4/3/2023 0 Comments Obscure 2 patches![]() ![]() Admittedly, you're never likely to be too confounded in these circumstances, with characters generally giving the game away with a blatant, "This looks like a job for XX!". At various points in the game, whether playing with yourself or a friend, you're required to swap characters with a simple tap of a shoulder button. Of course there're more (six in total, actually), but that would spoil the surprise. Then there's beefcake - and returning character - Kenny who's so strong he can push heavy objects and "genuine blond and Miss Wet T-shirt" Amy, who specialises in decrypting. Elsewhere, Mei is such a stupendously good hacker, security systems crumble at her touch - usually by solving anagrams. Not only can he scoot to out-of-reach places, he can help his less acrobacy-inclined comrades out of trouble too with a lift up. That's clambering onto ledges and shimmying across improbable gaps, to you and me. Corey, the skewer-haired skater, dabbles in the magical art of what the hilariously inept translation describes as "Acrobacy". This time around however, there's even more emphasis on working together, with a ton of situations demanding the use of each character's unique abilities. ![]() With most story chapters following the tribulations of a pair of characters, a second player can pick up a controller and step into the fray at any point. ![]() Undoubtedly, this addition - the ability to experience the whole daft ordeal with a friend in tow - was one of the highlights of the first game. Significantly then, that means Obscure's nifty, fully co-operative design is back in full force. If you've dabbled with the original at all you'll feel right at home here - with various characters, contrivances and gameplay mechanics all making a return. Or at least, that's the impression we've gotten so far, playing the initial few hours of Hydravision's sequel. It's all relentlessly - somewhat intentionally - silly and a ton of fun, plus you get to save your game by "touching a special flower". Thankfully though, poisonous botanical effects can be warded off by energy drinks and health augmented by syringing the juice out of downed enemy organs, then jabbing it up your bum. ![]() Pretty soon though, those dream monsters slip into reality and a desperate struggle through abandoned hospitals and sewers ensues. Sure, it's never clear where the appeal of a substance which makes you imagine mutilated corpses stomping around derelict warehouses lies but - hey - this isn't Tolstoy. Needless to say, before long, all the kids are doing it, impending disaster waiting in the wings. She DOES NOT LIKE THAT, Corey! The plot, for want of a better word, sees the attendees of Fallcreek University fall foul of a mysterious flower which - as it happens - makes a great hallucinogenic when crushed and stuck up your nose. Ludicrous dialogue, horrendous voice-acting and absurd plot-points actually work in Obscure II's favour, making for a horror game so ridiculously tongue-in-cheek you're just happy to be along for the ride. Character-wise, they're all as unconvincingly two-dimensional as their CGI models but that's part of the fun. As before, you'll take charge of various dopey, muscle-bound boys and shrill, big-breasted girls as the game progresses. Much like the first game in the series, Obscure II ditches the psychological naval-gazing hokum of its genre comrades in favour of the videogame equivalent of the high school slasher movie. You see, it's all part of Obscure II's cheesy charm. Which leaves us with two questions: what does it do differently and - more importantly - is it scary? Well, to answer that last question first - no. The point of all this then is that Obscure II is, to all intents and purposes, exactly the same as pretty much every other Survival Horror game you've ever played. Of course though, nothing can match the kind of scare a good Survival Horror can muster, and that's why we keep playing. Sure, we've managed to ditch the wonky controls and modern day monsters tend to be, well, a lot less boxy, but it's still the same old stream-lined slog through spooky sewers and hospitals, complete with tenuous puzzles, ineffectual combat and depressing dead-time between set-pieces. Aside from that one particular game which shall remain nameless, we've not seen much action on the innovation front since Infogrames let Edward Carnby lose in that dodgy old mansion 15 years ago. ![]()
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