Obscure: The Aftermath for PSP Reviews by Gamers

When the original Obscure hit retail shelves in 2005, it introduced gamers to a fairly new take on the survival-horror subgenre with fully cooperative play. Although the game was met with mixed reviews, the co-op theme certainly warranted praise and was appropriately carried over to the sequel, Obscure: The Aftermath. Aftermath arrived on several consoles early last year and I was fairly pleased with certain parts of the experience. The mix of co-op play and survival-horror was still an enjoyable concept and some of the atmospheric environments were executed wonderfully. The music was the icing on the cake, as the startling beautiful, unmistakably chilling soundtrack seemed almost too good to be true for a "budget level" game.



Now, more than a year later, Obscure: The Aftermath is making its way to the PSP. A fairly straight-forward port of its console predecessors, Aftermath on the PSP once again follows a group of college students whose campus is overrun by hordes of monsters and mutants thanks to a sinister dark flower that appeared around the school. Unfortunately, the PSP version is a member of a much different gaming landscape than the launch environment of its predecessors. After playing games like Dead Space and Resident Evil 5, my expectations for the survival-horror (and especially the co-op survival horror) genre have been raised. Regardless of platform, Aftermath doesn't quite feel as special anymore.



It's also ten dollars more than the original PS2 version, even though it's the exact same content...



The main point of Obscure is to guide two characters (from a group of around six) through various narrow environments crawling with baddies. Each character has a particular skill he or she excels at, like moving heavy objects or being acrobatic. Like most survival-horror games, Obscure: The Aftermath combines basic exploration with a healthy dose of puzzle solving, item collection and some battles.



The control scheme for Aftermath has been ported over nicely to the PSP, with movement mapped to the analog nub and camera control relegated to the D-pad. You can pull out your assigned weapons by holding down the L trigger and hitting the corresponding face button, and you can use those weapons by holding down the R trigger and hitting X. This is all pretty standard stuff and the lack of a dual analog setup doesn't hurt Aftermath's controls.



While playing Aftermath on your own, you'll need to switch between characters constantly in order to properly solve puzzles or clear the way for the other characters. For example, at the beginning of the game, you must use the acrobatic character to jump up onto a ledge and then task him with pulling up his girlfriend, who suddenly comes under attack by a nasty-looking monster.



But as I discussed in my original review of the game (when it first came out on consoles), Aftermath is a very strange mix of genuinely scary/chilling moments with some of the cheesiest nonsense you'll ever experience. At first glance, it might seem like Aftermath is intentionally trying to parody the infamous teen horror movie that it resembles so distinctly, but not a lot is done to capitalize on this dynamic and the game just ends up losing its edge in the end.



This unusual balance between serious horror and eye-rolling humor is made even more curious when you examine the game's audio. On one hand, the game has some of the corniest voice acting I've heard in a long time -- which could very well have been intentional. On the other hand, the soundtrack -- as was the case in the other versions -- is extremely beautiful and haunting. Filled with a fascinating blend of strings, electronic beats and a chilling choir, Obscure: The Aftermath actually has quite the excellent musical score, which is certainly a highlight of the experience.



Aftermath's issues unfortunately extend into the gameplay as well. I noticed some very awkward load times mid-game on the PSP where the UMD would have to spin up when you interact with a particular object or stumble upon a cutscene. For a horror game, this can definitely interrupt the pacing of the experience and spoil the mood. This problem is exacerbated when introducing a second player into the mix. Yes, a second PSP gamer can drop in and out at any time via Ad Hoc, preserving Obscure's focus on cooperative gameplay. And while everything runs quite smoothly during the game, picking up an item or opening a menu can be a bit slower with two people viewing the interface than when you're playing on your own.



Keep in mind that if you do want to play multiplayer, you might need to select a specific channel in the PSP system's Ad Hoc options. When we first tried testing the multiplayer mode, the PSP's couldn't find each other because they were on different channels. This caused a great uproar in the IGN office, followed by a round of beers.



One advantage of executing multiplayer through Ad Hoc is that you no longer have to share a screen. Although players must still occupy the same room at all times (leaving an area will drag the other player with you), you can now move about freely without constraint. This was very helpful, especially during battle sequences.

©2009-09-30, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved