Obscure II
| ObsCure II the aftermath | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Hydravision Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Composer(s) | Olivier Derivière |
| Series | ObsCure |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows PlayStation 2 Wii PlayStation Portable |
| Release date(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 & Wii
PSP Go |
| Genre(s) | Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer, Co-op |
| Distribution | DVD-DL, UMD, Digital Download
Intel Pentium III 700MHz or Athlon XP equivalent, 256MB RAM (512MB for Vista), 64MB nVidia GeForce 3 or ATI Radeon series video card, Direct X 9.0c compatible sound card, DVD drive, 3GB free hard disk space |
ObsCure II is a survival horror video game developed by Hydravision Entertainment and published by Playlogic in PAL regions and Ignition in North America for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Wii. It is the sequel to the 2004 video game ObsCure. The game was released on September 7, 2007 in Europe, March 25, 2008 under the name ObsCure: The Aftermath[1] in North America and June 12, 2008 in Australia. Later in 2009, Playlogic announced a PlayStation Portable version and was released on September 29, 2009.[2] It was later released on Steam in 2014.
Storyline
Two years after the events of ObsCure, Shannon and Kenny are now enrolled in the nearby Fallcreek University, while Stan is making ends meet as a pizza delivery boy. Stan and Kenny have to take medication to prevent the effects of the plant from infecting their bodies, while Shannon has been able to adapt to the changes.
As the story begins, a new drug created from a strange flower is quickly spreading its influence over the University's populace. Soon enough, a small group of students along with the Leafmore High survivors have to face a horde of mutants and stop the spread of contagion before the situation becomes critical.
The students meet a scientist, Richard James, who is immersed in the biology of the scientific black spores, and aids the player several times.
The spores spread through the campus and affects the nearby hospital. Mei, who gets a call from her twin sister Jun, goes with Sven to rescue her, but fails when she is killed by an unknown monster. The player eventually switches to Corey, and he finds Shannon and her brother Kenny, who is badly injured by the black spores and turns into a monster.
When Sven and Corey meet up at a warehouse with the others, monstrous Kenny appears and kills Mei, thus distressing Corey. Stan, having responded to Shannon's call meets with the surviving group and drives them away, until he crashes off a cliff into a forest. Eventually, Kenny strikes again, while Corey and Shannon defeat him by making him fall into a pit in a warehouse.
As the game progresses, Stan and Shannon get closer. While they find a place to take refuge, Amy and Sven explore and are ambushed by a man with a disfigured face carrying a chainsaw. The disfigured man fights Sven while Amy escapes.
When they find Sven impaled on a meat hook by the disfigured man at an abandoned house, Stan and Shannon chase after the disfigured man, leading to the ruins of the school from the first game, to find a tree with huge moving branches. The huge tree was actually the mutated remains of Leonard Friedman (from Obscure) and the disfigured man is his son, Jedidiah. Friedman had injected himself with a strain of virus that mutated him and was passed on to Jedidiah. Stan and Corey kill the Friedman tree, while Corey finishes off Jedidiah avenging Sven's death.
When the pair return, they find Richard James and an ambulance carrying a pregnant Amy. Stan and Corey find out that she was raped by Kenny. The ambulances take Stan, Shannon, Amy, and Corey away, but they crash at a bridge after going through a cloud of spores. Stan and Shannon try to find out where Richard's new pick up point is, to try and reach it, while Corey goes to rescue Amy.
When Shannon and Stan reach the new destination point, they find Corey fighting Kenny, and Richard James taking off with Amy in a helicopter. Corey, feeling desolate, states that Mei was the only one he cared about, and commits suicide. Stan and Shannon kill Kenny by crushing him with a huge platform of lights over the football pitch.
As Kenny lies dying under the platform, he pleads to Shannon to take care of his child. Shannon swears that she will not let it live. The helicopter containing Amy and Richard fills up with a cloud of spores, and the helicopter explodes. Stan asks Shannon what to do next. She replies that she will continue and cut all family ties.
Characters
- Shannon Matthews
- Born in Riverside, California (voiced by E. Renee Thomas) - Kenny's younger sister. Her experiences have left her with a much darker personality. Due to the experiments done to her by Friedman she has the ability to control black auras and suck them into herself. Shannon succeeded at adapting to the experiments and does not have to take medication to cope with them.
- Stan Jones
- Born in New York (voiced by Joshua Swanson) - After the events at Leafmore, Stan caused a lot of problems and ended up being sent to prison. He never wants to go back to school, and ends up working as a pizza boy. He needs medication to cope with the experiments.
- Kenny Matthews
- Born in Riverside, California (voiced by Buster Cox) - Shannon's older brother. After the events at Leafmore, he went to the University of Fallcreek with his sister. He needs medication to cope with the experiments.
New player characters
- Corey Wilde
- Born in Austin, Texas (voiced by Buster Cox) - Corey is a car enthusiast and a skater who seems resistant to pain. His girlfriend is Mei and he loves her immensely, yet because of his immature nature he has a hard time convincing her.
- Mei Wang
- Born in New York (voiced by Alicia LaForce) - Jun's twin sister. She is obsessed with video games and has become very skilled at hacking.
- Jun Wang
- Born in New York (voiced by Nikki Rapp) - She is a gamer. All the guys dream about her.
- Sven Hansen
- Born in Oslo (Norway) (voiced by Lawrence Bailey) - Sven Hansen was born in Norway but migrated to the United States. He is fanatical about baseball and hockey. He secretly loves Amy.
- Amy Brookes
- Born in Charlotte, North Carolina (voiced by Amy Sanchez) - A young, smart, blonde girl who exploits her good looks and is quick to tease just for the fun of it. She is aware that both Sven and Kenny are interested in her, and she appears to be interested in them. She secretly has a crush on Sven.
Soundtrack
22 tracks, composed by Olivier Derivière.
- Corruption With Rage and Melancholy
- Back To School
- Atmospheric Mood
- Life Has A Plan
- Ballets Of Deads
- Finally Home
- Melancholy
- Corpus Gemitu
- Bad Behaviour
- Lost Love
- Infested People
- Dimitri Was There
- Waltz Of Death
- We All Die
- Save My Soul
- The Last Ones
- Periculum
- Turtle Stone
- Hearing Fearies
- Lumen
- Nostalgia
- Bonus Track: Falling Down Demo
- Bonus Track 2: Evergreen (By Noel)
The OST is free to download on the official site of the composer.
PSP version
Playlogic has confirmed a PSP version. Roger Smit, Playlogic's Executive VP, states of their decision to bring over the game to the PSP: "We received a tremendous amount of feedback from fans wanting us to bring the gruesome gore of Obscure 2 to a handheld console. Our talented teams have since crafted the game to fit the unique co-op capabilities and controls of the PSP while also keeping the exciting gameplay and detailed graphics featured in the console versions intact."[2]
Reception
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ObsCure II has received mixed reviews and has an aggregate score of 60/100 on Metacritic.[7] IGN, who gave the game a 7.5/10, praised the graphics, saying that it has "detailed, atmospheric environments and respectable character models", but criticized the game for its "pretty cheap cutscenes" and "lacking plot."[8]
References
- ↑ Hayward, Andrew (2007-09-25). "Xyanide, Obscure 2 to Arrive in 2008: News from". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "PSP - Obscure: The Aftermath Coming To PSP". News.absolute-playstation.com. 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
- ↑ Reed, Kristan (2007-08-06). "Obscure II Review • Page • Reviews • PlayStation 2 •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
- ↑ "Obscure: The Aftermath Review". Gamerevolution.com. 2012-11-24. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
- ↑ GamesMaster, October 2007, p.85
- ↑ Flavell, Gary (2007-08-20). "Obscure II - Review". play.tm. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
- ↑ "Obscure: The Aftermath for PlayStation 2 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
- ↑ "Obscure: The Aftermath Review - IGN". Ps2.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-11-28.