is that psychological feeling that I talked about earlier.
I remember being at my college late, one night, walking the halls just waiting
for a zombie to amble around the corner (I’m still sad it never happened,
sniff). Otherwise, the game plays just like several other better horror games.
Multiplayer: 7.0
If you got a friend then you’ve
got an asset. The combat in this game is much, much easier when you have two
independent people beating the crap out of the monsters.
Overall: 6.7
Merely an average entry in
the survival horror genre. I think that the folks over at DreamCatcher may be
on to something with the cool location and the introduction of multiplayer
play, but the final end product left me wanting so much more.
