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Playstation 2 : Obscure: The Aftermath Reviews

Gas Gauge: 64
Gas Gauge 64
Below are user reviews of Obscure: The Aftermath and on the right are links to professionally written reviews. The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Obscure: The Aftermath. Column height indicates the number of reviews with a score within the range shown at the bottom of the column. Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.

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ReviewsScore
Game Spot
GamesRadar 40
IGN 75
GameZone 77
Game Revolution 65






User Reviews (1 - 6 of 6)

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Surprisingly good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: March 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I didn't expect much from Obscure: The Aftermath, mainly because I wasn't too thrilled with the first Obscure game (released what seems like ages ago) and the fact that the game carries a budget price tag. Well, you definitely get your money's worth with Obscure: The Aftermath, which for those who are unfamiliar with the first game, is a co-op survival horror excursion. The story picks up where the first game left off, finding familiar characters now in college, and once again haunted by horiffic forces at work. The first thing you'll notice is that for a budget priced PS2 title, Obscure: The Aftermath looks surprisingly good. The character models and lighting effects are well done, and the environments are well detailed. The game's music score is haunting as well, but the real meat and potatoes of the game is the co-op gameplay that really enhances what would otherwise have been a generic survival horror trip. The few flaws that hurt Obscure: The Aftermath mostly lie within the game's combat system, which doesn't always work out well. Not to mention that the game's story isn't much to look at, and the voice acting is beyond atrocious. Also, the game is quite short (you can finish the game in one sitting if you so desired), and your AI controlled partner isn't always the brightest brain in the bunch either. Flaws aside though, Obscure: The Aftermath is a surprisingly good survival horror yarn that delivers the goods, and the budget price tag warrants a look at the very least.

Surprisingly good and not so surprisingly bad throughout

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Obscure the aftermath is a "Sure why not!" game. Because it is cheap you can drop coin on it and not feel like you lost anything in the exchange.

As expected it takes place after the first game. 3 of the original characters survived a horrible botanical experiment gone bad and defeated a mad scentist who was experimenting on faculty and students to find a cure for his dying twin brother. As expected these experiments turned casual people in mutant monsters making you wonder if Leonard and his twin Herbert were the Umbrella execs from Resident evil that did not quite make the cut. I can see it now. Wesker saying "You are evil but just not evil enough guys and your character models look a lil dated! Maybe you can move on to star in a 3rd party survival horror game. I hear Obscure needs some villians check with them!"

Regardless after one of the survivors reflects on his past you begin being randomly put into the shoes of other characters. Because this is a co-op slash and monster fest you have to always use the skills of both people to blaze a trail to your next objective. In truth after you learn how to navigate, use items, switch between team mates, and equip weapons The Aftermath does grow on you. It is not nearly as buggy as Suffering: The ties that bind which would have been a great game had it not been so carelessly rushed by midway. At least Aftermath's programmers took time to address clipping issues and it has no abyssmal doors you walk through and fall into a pit of nothingness. Besides slow save and load times the game is pretty slick and responsive for what it is.

The actual protagonists are not quickly likeable sadly. In your first mission Corey smugly looks at his bed and says "Many girls have come and gone here! But you're different Mei at least you stayed!" Mei has every right to call him a pig.

Next up jock-smock Kenny makes a remark about blowing his load to his sexy decrpyting cohort Amy after she finds a gun in the Billard room.

It's kind of hard to feel anything for these college frat stereotypes. In some instances you may root for the monsters more than for the people you're playing as. If you stay the duration a few of the heroes and heroines do prove they have more interesting layers underneath their dense cliche outer shells but even then the character development never becomes ground shaking.

As you progress through trippy graveyard dream sequences, frat parties, libraries, billard rooms, hidden passages, and labratories you get the feeling these programmers had a thing for the movie The Faculty and thought Buffy The vampire slayer was Shakespeare. Actually Buffy was a great series but whereas its campy style of humor worked for the scooby gang it does not work for The Aftermath. Joss Whedon was a master at portraying characters as normal and flawed but still quirky and lovable. In Aftermath you do not get nearly that same level of bonding.

Believe it or not there are some neat surprises along the way. I thought it was cool how when I leveled my first monster its heart stayed behind and kept beating a long time. There is also an odd Flower reference for one of the female characters that is genuinely creepy.

Despite finding this game to not be mere garbage I have to mostly agree with how I made my earliar acessment doing my IGN review of it. The fact it is two player is a welcome change for this genre. It would definetly be a wonderful introduction to survival horror. However if you've visited Silent Hill and had tea with Alessa and Pyramid head, took tourist pictures in the ghost world of Fatal Frame, or played Zombie Head golf with Jill Valentine and Leon Kennedy you have seen far better scares and far better plot devices then what are in AfterMath. That considered it is essentially a good game and "sleeper gem" that has gotten more flak than it deserves.

Pros

+ Very few bugs

+Smooth responsive controls

+Two player gorey action!

+A few neat sights along the way

+ A decent story-line that is much better then what you'll find within the typical "teen horror" genre. Not the most original plot but I've seen far worse.

+ Some of the characters are discovered to be courageous, dedicated, and good hearted deep down. It is a shame this is not immediatly so apparent at first. However it is realistic. Gaggles of friends are rarely "mature and civilized" when observed in groups.

+ A few things such as using spotlights to dispel darkness, utilizing a syringe to collect vital fluids from monster organs to replenish your health, revving up a chain saw to cut fallen trees from your path, and adjusting the security camera clarity while navigating Mei's sister Jun through the basement were neat additions.

Cons

- Ai can get abysmally dumb at certain pivotal points in which your partner actually needs to be helpful.

- The frat humor and frat stereotypes just come off as unintelligent and offensive near the beginning of After-math. The young characters in Rockstar's Bully and Atlus's Persona 3 Fes were alot more likeable at the start of their respective tales.

- Back tracking because you may have brought the wrong character for the wrong task.

-Character models look a bit dated.

- Creature designs are unoriginal however since so many survival horror games exist that have used so many ideas I can somewhat forgive Aftermath for this. Hard to break the mold when nothing new is under the sun.

-Slow save and load times.

Fooled twice, shame on me

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I played through the first Obscure but never really got into the game. I wanted to get my money's worth, though, and finished it. Surprisingly I read good reviews of the follow up "The Aftermath." I decided to try it since I really enjoy some of the other survival/horror games and can't find enough quality titles. The Aftermath was NOT what I was looking for: it was NOT a quality title, and in my opinion worse than the original, which was bad enough. For one, the characters are college kids and their behavior and language are suppose to mirror that of "real" college kids, I guess. It didn't, and I actually wanted to kill them off myself they were so absurdly annoying. The characters are idiots. The game play is dull with a lot of walking around searching for clues what to do next. In a way, it reminded me a lot of a Silent Hill game in that respect- all atmosphere with no real substance and lots walking around. I traded this one in without finishing it, which is rare for me. I couldn't take it. I swear I won't buy a third- if there is one.

An Interim game until the next gen horror survival comes to be

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I see elements of The Suffering in the monster designs, along with some crude language, also from the prison in The Suffering. The depiction of college life here is pretty immature unless these guys are freshman, and God only knows how immature incoming freshman can be (former RA here). All in all it is a fun ride given it's slim originality. The co-op play is fun even playing alone. That is probably the one detail of the game I really enjoy. Each playable charater has his or her strengths and you'll need all of them at one time or another to bridge the span of the game. I'd say give it a shot. At least rent it as it might not belong in your horror survival game library.

Not bad

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have not played the first Obscure so I had no idea what to expect from this game. I was pleasently suprised. It is a reatively short game, sometimes the graphics are bad and the storyline can be odd at times. But I like that you can change characters and at a few points it is scary. Well worth my $20 bucks.

another fun trip with flower power at fallcreek university

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is not as fun as the original but still glad they made it and hope for another one.

The game is fairly quick and can be completed within the span of a week or less.

Still very fun, I had a good time playing it. I only played the one for PS2 and I am sure that the one for WII was even funner than this.

This is good for a summer game and like the other reviewers said surprisenly good.

each game obscure one and obscure the aftermath, have a resident evil feel to them that is high school/college based which makes kind of interesting and fun

if you are either at leafmore high or fallcreek university you are sure to be in session for a good time


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