 Review By: Siou Choy |
Developer: | Hydravision Entertainment |
| Publisher: | Ignition Entertainment | |
| Genre: | Survival Horror | |
| ESRB: | Mature | |
| # Of Players: | 1-2 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Nunchuk | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Sequels are a tricky thing. While always initiated in hopes of reaching similar if not greater heights than their predecessors, the sad reality is that in most cases, they can’t even touch their predecessors in terms of creativity, originality, and long-term value – something all too evident in (at the very least) the music scene and cinema of today. Sadly this pervasive degradation in quality is also in evidence in the case of Obscure: The Aftermath. Having been a huge fan of its progenitor, I walked in with high hopes for The Aftermath…and walked out nonplussed, if not downright disappointed.
The good news for fans of the original: most of the cast from Obscure are available for play in Obscure: The Aftermath. That being duly noted, the developers have apparently forgotten some of those characters’ defining traits. For instance, Stan (the goofy burnout rapper wannabe) was able to pick locks in the original game (which took place while the cast was in high school), yet somehow The Aftermath claims those same lock picking skills were obtained while he was locked down (seriously).
The absurd story goes that Stan didn’t take well to being attacked by killer plants and being an unwilling, unknowing part of weird genetic biotech experiments on himself and his peers on the part of authority figures, so he strayed into a life of crime. If this was the case, every living American would be doing time – ever read the ingredients label on the food you eat, beverages you drink, or personal care products you regularly make use of? Ever hear of GMOs, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, pthalates, parabens (the list goes on endlessly) and their emerging effects on living organisms? Ever notice how much human health, in glaringly obvious broad, cross-population strokes of impact, has changed for the worse since much of this crap’s introduction into the general populace in the late 80’s? Oh, it’s a life of crime for you and me…
The rest of the gang from the original Obscure seemed to move on with a little less trouble, though the drugs they’ve been prescribed to take to battle the effects of their high school experiences don’t bode well for them. I’ll refrain from making yet another obvious comparison about the notable rise in unnecessary over-prescription of ill-tested pharmaceuticals by the American medical profession…
Posted: 2008-06-09 11:03:28 PST