Each of the few we do are different and bring to the party tricks and effects seen across Bloober Team’s other titles, such as when we enter a room to find there is no exit, so we’ll need to spin around before the room changes entirely and we’re suddenly running down a corridor a la Layers of Fear. These sequences are both the best and most confusing things in Observer. While a lot of the scanning is simply to fill out the world and story, upon finding a dead (or almost dead) person, he is able to hack into their mind and try to figure out what happened to them. When searching a scene it is vital to swap between them to find everything and also pay close attention to every little detail as some of the clues can be almost microscopic and are easily missed. He is able to scan environments and people using either Electromagnetic or Bio Vision one to search for tech clues, the other organic clues. This detective work forms the bulk of Observer’s gameplay. We play as Daniel Lazarski, an Observer detective – part of a force set up after a virus called the Nanophage caused war and rampant drug abuse – who is able to hack into people’s minds in aid of doing his job. I’m not sure how much it’s making use of truly next gen features, but what is here works excellently. This remade version does look stunning, with plenty of nicely detailed rooms and areas to see, and some excellently lit scenes that heighten the tension. The fairly condensed area in which the game is set still manages to squeeze in plenty of neon, holograms, and automated droids in among some truly grotesque imagery, while later areas go full force on the tech side of things, almost reminding me of the underground labs of Resident Evil. There’s plenty of cyberpunk-y visuals and themes, with body augmentation – and the effects it can have on people – a big part of the package. Bloober Team are well known for their horror titles in recent years ( Layers of Fear, Blair Witch) but Observer tends to skew more towards thriller than those titles. I’ve not played the original release, so came in here fresh having only really seen a short trailer or two. On the other, I came away from it bewildered about what was going on, amid some odd technical issues. The Observer is an interesting title on the one hand, it is absolutely dripping in atmosphere with this Redux version layering on some stunning visual effects that really increase the immersion.
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