It sure doesn’t seem like it has been over three years since our own Will Johnson reviewed Observer, a first person thriller/horror game by Bloober Team. I remember when this game came out and I just never got around to playing it, but I’m glad I didn’t since I was able to get a review code for Observer: System Redux, a $30 launch title on the next-gen consoles. Having played through and enjoyed Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear 2, I had confidence that Bloober could tell a story in a dystopian 2084 and do well with it — turns out I was right.
Observer: System Redux is more than just the base game with a few visual tweaks. Rather, Bloober Team had ample time and interest to do a significant overhaul of the visuals and the result is a really impressive launch title for the XSX (which I played it on) and the PS5. Character animations and detail were re-worked and are rather stunning. You can see so many details of the late great Rutger Hauer, whose likeness and voice acting were used for the protagonist of the game, Daniel Lazarski. Players take the role of Lazarkski, an aging but capable Observer, or special detective, of the KPD. The KPD are the police department of Krakow, a city in Poland, and the story takes place in 2084.
One evening, Larzarki receives a strange phone call from his prodigal son. Larzarski visits the rough side of town where his son’s apartment is, and finds a decapitated body in this apartment, but it’s unclear whose body it is. The sketchy apartment complex soon goes into lockdown, disconnecting all external transmissions, and the mystery is on. As Larzarski, you’ll walk through the hallways and areas of the complex, interviewing tenants and finding clues to try and put it all together. It wouldn’t be cyberpunk without some augmentations, which Larzarki has several of, as do many of the NPCs you come across. As an Observer, you can use bio vision to scan and analyze things like hair and blood. Your electromagnetic vision is used to investigate electronic objects in detail. Both of these vision modes are used simply by tapping LB and RB respectively. Night vision is available with R3. Plus, a special ability allowing you to basically hack into people’s brains and replay their memories and explore their fears exists at certain points of the story; this is known as dream eating.
While the vast majority of Observer is played without the fear of death, there are a couple of times when players have to be stealthy to avoid being detected by the ‘monster’ of this particular Bloober game. That said, Observer feels pretty similar to the Layers of Fear games as far as gameplay, though personally I liked the story, setting, characters, and overall gameplay of Observer more than Layers of Fear. There was enough overlap in the ‘feel’ of Observer, though, to make things a little less dramatic for me than perhaps someone how hadn’t played the older games. This tainted my experience with Observer only slightly, though.
The dread and uneasiness-inducing sequences of shifting hallways and the environment changing behind you that were such a huge part of Layers of Fear are present in Observer, too, though they aren’t as dominant. Instead, these gameplay moments are utilized in the dream sequences to great effect. Outside of these, players engage in a fairly normal futuristic dystopian environment with lots of neon, rain, darkness, and screens, making it feel like it’s right out of Blade Runner.
Observer was a fun, accessible, and largely casual game to play that rewards players for being, well, observant, and thorough. There are some seventy-six cards to find as collectibles, these are baseball-like cards that feature the developers. They are hidden around the game’s environment — maybe in a cupboard, or a trash can, or a refrigerator — it’s fun to come across these as you’re otherwise studying the environment to piece together clues for the main story. Besides just the main story, though, there are lots of bits of lore that Bloober put the effort in to create for those curious enough to explore. Interviewing tenants, hacking and/or figuring out keycodes to locked doors, such things are available to those who want to explore and get immersed more. At any one time, it’s not uncommon to have a few extra side cases or optional objectives to tackle. I thought the menu for these was a bit jumbled up and hard to navigate smoothly and read, by the way.
One really cool thing about System Redux is how Bloober Team integrated three new missions within the game. These include Errant Signal, Her Fearful Symmetry, and It Runs in the Family — these three missions are seamlessly woven into the experience and should prove to be a good enticement for those who have previously played the game. Other changes to the game outside of the massive graphics overhaul include tweaks to the hacking minigames (as well as the ability to skip them altogether) and the near annihilation of load times. Environments seem to load in full and look great, too, giving players a more immersive experience. Voice-acting comes across a little rigid, but otherwise there is a pretty high level of immersion to be had thanks in large part to the new use of 4K and ray-tracing, as well as new effects, animations, and textures.
Observer was a fine game three-plus years ago, but this re-make is head and shoulders above the original thanks to an awesome presentation, three new side missions, and a price that’s hard to pass up when compared to many games being more than twice as expensive. While we all look forward to Bloober Team’s next one, The Medium, you can’t go wrong with Observer: System Redux if you’re looking for a captivating cyberpunk mystery thriller.
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