Post by Falcon on Jun 28, 2009 5:18:10 GMT -6
I know guys like Xavier and Ricky Johnson review new games, so putting my perspective on those is almost pointless. But, I like the oddball bargain bin cheap games. And every once in a while you find a gem, so, I'll share them with you. Cuz I love you. And stuff.
Game: Obscure: The Aftermath
Genre: Survival Horror
Players: 1-2
Platform: PS2
Release: 2007
I'm a sucker for a good story. Which is why my main area of gaming is usually in the role playing field. But, games like Resident Evil suckered me into this genre. More often than not you'll find survival horror games have interesting stories, something happens and all of a sudden, the characters presented are in **** so deep a shovel is the least of their problems. They're usually well graphically designed to enhance the fear effect, that slight jump everyone does when something scary jumps out at you in a dark room. (People who say they don't do this are either lying or have killed their natural reflexes and the first zombie outbreak will be the end of them.)
This game is a sequel. Oddly, it doesn't suffer from the Metal Gear effect of having to play all the previous ones to understand what's happening. The events of the first game are neatly summed up in the opening cutscene and aside from meeting recurring characters and themes, very little is mentioned of it. The game takes a turn down interesting lane when it explains that the problem du jour is not a virus that turns people to zombies, not a crazed killer stalking you from the dark. But rather a type of genetic mutation, caused by Spores of a mutated flower. Seems that the heads of the high school from Obscure 1 liked to do a bit of gardening. But, doing so gives the asthetics the general appeal. Mutated monsters and the like, but allowed the design team to add a more creepy distinction to the visual. Show of hands, how many people have had dreams where some giant venus flytrap looking thing is eating you? I thought so.
Plot: 9.5
If you've played this game you're probably thinking I'm a nut and there's no way the plot device is that good. And well, storyline speaking it isn't. It's a great story, just as believable as any other SH game, but it seems to lack direction. Sure, the characters move from point A to point B but the game seems to not point you in the right direction sometimes hoping you'll find it on your own. Your partner (controllable by a second player) can offer you hints as to what to do and what items you need, but sometimes it is not enough. What gives this game such a high rating is it's sheer willingness to take a leap. We've all played games where there are needless NPCs that are killed, and we've even seen important characters getting killed from time to time but this game takes the cake and runs away with it. There are eight playable characters at one point or another but by games end only two remain standing. That to me struck me as an interesting event flow that is unique and worthy of a elevated rating. The surprises just keep coming.
Design: 8.5
The game is visually appealing. As far as if you like dark hallways and such things. But what it does not do is repeat itself. You don't leave one building to go to another and find out they're carbon copies of each other with different monsters and furniture. They settings are varied and unique, even being so much as to have different trees from an actual forest to another forest on a deserted island. Never will you walk into an area and say "I feel like I've been here before" without actually having been there before.
Gameplay: 7
The gameplay is good, on par with any other game in the genre. The controls can be clunky at times, it's not as bad as the original RE, but they certainly at this games release had not fixed all the sticky slowness that comes in a hectic firefight. The gameplay is further dampened by your partner at times acting like a retarded kid in a candy store. It's painful to try and maneuver a puzzle when you need your partner to stay close to an object, when the second you move off of him he rushes back to join the character you just switched to. The one thing this game seems to lack is the ability to issue commands to one another. Other than that the controller is your friend. The camera tends to go off at times when you need it to stay still, but there hasnt been a game to this date that hasn't had that problem.
Characters: 10
The game excels here because it takes the time to flip conventional character development. Odd bits of flair here and there give a background to the environment and the characters reaction to the flair will either make you laugh or give you an insight into their personalities most other games wouldn't bother with. The spoilers at the end for people who don't want to bother with this game will tell you more.
Replay Value: 2
This game suffers as most SH's do at a lack of 'doing it all again'. There's no real advantage to playing it again as it profits you nothing extra. (In fact beating the game offers you nothing aside from the credits and the conclusion.) There's no bonus modes, no extra stuff you get the second run through. It's one and done. The only real reason for a second playthrough would be to play with a friend but since you've experienced the story and know whats ahead, it takes all the fun out of it.
Overall: 7
Overall this is a decent game. Its well worth the 10 or 15 you'll pay for it when and if you find a copy, but is it so mind blowing that I recommend you rush out to buy it, or order it? No. If you like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Clock Tower and all the rest, then its definately worth the pick up. Its varied enough to be interesting, but familiar enough to be playable.
My personal thoughts (Spoilers)
I know theres a lot of games where the main characters are killed. Aerith from FFVII jumps out at me as I think about it. The death of 'your father' in Fallout 3 is more recent. But, this game draws you into knowing these characters, and as with most Survival horror games you sort of wish that they lived to tell about it. Most of the time they do, but this game just says "You know what, we know you like this character so.. they die." Let me run it down.
Stan: Returns from Obscure one. Lives to the end. Picks locks.
Shannon: Also a returning character, lives to the end. Both she and Stan are infected by spores already. Dispels black auras.
Kenny: Also, returning. But Kenny gives into the spores and in essence becomes the final boss, and is summarily killed. Able to move heavy objects (while you have him.)
Amy: Is impregnated by Kenny and is in the helicopter when it explodes at games end. Solves coded puzzles.
Jun: Killed by a monster. Doesn't do much, you don't have her for long.
Mei: Juns sister, killed by Kenny. You spend half the game getting attached and using her to hack open computers, and she gets her face smashed in.
Corey: Mei's boyfriend. Shoots himself in the head rather than be mutated by Kenny. After watching his girlfriend lose her sister, then losing her while getting impaled (spends the rest of the game bleeding from his ribs.) He just gats himself in the face in the scene before the final boss. He can climb and jump on things.
Sven: Gets kidnapped by the boss that isn't Kenny, is hung from a meathook, and bleeds out. Replaces Kenny with moving objects. (Svens kidnapping changes the music to footsteps getting closer and farther away and chainsaw noises. Really creeped me out while I was picking a lock.)
So, eight characters.. six die.. and not all at once either. Each character has a function to perform, so it makes it all the more dramatic when one dies. You wonder if there was a place you missed where that characters function was useful, and now can't get there. It's not groundbreaking, but it adds to it.
Game: Obscure: The Aftermath
Genre: Survival Horror
Players: 1-2
Platform: PS2
Release: 2007
I'm a sucker for a good story. Which is why my main area of gaming is usually in the role playing field. But, games like Resident Evil suckered me into this genre. More often than not you'll find survival horror games have interesting stories, something happens and all of a sudden, the characters presented are in **** so deep a shovel is the least of their problems. They're usually well graphically designed to enhance the fear effect, that slight jump everyone does when something scary jumps out at you in a dark room. (People who say they don't do this are either lying or have killed their natural reflexes and the first zombie outbreak will be the end of them.)
This game is a sequel. Oddly, it doesn't suffer from the Metal Gear effect of having to play all the previous ones to understand what's happening. The events of the first game are neatly summed up in the opening cutscene and aside from meeting recurring characters and themes, very little is mentioned of it. The game takes a turn down interesting lane when it explains that the problem du jour is not a virus that turns people to zombies, not a crazed killer stalking you from the dark. But rather a type of genetic mutation, caused by Spores of a mutated flower. Seems that the heads of the high school from Obscure 1 liked to do a bit of gardening. But, doing so gives the asthetics the general appeal. Mutated monsters and the like, but allowed the design team to add a more creepy distinction to the visual. Show of hands, how many people have had dreams where some giant venus flytrap looking thing is eating you? I thought so.
Plot: 9.5
If you've played this game you're probably thinking I'm a nut and there's no way the plot device is that good. And well, storyline speaking it isn't. It's a great story, just as believable as any other SH game, but it seems to lack direction. Sure, the characters move from point A to point B but the game seems to not point you in the right direction sometimes hoping you'll find it on your own. Your partner (controllable by a second player) can offer you hints as to what to do and what items you need, but sometimes it is not enough. What gives this game such a high rating is it's sheer willingness to take a leap. We've all played games where there are needless NPCs that are killed, and we've even seen important characters getting killed from time to time but this game takes the cake and runs away with it. There are eight playable characters at one point or another but by games end only two remain standing. That to me struck me as an interesting event flow that is unique and worthy of a elevated rating. The surprises just keep coming.
Design: 8.5
The game is visually appealing. As far as if you like dark hallways and such things. But what it does not do is repeat itself. You don't leave one building to go to another and find out they're carbon copies of each other with different monsters and furniture. They settings are varied and unique, even being so much as to have different trees from an actual forest to another forest on a deserted island. Never will you walk into an area and say "I feel like I've been here before" without actually having been there before.
Gameplay: 7
The gameplay is good, on par with any other game in the genre. The controls can be clunky at times, it's not as bad as the original RE, but they certainly at this games release had not fixed all the sticky slowness that comes in a hectic firefight. The gameplay is further dampened by your partner at times acting like a retarded kid in a candy store. It's painful to try and maneuver a puzzle when you need your partner to stay close to an object, when the second you move off of him he rushes back to join the character you just switched to. The one thing this game seems to lack is the ability to issue commands to one another. Other than that the controller is your friend. The camera tends to go off at times when you need it to stay still, but there hasnt been a game to this date that hasn't had that problem.
Characters: 10
The game excels here because it takes the time to flip conventional character development. Odd bits of flair here and there give a background to the environment and the characters reaction to the flair will either make you laugh or give you an insight into their personalities most other games wouldn't bother with. The spoilers at the end for people who don't want to bother with this game will tell you more.
Replay Value: 2
This game suffers as most SH's do at a lack of 'doing it all again'. There's no real advantage to playing it again as it profits you nothing extra. (In fact beating the game offers you nothing aside from the credits and the conclusion.) There's no bonus modes, no extra stuff you get the second run through. It's one and done. The only real reason for a second playthrough would be to play with a friend but since you've experienced the story and know whats ahead, it takes all the fun out of it.
Overall: 7
Overall this is a decent game. Its well worth the 10 or 15 you'll pay for it when and if you find a copy, but is it so mind blowing that I recommend you rush out to buy it, or order it? No. If you like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Clock Tower and all the rest, then its definately worth the pick up. Its varied enough to be interesting, but familiar enough to be playable.
My personal thoughts (Spoilers)
I know theres a lot of games where the main characters are killed. Aerith from FFVII jumps out at me as I think about it. The death of 'your father' in Fallout 3 is more recent. But, this game draws you into knowing these characters, and as with most Survival horror games you sort of wish that they lived to tell about it. Most of the time they do, but this game just says "You know what, we know you like this character so.. they die." Let me run it down.
Stan: Returns from Obscure one. Lives to the end. Picks locks.
Shannon: Also a returning character, lives to the end. Both she and Stan are infected by spores already. Dispels black auras.
Kenny: Also, returning. But Kenny gives into the spores and in essence becomes the final boss, and is summarily killed. Able to move heavy objects (while you have him.)
Amy: Is impregnated by Kenny and is in the helicopter when it explodes at games end. Solves coded puzzles.
Jun: Killed by a monster. Doesn't do much, you don't have her for long.
Mei: Juns sister, killed by Kenny. You spend half the game getting attached and using her to hack open computers, and she gets her face smashed in.
Corey: Mei's boyfriend. Shoots himself in the head rather than be mutated by Kenny. After watching his girlfriend lose her sister, then losing her while getting impaled (spends the rest of the game bleeding from his ribs.) He just gats himself in the face in the scene before the final boss. He can climb and jump on things.
Sven: Gets kidnapped by the boss that isn't Kenny, is hung from a meathook, and bleeds out. Replaces Kenny with moving objects. (Svens kidnapping changes the music to footsteps getting closer and farther away and chainsaw noises. Really creeped me out while I was picking a lock.)
So, eight characters.. six die.. and not all at once either. Each character has a function to perform, so it makes it all the more dramatic when one dies. You wonder if there was a place you missed where that characters function was useful, and now can't get there. It's not groundbreaking, but it adds to it.