Observer is a horror game developed by Bloober Team, known primarily for Layers of Fear and the Blair Witch game, and published by Aspyr. The original game was developed in August 12, 2017, then expanded as System Redux as a separate game in November 10, 2020. Its focus is psychological horror, and it's tense atmosphere. My experience is solely with the System Redux edition which is said to have more content, I have no idea how it differs from the original in terms of size or quality.

Story

The plot follows Danial Lazarski, a detective capable of invading and interrogating suspects minds through cybernetic enhancements, being dispatched to an apartment. There, he finds the complex is filled with seedy individuals and becomes involved with a conspiracy involving his long lost son. The story also transitions often, portraying the perspective of the men and women he interrogates, digging deep into their psyche with abstract visual story telling. It kept my attention throughout, and the narrative is engaging on its own, plus there is a small amount of quality side stories that vary from uncovering various criminal activities that occur in the apartment to literally and figuratively interrogating deranged minds long lost to the world they reside in.

Gameplay

Most of the game is investigative, there is no combat. There are two features to investigation, one being scanning for biological material, and the other scanning for electronics. Both are just for highlighting clues to the player, which comes in handy because some of them can be difficult to see. Otherwise the game consists of interacting with the environment to piece together the plot and occasionally plugging into someone's brain, interrogating them for information in an odd sense. The game takes place in an apartment complex which has three floors, a little more than half or so of the rooms inside of the apartment can be interacted with independent of the main story, usually involving either talking to tenants or taking a peek inside. There are also puzzles, but they aren't challenging. There are only two things that are remotely frustrating, one being the time it takes to go from one side to the apartment to other, especially if the player is checking to make sure if content isn't being missed, the other being the two or three stealth sections that exist. The story and side cases are more than enough to hold attention, but the pace of movement compared to the size of the apartment is slow, and can lead to lost interest over time if side cases are being sought after.

Audio & Visuals


(Note: The game does lock up on my machine when loading areas, as you can see in the video, but the framerate was higher during play, OBS just butchered the footage. I did have frame drops in a section personally, and there I was running at 20 FPS, This was with a 970.)

A good horror game shouldn't need a soundtrack to raise anxiety in a player. Prominent use of one can be competent in implementation, but horror media such as movies or even games usually solely use the OST to telegraph to the player that something is going to happen in a section, it works for a while, but erodes the tension as the pattern becomes more apparent. When the player can't predict what is going to happen, and the only thing accompanying the player is their footsteps echoing through the halls, the buzzing of the digital displays that pass by, and the creek of a worn cabinet or door, the anxiety slowly eats away at the player because they don't know what might happen, and Observer does this perfectly. Though the actual scares are limited in quantity, they are very effective when executed because of this factor alone. There is an OST consisting of ambient tracks, and doesn't overpower the player during its runtime, and usually follows a synthwave aesthetic.

The visuals are almost photo realistic, combined with blue and green hues that tint the muddied halls of the apartment. The level of detail is great too, trash litters halls and rooms alike, the security systems on the doors look archaic and used, and random cables and the bulbs attached to them used to create a virtual environment cover the walls. The game also features a level of environmental story telling. In the rooms you can explore there are interactive items related to the person that lives inside, subtly or not so subtly hinting at what their daily life is like.

Conclusion

The game is definitely worth picking up. The story is great and fits perfectly in the bleak tones of the cyberpunk genre, and it excels at creating tension with its visual and audio techniques.