%% Commented out Administrivia/ZeroContextExamples.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Obscure_6370.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:In this school, they teach you things you never wanted to know about.]]

Essentially ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' [-[[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE IN HIGH SCHOOL WITH CO-OP!]]-] ''[=ObsCure=]'' is a series of {{survival horror}} games by Hydravision Entertainment (later Mighty Rocket Studio) for the Platform/PlayStation2, original Platform/{{Xbox}}, and PC. The presentation is similar to the [=PlayStation=] 2 era ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games (''Silent Hill 2'' through ''Silent Hill 4: The Room''), played from a third-person perspective with a fixed, floating camera tracking the player from a distance within a fully 3D environment.

One of its most notable features was its two-player cooperative mode. Instead of [[LetsSplitUpGang exploring the haunted halls alone]], the teens were GenreSavvy enough to stick together in pairs, with the player selecting who to take along as a partner. Said partner was either controlled by the game's AI or a second player, and each character had had a unique skill to make parts of the game easier.

Another part of the game's charm was its {{camp}}iness. [[GenreThrowback Styled after]] the [[{{Postmodernism}} post-modern]], "meta", GenreSavvy TeenHorror movies of the late '90s (such as ''Film/Scream1996'' and especially ''Film/TheFaculty''), the games were [[StylisticSuck flush with]] corny, TotallyRadical dialogue and characters written as broad caricatures of teen movie heroes and villains. The first game even featured the song "Still Waiting" by Music/Sum41 as its theme song, as a nod to such films' "hip" soundtracks.

The first two games [[https://store.steampowered.com/sub/36489/ were rereleased]] on Platform/{{Steam}} in 2014.

!!''[=ObsCure=]'' (2004)
Something strange is going on at Leafmore High. Students are disappearing, teachers are acting oddly... When Kenny Matthews, a varsity athlete, makes an horrific discovery under the school, four of his friends -- his [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders cheerleader girlfriend]] Ashley Thompson, [[SchoolNewspaperNewshound school reporter]] Josh Carter, [[TheStoner stoner friend]] Stanley "Stan" Jones, and [[GirlNextDoor little sister]] Shannon -- join him in investigating what exactly the hell is happening. However, they quickly find themselves locked in the school overnight, and now there're ''things'' roaming the halls...

Notably, none of the five characters were ever required to advance the plot... mainly because [[AnyoneCanDie all of them could be easily]] KilledOffForReal at any time. Losing somebody didn't instantly equal a GameOver; you could continue without them so long as you had ''somebody'' left to play as. Having every character still alive was also necessary to achieve the GoldenEnding. The game also had the player [[WeakenedByTheLight using light as a weapon]] in the form of flashlights that weakened enemies, flashbang grenades that acted as {{smart bomb}}s, and even smashing open windows to let in sunlight, [[OlderThanTheyThink several years before]] ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' employed a similar mechanic.

!!''[=ObsCure=] II'' (2006)
The sequel, ''[=ObsCure=] II'' ([[MarketBasedTitle known in America]] as ''[=ObsCure=]: The Aftermath''), takes place two years after the events at Leafmore. Shannon and Kenny are attending the nearby Fallcreek University, while Stan dropped out and is working as a pizza delivery boy. Stan and Kenny have to take medication to stave off the aftereffects of what happened at Leafmore, while Shannon has managed to adapt on her own... [[WhatTheHellHero something she frequently snipes at the boys about]].

Unfortunately, there's a new recreational drug that's become trendy among the students, one that's made from a strange-looking flower that keeps appearing all over the campus. Naturally, it isn't long before the survivors of Leafmore High, along with a small group of other students at Fallcreek, find themselves facing hordes of mutants and struggling to stop the contagion from spreading too far. What follows is a romp through the college dorms, a frat house, a hospital, and the dark woods outside of town, and a long parade of {{Cruel and Unusual Death}}s as everything comes out of the woodwork to kill our intrepid heroes.

Unlike the first game, the partners ([[PlotlineDeath and deaths]]) for each section of the game are decided as part of the plot, and each hero's skills are actually ''required'' to navigate past the various puzzles and obstacles. Characterization is beefed up from the first game; while the five protagonists in the original got nearly all of their characterization in the opening scenes, the structure of the plot here means that they get real CharacterDevelopment over the course of the game, much of it provided through [[CasualDangerDialogue combat dialogue]]. However, the returning characters from the original get hit with a bad case of NotAsYouKnowThem in the process.

!!''Final Exam'' (2013)
A {{spinoff}} called ''Final Exam'' was released in late 2013 on PC, Platform/PlayStationNetwork, and Platform/XboxLiveArcade. [[GenreShift Unlike the first two games]], ''Final Exam'' is a side-scrolling TwoAndAHalfD HackAndSlash with [[ArtShift a more exaggerated art style]]. It is about four former high school buddies -- the [[LovableJock football hero]] Brutal Joe, the nerd Nathan, the [[{{Delinquents}} tough guy]] Sean, and the {{dance|Battler}}r Cassy -- who get together for their school reunion, only to arrive and find the town overrun with monsters.

It was originally conceived as ''[=ObsCure=] D'', an {{interquel}} to the first two games, but that version was scrapped after Hydravision closed its doors. It was {{retool}}ed into ''Final Exam'', [[DivorcedInstallment with an original story and characters]], after former members of Hydravision founded Mighty Rocket Studio. While not officially part of the ''[=ObsCure=]'' series, it has enough {{Shout Out}}s to the games that fans [[SpiritualSuccessor consider it a sequel in all but name]].
----
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes throughout the series]]
* AcademyOfAdventure: Leafmore High in the first game and ''Final Exam'', Fallcreek University in the second.
* ActionGirl:
** Ashley is the most adept at combat out of the five characters in the first game, with her special ability being a "rapid-fire" attack that allows her to get off two shots or swings in rapid succession. Shannon can also hold her own if one is desperate (i.e. if she's one of the last characters left), though her abilities make her more of a support character best left at the gathering site.
** In the second game, Shannon has [[TookALevelInBadass become this]]. Sven also compares Amy to a {{valkyrie|s}} after watching her kick some monsters' asses.
** Cassy in ''Final Exam''.
* BadassCrew[=/=]RagtagBunchOfMisfits: They all fit neatly into every cliched teen movie category you can think of and still manage to be friends on some level. Then they find melee weapons and firearms. Cue the drug-induced, one-liner filled chaos.
* TheBigGuy:
** In the second game, Sven and Kenny have the ability to move large objects the others can't.
** ''Final Exam'' has Brutal Joe, the strongest of the four main characters, whose combat specialty is in melee.
* BodyHorror: The games do not lack for messed-up monsters that had [[WasOnceAMan once been ordinary teenagers]]. The most grotesque example is probably the [[MookMaker Breeder]] in the second game, which Amy dryly notes appears to have once been a pregnant woman.
* CoOpMultiplayer: One of the defining aspects of the series, being fairly unique for classic survival horror, although the AI will control the other character if you're going solo.
* TheCorruption: Mortifilia, which turns those exposed to it into darkness monsters. Principal Friedman, his sister-in-law Nurse Wickson, and (in the second game) Shannon seem to be the only ones immune to it, but they can't be under sunlight too much, and Friedman spent years researching the plant to harness its properties in a less corruptive manner. Everybody else must take daily medication to avoid turning.
* CreatorsCultureCarryover: While the games are set in the United States, they were made by a French developer, and it appears that they were basing their impressions of Anglophone society more on the UK than the US.
** Metric measurements are frequently used in place of UsefulNotes/AmericanCustomaryMeasurements, dates are rendered in the form of "DD/MM" rather than the "MM/DD" format used in the US, British spellings are employed frequently, and a notice makes reference to the "Ministry of Health" (the US' equivalent is the ''Department'' of Health and Human Services). On top of that, one of the calendars still has the French names for the months of the year (octobre, janvier, avril). If it weren't for the American flag in the gymnasium in the first game and the brief reference to Friedman being born in Iowa, one might guess that the games took place in Quebec rather than the US.
** Likewise, with the exception of the Friedmans (whose last name implies a German background), every single character who's not explicitly specified as being non-white (Mei and Jun) or otherwise foreign (Sven) has an English last name like Matthews, Thompson, Jones, Carter, Brookes, or Wilde. [[UsefulNotes/MeltingPot No corner of the US was exclusively settled by the English]]; even those parts of the country with substantial levels of English heritage (like New England, Utah, and the Southeast) tend to have Scottish, Irish, German, and Scandinavian ancestry mixed in as well. To English ears it probably wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but it certainly stands out to Americans.
** One of the weapons available in the second game is a flashball gun, a less-lethal riot control weapon (though for the games' light-intolerant enemies, it is far deadlier) that is widely used by law enforcement and ''gendarmes'' in France and the rest of Europe, but is virtually unheard of with American law enforcement.
* CutShort: The second game ends on a cliffhanger following some major story revelations, but by the time the sequel finally came out, it was a DivorcedInstallment. As a result, the ending of the second game becomes a BolivianArmyEnding, even with the hopeful note it goes out on.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The entire plot of the first two games revolves around one of [[spoiler:the Friedman brothers]] trying to save the life of the other. Even their children get involved, human and plant alike. The second game reveals that [[spoiler:the ΔΘГ brotherhood had supported their research, but this was because the scientific community had repeatedly rejected them, with ΔΘГ being the only ones willing to fund them.]]
* {{Hammerspace}}: Character inventory is generally shared, except for weapons. If a character dies in the first game or both of the characters you're playing as die you have to recollect items though. There's also a possible oversight at the beginning of the first game where giving Kenny both guns and unloading them before the prologue ends causes those extra bullets to appear in your inventory when the other characters get their first gun. Very handy for Hard mode though!
* HandCannon: The revolver in the first game and in ''Final Exam''. The item description for it in the first game even lampshades this, calling it "a powerful revolver."
* MushroomSamba:
** The opening of the second game has Corey and Mei consume the mortifilia plant, triggering one of these (with some {{foreshadowing}} for later events).
** Likewise, the penultimate level of ''Final Exam'' has the protagonists get exposed to the black spores, causing a bad trip filled with [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds nonsensical mission objectives]] and, at more than one point, the characters thinking that they are Crushers.
* OrphanedSeries: Sadly, the cliffhanger at the end of the second game was never resolved, thanks to the third game becoming a DivorcedInstallment.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They are created through exposure to the mortifilia plant, and they are killed by the light.
* RevolversAreJustBetter:
** The revolver is one of the most powerful weapons in the first game, standing far ahead of the three semi-automatics available, and bested only by the double-barrel shotgun and the laser. Its description even refers to it as [[HandCannon "a powerful revolver"]].
** The same is true in ''Final Exam'', where the magnum revolver is not only far more powerful than the semi-auto handgun, but stuns enemies as well. Given that you find it in the second level, it's practically a DiscOneNuke, especially if you're playing as [[TheGunslinger Sean]].
* SaveGameLimits: Both the first and second game do this in their own way. The first game gives you a limited number of [=CDs=] that you can use to save the game in any room provided it's clear of enemies. In the second game, there are fixed save points (represented by mortifilia flowers on the wall) that can only be used once, though given the second game's more linear progression, you'll rarely revisit old save points.
* SolveTheSoupCans: Subverted in the first game, in which every obstacle has a fairly mundane solution (pouring acid onto a lock, for example, or smashing out a window with a baseball bat) or has an explained reason to be there (the four statues to unlock [[spoiler:Friedman's underground lab are foreshadowing the Friedmans' expedition and the mortifilia]]). Played straight in the second game with the mausoleum tomb.
* StylisticSuck: The games' TotallyRadical, "too-cool-for-school" attitude is part of their homage to late '90s horror movies.
* SurvivalHorror: In old-school fashion, complete with [[FixedCamera fixed camera angles]].
* SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity:
** In the first game, before the final boss fight you are able to take a large amount of ammo and multiple first aid kits from [[spoiler:Mr. Walden's]] bag.
** In the second game, after the NoGearLevel, you recover all of your weapons -- all of them stocked with plenty of extra ammo -- just before the TrueFinalBoss.
* TeenHorror: An homage to the genre, especially '90s films like ''Film/{{Scream}}'' and ''Film/TheFaculty''.
* TotallyRadical: A [[StylisticSuck deliberate choice.]] Most of the cast are grown-up students of the '90s, after all.
* TropeMaker: The ''[=ObsCure=]'' games implemented the "magically boost your flashlight beam to make light-sensitive enemies vulnerable to attack" mechanic several years before ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' brought it to the mainstream.
* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay:
** Some locked doors are opened not by rooting around for a key three rooms away or [[SolveTheSoupCans figuring out some bizarre puzzle]]. They're opened by [[BoringButPractical using a baseball bat to smash the window, then reaching through the broken glass to open it from the inside]].
** And when the door to the second floor is chained up, what do you do? Go back across the entire map, to solve a puzzle that gives you the key? No, you go to the science lab to grab acid to dissolve the chains with.
** You find a safe that needs a code to be opened, and luckily, the numbers are written on a paper. The problem is that the code's been scribbled on with a marker to cover the numbers, and you need a source of light to see the numbers clearly. You can go to another classroom and use the projector, or [[StatingTheSimpleSolution walk to a window and examine the paper thanks to the sunlight coming through the glass panels]].
* UniversalAmmunition:
** The first game has only three types of ammunition: pistol bullets, shotgun shells, and the laser's batteries. It makes sense for the shotguns (which are all presumably 12 gauge) and the laser (for which there is no extra ammo available), but the same pistol bullets are fired out of everything from an old pocket pistol to a HandCannon revolver.
** ''Final Exam'' goes further and has its ammo apply across all weapons, from pistols to shotguns to machine guns.
* UnskilledButStrong:
** In the first game, Ashley and Kenny fall into this category, with their special abilities (a rapid-fire attack and a quick sprint, respectively) being derived from their physical ability.
** In the second game, the bruisers Kenny and Sven have the ability to move heavy objects and hit enemies harder, while Corey's skills are also derived from his physical ability (in his case, [[ThePrecariousLedge climbing narrow ledges]] and being able to take more damage).
** None of them seem to struggle with guns or chainsaws though. Gun Slinging 101 must be a requirement in high school and college.[[note]][[ThatCameOutWrong Hey, why are you looking at me like that...]][[/note]] This was at least semi-justified with Ashley in the first game, as her file states she went through self-defense training prior to the events of the game.
* WeakButSkilled:
** By contrast, Josh, Stan, and Shannon fall into this category in the first game. Josh can easily find items, Stan can easily [[MasterOfUnlocking find locks and pick them faster than the others]], and Shannon is skilled at first aid and offers puzzle tips. Using Josh and Stan primarily on one's first playthrough can make life a lot easier in terms of not missing anything.
** In the second game, Mei can hack computers, Amy can solve puzzles that others can't, Shannon can suck dangerous dark auras out of the environment, and Stan once more has his lock-picking ability (this time being the only character able to do so, instead of just doing it faster than the others).
* WeakenedByTheLight: Zig-zagged. Light causes those infected with the mortifilia spores to start to mutate. A small amount of light triggers enough mutations to turn them into monsters, while a greater amount kills them, the mutations working like a fast-acting cancer. In gameplay terms, this means that direct sunlight and other high-intensity light sources (such as flashbangs, flare guns, and the lights in the cafeteria in the first game) kill the monsters almost instantly, and flashlights and, in the second game, the flashball gun help weaken them.
* ZombieInfectee:
** In the first game, [[spoiler:all of the main characters]] get infected by Friedman about halfway in. [[spoiler:The rest of the game has them looking for the antidote before the sun rises and triggers mutations. In the second game, it's revealed that the antidote only treated the symptoms rather than curing them, and while Shannon learned how to control the mortifilia and developed a symbiotic relationship with her infection, the other characters all have to take pills to control it.]] [[spoiler:Mr. Walden]] was also infected earlier on, and by the end of the game is too far gone to safely use the antidote.
** In the second game, most of the main characters save for Shannon (who's immune to the plant's effects anyway) and Stan use a drug made from the mortifilia plant in the opening, and wind up infected. It's mentioned that other students at the school have been using the drug for a month by that point, and it can be inferred that these were the students who turned into monsters at the frat party. [[spoiler:While Jun, Mei, Sven, and Amy all get killed or otherwise incapacitated too early for the plant's effects to take hold, Kenny, who still had the infection from the first game in his system, undergoes a FaceMonsterTurn as a result. Corey is also DrivenToSuicide over it, his infection being the start of his TraumaCongaLine over the course of the game.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes in the first game]]
* ActionPrologue: Kenny's stint [[ControllableHelplessness trying to fight off monsters]] before the TitleDrop.
* AirVentPassageway: Early on, the characters use this to travel from the girls restroom to the teachers' showers, so as to access the teacher's lounge (which is locked from the outside). Played a little more realistically than most examples, as the vent requires a screwdriver to open and a boost from another character to reach.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Beating the game unlocks alternate outfits in NewGamePlus mode for each character still left alive at the end. Ashley's gray shirt is switched out for the top half of her cheerleading uniform (though keeping her jeans), Stan's shirt is recolored in [[TheStoner Jamaican/Rasta]] colors, Josh gets a Hawaiian shirt, Kenny's muscle shirt and track pants are recolored green and orange respectively, and Shannon gets the most dramatic makeover -- a punk/goth ensemble that includes fishnet stockings and blue streaks in her hair. (Her appearance in the second game makes this HilariousInHindsight.)
* AnyoneCanDie: No, really. No matter what combination of characters you have, it is possible for one or both of them to die. For unskilled or new players, its almost a certainty.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Noted InUniverse in Mr. Walden's files. The mortifilia plant's behavior is so unusual that he can't believe it's real -- its stems are completely dry, implying that it doesn't need water to live, and it is not only not photosynthetic, but [[WeakenedByTheLight exposure to the light actually damages it]].
* BookEnds: The game begins and ends with you being at the school gym. Double points if you are playing Kenny during the final boss fight.
* CameraFiend: Josh. [[spoiler:Complete with an ApocalypticLog by the second game.]]
* ControllableHelplessness: [[TheLeader Kenny]] during the ActionPrologue, which is one big FissionMailed, but moreso [[RedShirt Dan]] during co-op, since he's killed barely a minute after the second player takes over.
* DuctTapeForEverything: You attach guns to flashlights using duct tape.
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Friedman absolutely splurged when he built Leafmore High. Not only does it have, among other things, a botanical garden, a theater, and a maze of secret underground tunnels, but the buildings on the school grounds are all built in an Art Nouveau style, most visible in the school's vast central courtyard and creepy statues. [[https://www.deviantart.com/art/ObsCure-Leafmore-Highschool-386778089 This fan-made map of the school]] showcases its various buildings and secrets.
* EnergyWeapon: A laser beam weapon can be found near the end of the game. It is powerful as all get out, but has limited juice and no extra batteries. A laser with unlimited battery life (albeit with a cooldown period like the flashlights) can be unlocked during a NewGamePlus.
* EvilTeacher: Principal Friedman. Mr. Walden's behavior also grows increasingly erratic over the course of the game, [[spoiler:the result of [[ZombieInfectee his infection with mortifilia spores]]]].
* FissionMailed: [[RedShirt Dan]] ''has'' to die, and [[TheLeader Kenny]] ''can't'' escape the school basement during the ActionPrologue, even though the game makes it look like you're supposed to fight off the enemies and escape.
* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: The most powerful shotgun in the first game appears to be some kind of hybrid of a double-barrel and pump-action shotgun that, in real life, could not exist as a functional weapon (at least, not with the specific design seen; Standard Manufacturing made the basic idea work with the DP-12 in 2016). Likewise, you attach flashlights to guns by simply [[DuctTapeForEverything duct-taping them together]]; if the recoil alone didn't cause the flashlight to go flying (unless the teens used the entire roll of duct tape), the operation of a semi-auto pistol's slide would do it instead. The only gun that should've been able to hold onto its flashlight was the pistol found in Friedman's safe, which had a light built in.
* HighSchool: Set in what seems to be an exclusive private school, with the player exploring the classrooms, the administrative buildings, the gym, the theater, the cafeteria, and the dorms, along with certain other features that normal high schools (even [[ElaborateUniversityHigh lavish ones]]) don't have.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: Kenny's special move is a rapid sprint that comes from his days on the basketball court.
* MaleGaze:
** It's a good thing the girls can't tell where Josh points his camera.
** Also, if Shannon is boosted up to the air vent in the girls bathroom in the Administration Building, the camera shows what would be an upskirt shot if not for Shannon's MagicSkirt.
* MultipleEndings: Two of them, with the deciding factor being whether all five characters survive to the end or not.
** If any of the player characters has died, then [[spoiler:the survivors take the antidote and leave. Afterwards, the game cuts to a memorial to those who died at Leafmore High. A mysterious purple smoke comes out of one of the coffins that has been laid into the ground, implying that the deceased are still infected and will [[CameBackWrong come back as mortifilia monsters]].]]
** If EverybodyLives, then [[GoldenEnding a special cutscene plays]]. [[spoiler:In the ruined gym, Kenny and Ashley start making out, Shannon and Josh comfort each other, and Stan moves to grab the briefcase containing the antidote, only for ''something'' to come out of the hole in the gym floor and attack him. (Given that all five of the main characters show up in the sequel, it clearly didn't do much to hurt any of them.)]] This is the [[CuttingOffTheBranches canon ending]] that the second game follows on from.
* NewGamePlus: Special Mode, which gives the characters [[AndYourRewardIsClothes alternate costumes]] and puts two new weapons into the game: the Morgenstern bat (a spiked club that does as much damage as the revolver) replacing the baseball bat, and a pistol with a laser beam weapon attached replacing the flashlight-equipped pistol found in Friedman's safe.
* OminousLatinChanting: As performed by a creepy boy choir.
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: The five protagonists didn't start out as monster hunters, things just happened that way.
* PlotlineDeath: Averted, as characters could only be killed off through [[TooDumbToLive player]] [[YetAnotherStupidDeath incompetence]] ([[RedShirt except for Dan]]). You could theoretically finish the game with [[EverybodyLives all five characters still alive]], or with [[FinalGirl only one]]. It takes a TotalPartyKill to get a GameOver.
* RedShirt: Dan. He accompanies Kenny during the ActionPrologue, and is promptly killed for good in an effort to show that AnyoneCanDie -- which is actually true (see above).
* SchoolForScheming: [[spoiler:Leafmore was founded as a way to gain test subjects for Principal Friedman's experiments.]]
* TwoTeacherSchool: The only faculty members shown running around the school (besides Friedman, for obvious reasons) are the biology teacher Denny Walden, the nurse Elisabeth Wickson, and the janitor Mr. Garrison, who gets killed offscreen. Keeping in mind that most of this game takes place after school hours, there are no other teachers present during the opening scenes where school is in session. Just who's teaching these kids anyway?
** On that note, the only teacher present in the sequel is also a biology teacher.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes in the second game]]
* AbandonedHospital: The Fallcreek University Hospital has gone through a very hard night thanks to mortifilia infectees being taken there. You get to see a poor guy in a bed bleed out from his wound, unable to move, as well as pregnant women in the maternity ward who have been mutated into {{Mook Maker}}s.
* AirborneMook: The Harpies, former college girls.
* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Compare [[http://vgboxart.com/view/16604/obscure.ii/?replies=6 these]] [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/ObsCureII_cover.jpg assorted]] [[https://vgboxart.com/view/16949/obscure-2-cover/ covers]] from the PAL version[[note]]The first is a [[FloatingHeadSyndrome floating-head cover]] featuring the various protagonists, the second is a hand reaching out at the player, and the third, taken from the MushroomSamba scene in the opening, is gory but artsy.[[/note]] with [[http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/object/900/900357/ObscureTheAftermath.jpg the snarling monster]] on the American cover. The worst part is that the American cover doubles as a case of TrailersAlwaysSpoil, giving away [[spoiler:Kenny's FaceMonsterTurn]] about halfway through the game.
* AndSomeOtherStuff: Incredibly guilty of this trope during Chapters 9 and 10, where the students need to make dynamite in order to blow up a weak wall blocking their path. Apparently, all you need to do to make a working stick of dynamite is mix bleach, ascorbic acid, ice, glycerine, and soda, in that order, into a beaker.
* ApocalypticLog: [[spoiler:The bonus video you find after obtaining all of the secret weapons shows a small video of Josh and Ashley in the Leafmore Ruins until they are found by Jedidiah, leaving their fate ambiguous.]]
* AsianAndNerdy: Twin sisters Mei and Jun are both [[GamerChick gamers]], and Mei is also a skilled hacker who can break electronic locks with her PDA.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Most of the weapons within the special boxes are powerful, but crippled by either a lack of ammo (the explosive crossbow, the flare gun, the mini SMG) or a tendency to quickly drain the battery (the high-powered flashlight). Outside of the stun gun and the flashball gun, you will be [[GodzillaThreshold saving most of these weapons for the boss fights]] and relying on the good old-fashioned pistol, shotgun, and melee weapons.
* BackForTheDead: The secret cutscene, unlocked by opening all of the lock boxes, is a video showing what happened to [[spoiler:Josh and Ashley, the two heroes from the previous game that didn't reappear in the sequel. They [[TooDumbToLive went back to the abandoned ruins of the school with a handheld camera to investigate]], and got attacked by Jedidiah. The footage cuts out before we see a confirmed kill, but it's pretty clear that things didn't turn out well for them.]]
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:[[FaceMonsterTurn Monster Kenny]], [[NotQuiteDead Leonard Friedman]], and [[HillbillyHorrors Jedidiah]].]]
* BittersweetEnding: Depending on how you look at it. [[spoiler:On one hand, all the new characters introduced in the game suffered terrible and brutal ends, and Corey, the sole one of the new ones to make it to the very end, gets infected by the same monster that kill the woman he loved. The infection would turn him into just another monster than would cooperate with Kenny, to avoid this he decides to shoot himself in the head. On the other, Shannon and Stan are still alive, and while they're in for a rough ride, they're more than ready to take it and kick ass.]]
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Matt, an African-American student you meet in the dorm at the start of the game. When things go to hell you find the Professor dissecting a monster, who Corey identifies as Matt by his tattoo. [[spoiler:Also, Mei and Jun, the only non-white members of the main cast, are the first among them to die.]]
* BolivianArmyEnding: In the end, only [[spoiler:Shannon and Stan]] are left alive, and they're [[spoiler:facing down a massive cloud of black spores]], with the implication that they're about to [[spoiler:do battle with Kenny's monstrous spawn]].
* ChainsawGood: Subverted. The chainsaw is not used as a weapon, but only for cutting through obstacles [[spoiler:and severing Leonard's CombatTentacles during the boss fight]], and it requires battery power to run. That said, [[HillbillyHorrors Jedidiah]] does use a chainsaw as his weapon, and the final battle between Corey and Jedediah is a chainsaw duel straight out of ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' (or it would be, if this game hadn't come first).
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Take your pick. You've got:
** Getting torn apart by monsters. [[spoiler:(Jun)]]
** Getting your head slowly crushed under a giant monster's foot [[spoiler:while your boyfriend watches helplessly]]. [[spoiler:(Mei)]]
** Getting [[ShoutOut chopped up with a chainsaw]] [[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 and hung on a meat hook]]. [[spoiler:(Sven)]]
** Getting [[spoiler:raped and impregnated by a monster and then giving birth to its murderous offspring]]. [[spoiler:(Amy)]]
** Suffering a slow TraumaCongaLine over the course of the game, before finally being Driven to Suicide after [[FaceMonsterTurn getting infected]] by the BigBad. [[spoiler:(Corey)]]
** Getting [[spoiler:mutated into a gigantic, murderous monster after running out of the medicine you need to keep your mortifilia infection at bay, then taking three grueling boss battles to ''finally'' go down]]. [[spoiler:(Kenny)]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: Along with BloodierAndGorier.
* DeadlyEuphemism: In his last words, [[spoiler:Kenny tells Shannon to take care of the child that he had with Amy -- an EnfantTerrible that envelops the stadium with a cloud of spores not long after. Shannon vows to "take care of it" by destroying it.]]
* DevelopersForesight:
** Overlaps with FridgeHorror. After she's rescued from Kenny, take a close look at [[spoiler:Amy. She's no longer wearing her thong, and her face starts looking sicker and sicker as the game progresses.]]
** During boss fights, the respawning item boxes will drop supplies if you run out to prevent the fight becoming impossible, though the first boss fight with [[spoiler:Kenny]] lacks these.
* DialogDuringGameplay: Unlike the first game, this one is flush with it.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Leonard/Jedidiah.]]
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: The nightmarish drug trip sequence at the beginning is ripe with foreshadowing.
* DrugsAreBad: Especially when they release spores that turn you into mutated monsters.
* DwindlingParty: Out of the entire cast, [[spoiler:Shannon and Stan]] are the only ones standing at the end.
* ExpressDelivery: It only takes one night for the mutant spawn of [[spoiler:Kenny and Amy]] to go from a zygote to [[spoiler:a helicopter-destroying, black-spore-releasing monstrosity]].
* FinalGirl: [[spoiler:Shannon, along with her boyfriend Stan.]]
* GasLeakCoverup: A newspaper found in the Leafmore Ruins reveals that the whole Leafmore Incident was covered up (probably by [[spoiler:the ΔΘГ Brotherhood]]) with this as the excuse.
* GreaterScopeVillain: TheStinger reveals that the events of both games were orchestrated by [[spoiler:the Delta Theta Gamma (ΔΘГ) fraternity, which turns out to be a Skull & Bones-esque secret society that views the mortifilia plant as the key to immortality. Both [[TheMole Professor James]] and the Friedman brothers were members (the latter out of necessity to secure funding), and the group used its deep connections to the federal government to cover up the Friedman brothers' experiments at Leafmore, so they could achieve immortality.]]
* HillbillyHorrors: Around the midpoint, after the protagonists escape the university campus, they flee to a house in the forest that turns out to be the home of Jedidiah. This trope is in full effect as you explore the house and surrounding area.
* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: Seriously, [[spoiler:Kenny]], just stay down. There are only so many things that can be dropped on you.
%%* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: [[spoiler:Poor Amy...]]
* MaleMightFemaleFinesse: As noted above under UnskilledButStrong and WeakButSkilled, most of the male characters save for Stan have special abilities derived from their physicality (Kenny and Sven's strength and Corey's daredevil acrobatics), while all of the female characters' special abilities are either intellectual (Mei and Amy) or supernatural (Shannon).
* MarketBasedTitle: The game's title in Europe is ''[=ObsCure II=]'', but it was sold in the US as ''[=ObsCure=]: The Aftermath''.
* MookMaker: The Breeder produces swarms of tiny spider biters, as well as having some really annoying attacks of its own. It's implied that they had once been pregnant women infected with the mortifilia spores.
* NewMeat: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Every new protagonist is dead by the end of the game, but their deaths are spread out enough that you don't notice too much, from first entering the hospital (Jun) to the FinalBoss (Corey).]]
* NoGearLevel: [[spoiler:The ending sees you stripped of your weapons and health items by the ΔΘГ Brotherhood.]]
* NotAsYouKnowThem: Shannon, Stan, and Kenny all have darker personalities as a result of their experiences.
* PlotlineDeath: Played straight, unlike in the first game. Zig-zagged with [[spoiler:Jun]], whose death can be delayed (but not avoided) if you try to save [[spoiler:her]], which also gets you one of the best melee weapons in the game.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Probably one of the most disturbing aspects of the game. It's hard to tell how much of an impact it's supposed to have on the game, though, considering that [[spoiler:Amy groans and cries occasionally, but shows no other signs of having gone through a traumatic experience, due to not remembering the act at all. (That said, it doesn't tell us if Kenny did something to make her forget or if she just blocked out the horrible experience.)]] Also, depending on your interpretation of the ending, [[spoiler:Amy's pregnancy]] either literally spawns a possible sequel or hands out justice to the final antagonist.
* SecretCircleOfSecrets: Delta Theta Gamma is strongly implied to have a lot more in common with [[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Skull]] [[Film/TheSkulls & Bones]] than the [[WackyFratboyHijinx drunken, hard-partying]] [[Film/AnimalHouse Delta House]] wannabes they appear to be at first glance. [[spoiler:TheStinger confirms this.]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Mei spends the first half of the game trying to track down her twin sister Jun and save her. If you manage to track her down, the game lets you control Jun's escape attempts, [[spoiler:only to have her brutally killed ''seconds'' after yanking that control away]]. Things go downhill from there.
* {{Sidequest}}: One of these is strung through the game, with a bunch of small keys scattered through the environment that open lock boxes. Each of them contains a unique, powerful weapon; in order, you get the stun gun, the crossbow, the flashball gun (a gun that fires mini-flashbangs), the flare gun, the mega-flashlight, and the mini SMG. Opening all of them unlocks a bonus video that reveals the ambiguous fate of [[spoiler:Josh and Ashley from the first game]].
* TheStinger: And how! See YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: After surviving the events of the first game, [[spoiler:Kenny]] gets killed in the sequel -- in the most drawn-out, painful way possible, involving BodyHorror and a FaceHeelTurn. Oh, and [[spoiler:Josh and Ashley, the other two protagonists from the first game who don't return, are implied to have been horribly killed off-screen]].
%%* ThemeTwinNaming: Mei and Jun.
* TookALevelInBadass: Stan and especially Shannon have taken several of them since the first game.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Trailers? Try ''game covers''. [[spoiler:Mutant Kenny]] appears right there on the cover [[spoiler:as an EvilOverlooker]].
* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Lincoln Stadium. The moment you look at the vast arena beyond the gate, with [[CueTheSun the sun about to rise just over the horizon]], you ''know'' something big is about to go down. If the SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity that occurs moments before wasn't enough of a clue...
* WackyFratboyHijinx:
** One of the early levels has you sneaking into a frat house party, which is soon followed by you fighting your way out.
** The actual fraternity hosting the party, Delta Theta Gamma, turns out to be a subversion. To the uninitiated, they're little more than a bunch of hard-partying {{fratbro}}s. [[spoiler:They're actually a [[SecretCircleOfSecrets secret society]] that's deeply involved in an AncientConspiracy, and their research into the mortifilia plant was responsible for the events of both games.]]
* WasOnceAMan: Every monster you see obviously qualifies, but the most grotesque example is [[spoiler:Kenny, who, after refusing to take his meds]], turns into a mutated freak the size of a Land Rover with an enormous arm/tentacle on his back that he uses to spit balls of spores.
* WhereItAllBegan: The end of the game takes place at the ruins of Leafmore High School, which are in the process of being demolished. [[spoiler:Then the ''real'' end of the game has the protagonists returning to the Delta Theta Gamma house, which was where the mortifilia outbreak started -- [[SecretCircleOfSecrets in more ways than one]].]]
* WhoWritesThisCrap: PlayedForDrama during the MushroomSamba in the opening when Corey and Mei read the epitaphs on their tombstones. At this point, Corey still believes that Sven pulled a prank on them while they were knocked out by the drug, and find the macabre imagery around them to be very mean-spirited.
-->'''Corey:''' "Here lies Corey Wilde, who lived in anger and died because of it." Who wrote this crap? Huh? Who?
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: A major example. The game waits until ''after the end credits'' for its big twist: [[spoiler:Professor James was TheMole, working for the Delta Theta Gamma fraternity, which is part of a larger conspiracy that was secretly responsible for the events of both games.]] ''Then'' you face the TrueFinalBoss.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes in ''Final Exam'']]
* ArtShift and GenreShift: Even when it was still known as ''[=ObsCure=] D'', it was far more cartoonish and action-packed than either of the other two games were.
* BadassBookworm: Nathan, whose combat specialty is in explosives, and whose special moves involve various gadgets, including an electro-shield, a monster trap [[ShoutOut straight out of]] ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'', and a [[WeakenedByTheLight high-powered flashlight]].
* DanceBattler: Cassy. Two of her special moves involve dancing as a means of attack, kicking and twirling enemies out of her way.
* DegradedBoss: The Tank and the Crusher, after serving as end bosses early on, become this in the rest of the game.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Cassy's unique passive ability, Charm, has this occasionally happen to enemies, with them too busy ogling her to fight.
* {{Expy}}: Each of the main characters is this to one of the protagonists from the first game. Brutal Joe is Kenny, Nathan is Josh, Cassy is Ashley, and Sean is Stan. Only Shannon doesn't have an analogue, [[spoiler:and that's because she herself shows up in the game as an NPC]].
%%* GunNut: Sean, who is also...
* TheGunslinger: Sean's combat specialty is in firearms, and his special attacks all revolve around them in one way or another.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: Two of Brutal Joe's special moves involve his background as a football player. One has him charging like a bull, as though he were running at another team on the field, and another has him putting on football armor to give him temporary invulnerability. All of the characters can also learn a tackle move to take down enemies.
* [[JackOfAllStats Jane of All Stats]]: Cassy. She can upgrade all four of her skills (health, strength, precision, and explosives) quite nicely, making her the most versatile fighter, but can't upgrade any one of them as much as other characters who specialize in one skill or another.
* LighterAndSofter: Whereas the original games were [[StylisticSuck unabashedly campy]] but otherwise played things fairly straight and tried to be genuinely scary, ''Final Exam'' is far more overtly comedic and over-the-top.
* ShowWithinAShow: The ending seems to imply [[spoiler:that the events of the game are actually part of a comic book within the original ''[=ObsCure=]'' continuity]].
* StoneWall: Nathan can upgrade his health further than any of the other characters, but he can't upgrade his melee or firearm skills that much. (Explosives, [[BadassBookworm on the other hand...]]) This is stated to be the result of him getting toughened up by years of bullying.
%%* TwoAndAHalfD
* ZeroEffortBoss: After defeating the final boss (implied to be [[spoiler:Leonard the giant tree from the first game]]), you fight [[spoiler:Principal Friedman]]. He's just an ordinary human being and, other than having a lot of health and a decent dodge roll, fights more or less like a basic Mook. The fight is pretty much just a chance to beat him up for causing the whole mess.
[[/folder]]
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