Obscure II Hands-On Preview

It's easy to make a link between Obscure's title and its relatively poor sales performance, but developer Hydravision had enough faith in the concept of the original to produce a sequel. While the first game wasn't that bad, its release did not benefit from great timing because it arrived just after Capcom had revolutionised the survival horror genre with Resident Evil 4. By sticking to the conventions that the original Resident Evil had laid out in 1996, Obscure couldn't help but look retrograde in comparison. Hydravision did bring a couple of new ideas to the table though; it opted for a more teen-oriented story than the usual zombie schlock and added a cooperative story mode to boot. Unsurprisingly, these devices are also the focus for Obscure II, which is set for release on the PC and PlayStation 2 in the third quarter of 2007, as well as the Wii in the fourth quarter. We were hand delivered preview code for the PS2 and PC versions and wasted no time delving in to see how it's shaping up.