Well, you begin after a quick primer: Find the key on the floor and unlock the tower door.. its not a whole lot, but it demonstrates the basic mechanisms of the interface - a large intuitive and attractive rendering panel that occupies the lower half of the screen.. you emerge from the tower into a dim, overgrown forest, one of the many first-person mazes that make up the bulk of the gameplay.. this was ages before 'Doom' redefined what first-person mazes should be like.. but on an OCS Amiga, the movement is smooth, rich and very convincing.. basically you walk in a straight line between a network of hubs.. when you reach a hub, a compass-like display on the interface lights up, showing that you have 8 possible directions to move.. N, NE, E... etc.. these mazes can be quite huge.. in the mazes you find the many items for your inventory: Food, weapons, torches, keys, magical bits.. and they share many of the common traits you expect in an RPG: For instance food rejuvenates your health - and brings up another interesting feature; stamina. Obitus requires your character to sleep off his exhaustion at points during the game.. although this would appear to help round-out the RPG gameplay, its kinda pointless since the NPCs don't roam the mazes on their own, and hence don't add any urgency or peril to the game.. breaking up these mazes, are 2 different arcadish sequences.. the first sequence separated maze from maze, and was a beautiful side scroller: with bigger sprites, and more levels of parallax scrolling than I've seen in any game of the time.. the animation is great: you can see your character cock and pull an arrow back in the bow before firing, or with a flick, throw a dagger from his hip - we're not talking about the 'bouncing rock' baddies from 'Shadow of the Beast' here.. the pacing may be a little slow, but it is truly one of the highlights of the game.. the second sequence is an interesting hybrid: mating the interface of the maze/RPG with the arcadish 3rd person view of the character.. its not side scrolling, and only comes into play when exploring the rooms of the different castles in the game.. both are without a doubt the epitome of what makes Psygnosis games great..
So what was the Obitus experience like?? Well graphics wise the game shares the highest ratings reserved for all Psygnosis titles.. my only complaint is that after those initial mazes and that first castle, the environments seem to lose a sense of distinction.. Still, the way the mossy emerald green forest fades to black in the distance, and the articulated composure and tattered cloth detail of the many NPCs is excellent.. 9.5 here.. Sound then?? well, here comes my monumental complaint.. +there really isn't any+ there is a great theme while the opening credits play, but the rest of the game is dismal silence!! - broken only by the various sound fx.. wandering through these massive mazes, sometimes for hours in a slowly dimming half-light (As your torches wane and die) where the only sound you hear is the occasional grunt of whatever you're currently killing can drive you bloody well insane.. i can't emphasize what a better game this would be overall, with just any music.. no monumental scores, just something ambient to help emphasize the sense of traveling to different locales and accomplishing your objectives as you progress through the game.. it was one of those inexplicable blunders by a company that should know better.. 2.5 for sound.. now gameplay (here comes the controversial bit): this game can either be tedious and repetitive on an overwhelming scale - literally lost in the mazes - or you can map it out, leaving you with the strength and sanity to approach the other challenges of the game with the patience to succeed.. the first time I played, I took on the mazes relying on sheer devotion of time and memory.. after hours of literally wandering in the dark (after your torches run out, Psygnosis is kind enough to reduce your vision to a very very dark gray as opposed to black) I actually made it back to the light, and the first castle with enough keys to explore.. I was like a moth attracted to a fire.. I of course neglected to save my game, and to make a long story short, lured by a shiny treasure at the far end of a room, I was snickered by a giant evil cruel extra-stingy razor blade - leaving me feeling like i had just spent a night with Lorena Bobbit.. true!! Nothing like struggling for hours to fill your inventory with keys, weapons and food, just to watch your only possibility for using any of it lie bleeding on the floor.. To get anywhere, you really have to sit down with a pad of paper and map the mazes out.. this may sound totally lame, but once these mazes begin to take shape on paper, what was once a slower part of the game, becomes quite enjoyable.. i will concede that if you do map out the mazes, the game is not much of a challenge.. sorta follow the footsteps through right to the end - I was able to complete it after only 2 days.. and although not mapping out the mazes, will provide more of a challenge (if not impossible - requiring a fanatical devotion of time and patience) the difficulty is hardly of the enjoyable kind.. really, its not you who gets lost in the mazes, its the game..
In the end, 90% of Obitus seems like those first mazes, first castle and first arcade sequence - once you complete those, the rest of the game feels smaller in comparison, and like i mentioned before somewhat repetitive.. but in an ok way - like 'Awesome'.. or this may just be because one of the first mazes, a network of subterranean caves aptly titled the Catacombs, actually spans the entire playing area of the game, and you cover a good portion of it your first outing.. i don't know if that makes any sense, but its the sensation i got.. and because of that, for those of you who do make it through all 4 kingdoms, the end comes all too soon.
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 2.5
Gameplay: 9
Obitus: 7