A review from the co-op standpoint.
Obscure is a budget-priced survival horror game, which takes place in a run-down American high school. There are five playable characters, though you can only use two at a time. However, there is the ability to have a second human player controlling the partner, which is quite unique for this sort of game. I'd like people to note that this review was done based entirely on multiplayer playthrough. Thus, I won't comment on things such as the partner AI. That said, let's get to the review.
Graphics: 8
The game's graphics are decent. They aren't anything special, but they're pretty clean. Animations aren't exactly life-like, but they're decent enough. The buildings look pretty good, so - in general - I like how the game looks. However, there is a huge irritant. When wounded, the screen's border tints red. The more wounded, the more the tint spreads inward. This is incredibly irritating, and it makes it incredibly hard to see. With multiplayer, second player is constantly mired in red haze, placing him at a large disadvantage. However, this happens seldom, as health boosts are relatively plentiful. Thus, it isn't really a major problem, just a minor annoyance.
Sound: 4
In a survival horror game, I expect the sound to set a very tense mood. It should be eerie, give you a suspenseful feeling, and generally work with the game to create a creepy atmosphere. This sound does none of it. Music is bland, sound effects aren't pronounced, monster groans are just straight unintimidating. Some people will be impressed by a couple of big-name bands producing a few songs. However, these are basically cut-scene songs. Even if you like these select tracks, they don't extend into gameplay.
Story: 6
I consider this a staple of a survival horror game. It's something you unravel as you go, and it's usually shrouded in mystery. A good story will make you want to uncover more and will help build suspense. Again, it's part of creating atmosphere, which should be the core of this genre. The problem with this game's story is just the lack of suspense. You've pretty much got the whole deal figured out within a quarter of the game. So, without a story to discover, you're just trekking to the goal. I think this loses something. Now, to be fair, I actually do like the premise of the story. It's a neat idea, but the implementation just isn't great. Also, when you fight the final boss, you have no reason to do so. I certainly wouldn't have done it if I was a highschool student trapped in a creepy school. Not that the boss is hard or anything, you just don't need to fight it.
Atmosphere: 2
I think it's an important thing in an action horror game, so it gets its own category. Unfortunately, this game doesn't deliver much of one. For reasons listed above, it just isn't creepy. Even the times when it could, potentially, make you a bit tense, it runs into a road block. That is, any twinges of jumpiness you might get are chased away by sheer annoyance at your lack of ammo or you're arguing with your friend about keeping the camera steady during a fight.
Gameplay: 5 (double weighted)
Now, remember how I said this review was a two-player one? This is where it really comes in. First, and most annoying, the camera. Alright, so the camera isn't good to begin with. That is, even player one has to deal with awkward angles at times, but this is typical of third person games in general. One big problem is that, if you're travelling to the bottom of the screen from the top, your view of any monsters that come from the bottom is severely limited. Now, the really bad part is for the second player. Unless the first player is meticulous in his camera-babysitting, player two will probably end up outside the screen at some point. At this point, any competency in play is lost. You could me completely mauled and never know it. Plus, since the camera angle shifts on player one, player two can't even just run in the same direction to catch up. Ooh, and that doesn't even take into consideration that the characters have different move speeds. Summing it up in two words: bloody irritating. The next problem in gameplay is lack of ammo. Admittedly, two players probably go through ammo faster than a solo player. However, when you run out of ammo and need to kill a blob or super zombie - or especially a spider - you're out of luck. Spiders are on the ceiling and can't be killed by the bat, as far as I know. Theoretically, you could bash a super zombie with a bat, but it'd take somewhere in the neighborhood of a century to do so. Not to mention, he'd probably have you well-smashed long before you managed to best him. We actually tried to take on a Blob with the bat. It could be done, probably not even overly difficult, but it requires a sort of epic patience. No, I'm not exaggerating, after a good ten minutes of strategic bashing the thing was still alive. However, when you actually have a decent supply of ammo, shooting the crap out of things is rather fun. I just wish you got to do that sort of thing more. I really do enjoy the ability to use five different characters with different abilities. While we never used the hint-giving girl, her inclusion promises you'll never be stuck a frustratingly long amount of time, which is good. I pointed out a lot of negatives here, but it should be noted that playing this game isn't entirely un-fun, I just felt a need to emphasize the problems.
Overall: 5 - Mediocre: neither good nor bad
All-in-all, the game is pretty mediocre. Yeah, I had some fun while playing it. However, there are just a lot of frustrations. The game is, fortunately, quite short. If it had been much longer, I would probably not have been inclined to finish playing it. For $20, it is probably worth the risk of picking it up if you typically like survival horror games. If you're skeptical, I'd say to pass it by. Can someone have fun playing it? Certainly! I am by no means everyone. Survival horrors aren't my usual game type, though I've played enough of them to be familiar with the genre. Thus, my review isn't from a "survival horror fan" standpoint, but more of a "typical gamer dabbling in the genre" standpoint. Finally, I'd like to reiterate one final time that this review is for multiplayer playthrough of the game. While some of my statements are obviously applicable to the single player game, someone with no intention of playing co-op should check out other reviews before making a decision.
Finally, I'd like to say that you should make up your own mind on the game! I'm offering this review so that people have a bit of input on whether the game is right for them. Some of the issues I have listed may not be a problem for you (I know I see it that way with other reviewers!), so you should take that into consideration. Also, don't get hung up on the score! Read the review for the info, not the numbers!