All in all, Obscure: The Aftermath isn’t a bad game. The combination of horror and college humour works fine and the action is interrupted at regular intervals with puzzles and minigames. The detailled graphics and the wonderfully dynamic music add greatly to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, some erroneous design choices detract from the game, making it less than the big title it could’ve been.
Best game series EVER. Instead of surviving the horrors of zombies and monsters as typical police or war veterans, you play as un experienced students who need to survive the horrors of Fallcreak. Great story, great graphics and great fun factor. Highly recommend it.
Obscure: The Aftermath is a fun survival horror game that is marred by dumb AI and a lame story. But even with its problems, I still had a great time looking at the amazing visuals and laughing at the cheesy dialogue.
Obscure: The Aftermath will provide some with a nice, handheld introduction into the survival horror genre. But for most, it's nothing more than an outdated handheld port.
It's hard to get sucked into a game when playing it on a three inch screen and even more difficult to be scared of a monster that's no bigger than your thumb. Obscure: The Aftermath doesn't do much to turn the tide in this regard, and if a survival borror game doesn’t give you chills, then what’s the point?
Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Immersive, intelligent and with a gripping and involving storyline that makes you actually CARE about the characters and their fate. Not overwhelmingly scary on the whole, but I was completely hooked from start to finish and found myself wanting to play it more after it was done. Sadly however it seems to have quite little replay value.
The multiplayer mode (2 player co-op) looks good though so I'll give that a blast soon!
A bit too goofy and comical for a Horror game but the game does a good job in creating a creepy and intense atmosphere that keeps you interested all throughout. This game has good graphics for the PSP and overall is a well done game.
Since I'm stuck at a certain point in Silent Hill: Book of Memories on my Vita, I decided to turn to my beloved PSP once more to experience something fitting for the coming holiday, hence I picked up Obscure: The Aftermath. I have not played any other Obscure games in the past, only heard that it's pretty good for a PSP game. After playing it, I certainly agree.
It's a game that feels very polished from the start. The introduction is magnificent, the plot is intriguing (though dull). Not to mention that the graphics look very nice for a PSP game, and it also boots a kick-ass soundtrack.
The game follows a group of friends who are trying to survive an infestation, which turns their fellow classmates in to monsters. The story progression is very cliche, it's reminiscent of the classical horror movie formula that was famous throughout the 2001-2006 period. And it's very nice to experience something of that type again. I kind of miss those movies from time to time. They were not masterpieces, but they were fun to watch. This game is pretty much the same.
Gameplay is solid, and most of all - fair. It's rare to see a horror game, especially an older one, that is this balanced. It almost always retains it's level of challenge without ever feeling cheap. Sure, at times it was the camera's fault that I lost 50% of my HP due to a hit I didn't see coming, but that's the price I pay for playing the game on the PSP I suppose.
One thing to point out is that it's not particularly frightening. The fact that I had weapons 95% of the time kills the horror vibe and diminishes the survival aspect. I'd describe Obscure: The Aftermath as a creepy third person action game. And that doesn't mean it's something bad. Shooting is not as awkward as in Silent Hill, but the characters aren't expert gunmen either. This, along with some creepy camera angles and some very disturbing SFX and Monster Designs still keeps this game on the horror scope of things. Also, no jumpscares - something I am very glad about.
Also, Kudos to the devs for having so much voice acting in the game. I've never expected an old-gen game, on the PSP no less, from a not-so famous developer, to have it's characters react to one another in certain situations. It makes the whole experience feel really cool - like the movies I mentioned above. The writing is really cheesy, but it goes with the overall flow, and honestly I think that was what they were aiming for. The voice acting is good for the most part, but at times the way the characters say their lines is very unfitting. For instance, during a boss fight, they talk to one another like they aren't even breaking a sweat, meanwhile I'm running and gunning all over the place. It's off-putting at times, but not that bad.
There was one particular moment of this game that I hated - a sudden difficulty spike. A lot of people say it's gratifying after that, but it felt more like a cheap hit to me. I'm not going to spoil it, nor take away points for it.
Overall, this game was very enjoyable. I didn't even expect it to be so gripping. It's a long, good game with fun and challenging gameplay, and it's perfectly fitting the season. It can be found quite cheaply nowadays and it's available on multiple platforms. I fully recommend you pick this game up - it's engaging and it's a perfectly mixed bag of goodies (some of them with hidden blades or poison, but not that big of a deal). If you can, get it on PC or a home console. Having the comfort of camera control is sure to give this game +1 on the score I'm giving. But even on the PSP, don't pass this one up - it's wroth it.
Summary(Also known as "Obscure II") Two years ago, at Leafmore High, a group of young teenagers were trapped inside their school and hunted by monsters that had been released by the maniac headmaster. Some of them survived that terrible night, while others perished. Now, the survivors have picked up their lives and joined college. But all is n...