Remembering Obscure

So with the announcement of the new Obscure game, I was pretty disappointed. It is in no way the Obscure I love. The new game is a 2D arcade action game. However after giving it some thought, I have come to the realization that judging the new arcade game against the older games just isn't fair. It's not trying to be Obscure, even if it carries the same name. Now I'm sure that the new arcade game will be hunky dorrie, so I'm  going to spend this time discussing the original game (I'll focus on the first, which is far superior to it's predecessor).

The Obscure series is... well, pretty obscure. Released back in 2004, Obscure received pretty mixed reviews. Set in a cliche high school, you take control of a number of different students attempting to survive the night and find out why so many people have been mysteriously disappearing. Yep, even when monsters and other disturbing creatures turn up the gang still seem just as determined to unravel the mystery (Scooby/ Buffy gang anyone?). Anyway, the player takes control one of the members of the group and is assisted by a AI companion or another player. Now you're probably wondering how that could possibly be in anyway scary, and in truth Obscure isn't the scariest of games. However, what it lacks in scares it makes up for with atmosphere and tension. In Obscure if the character your playing dies, they die. If your playing a character who can use the lockpick and you fuck up, then your not going to be picking any locks in that play-through  Death becomes terrifying because you simply don't want to lose anyone. This aspect is genius because of how much dread it adds to every enemy encounter. Add to that the chilling soundtrack performed by a French choir and a down right eeriness to the school and you have a very dark game.

So imagine a mix up between classic Resident evil gameplay and Silent Hill's. No, not any of the new stuff. Back in the day when it was clunky.  Moving around wasn't exactly graceful and combat that was a pain in the arse. That's what Obscure does... Which doesn't exactly sound appealing these days but stay with me it gets better. Enemies don't like light. Think Alan Wake where you have to damage them with direct sunlight or whittle at there dark auras with flashlights. It adds to the difficulty of battling enemies  As the good Silent Hills and many other great horror games have taught us, is that having a good combat system completely removes any sense of danger because you can just kill the enemies  Now Obscure does have combat and a stupid amount of guns lying around in a school, but it makes them difficult to use.

Admittedly Obscure has it's fair share of  issues. The story is cheesy, acting questionable and the second game drops the death mechanic which is completely bizarre. It never quite achieved a unique identity of its own. The reasons I love it, are also what holds it back. It's essentially a budget Resident Evil/Silent Hill that just doesn't have the things that made them click. If you and a friend love those games and want something that you can both play, Obscure is for you.