Observer

A dark, unforgiving descent into one family’s darkest secrets, brilliantly stylized and exquisitely paced and acted. Hauer is in top form as the cynical, tired, end-of-the-road Detective Lazarski and Observer lives to subvert any possible genre expectations you might approach it with.

A few minor technical flaws keep me from giving it a perfect score, but Observer is one of my favorite games in a year that has much to offer.

Bloober Team’s latest is one of the scariest horror experiences I’ve played in a long time, and its strong sense of place, story, and action put it above the majority of other games in the genre. Observer is simply the best of both worlds and is a must-play for anyone who considers themselves a fan of either sci-fi or horror.

Observer takes place and memories and turns them into frightening things, dragging the player into realms of terrifying visions that stir up a nameless fear.

>OBSERVER_ is a superior, more frightening take on the experience we glimpsed from Westwood Studios’ Blade Runner adaptation back in 1997. Outstanding level design and a perfectly paced nightmare make for one of the best adventure titles I’ve ever played. You will feel a sense of cybernetic dread that has been missing since your last run in with Shodan. This is a must play for fans of the genre or anyone looking for a solid scare.

>observer_ takes the beats from Bloober Team’s own Layers of Fear, adds a layer of cyberpunk, and somehow comes out the other end both unnerving, and more than the sum of its parts. There are a few small technical hiccups present, and some infrequent uneven voice work, but beyond that there’s an amazing story about the human toll of investigation and observation.

>observer_ is one of the most immersive games I have had a privilege to play in recent memory. It grabs you by the collar and pulls deep into its twisted cyber mystery. The game progresses with the beat of any good thriller and won’t let you have a dull moment, even with a lack of action as observers come unarmed. It took about 10 hours to solve the case (or did it solve me?), but I would gladly have spent twice the time in the bleak and oppressive neo Krakow. The game is worth jacking back into, though, as it has alternate paths to take and endings to see. >observer_ is like a direct-to-video B movie that never was that you can now play yourself. And it stars Rutger Hauer. Did I tell how awesome that is?

Its grimy characters, seedy underbelly of futuristic Poland, and uncomfortably bizarre storylines combine to make some of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in gaming. It may be a little unorthodox, but it’s executed fantastically. If you’re looking to be simultaneously terrified and intrigued, you need to spend a few days with Daniel Lazarski as an Observer.

Cyberpunk is a reflection of where we’re headed as a society, an oddly alluring reality where we've allowed impressive technology into our lives at the cost of our humanity. This is a niche genre that needs new revisions and new pioneers so it can keep evolving as we inch closer to seeing its fictional warnings play out in real life, and Observer adds to the familiar parables in fascinating and unexpected ways. In that respect, and on so many other levels, Observer is a haunting and remarkable achievement.

An audio and visual tour de force, Observer doesn’t pull any punches. It would appear that Layers of Fear was simply foreplay for Bloober Team; a warm up for the full-on fuckfest that Observer is. Combining investigation, exploration, stealth, puzzles, and a near constant barrage of horror, Observer is a meticulously created game that rarely puts a foot wrong. If you think you have the stomach for it, this could be one of the biggest surprises of the year.

Despite some minor technical quibbles and uneven voice acting, Observer is a nightmarish gem. Drawing heavily on seminal sci-fi film Blade Runner for its overall cyberpunk aesthetic, this new game from Bloober Team adds fantastic game design and an engaging narrative to keep you coming back despite the terror it induces.

Even with some minor quibbles about the puzzles, I can’t pretend Observer is anything but a brilliant accomplishment. It’s original, creative, stunning, creepy, and occasionally disturbing. It marvels at fantastic technology and wallows in brutal gore in equal measure, creating a hardcore sci-horror that must be played. This isn’t for the faint of heart or those prone to photosensitive seizures (there’s a lot of flashing lights!) but for anyone looking for a different kind of horror or innovative visuals, it’s a must-play.

Advertised as a cyberpunk horror, I do feel that >observer_ falls short of that aim considering I only jumped three times throughout. What it did right is more than enough reason for any fans of the cyberpunk genre, fans of works centered around dystopias, and fans of vintage sci-fi to at least give it a shot. From the setting to diving into others’ minds, and then watching the lines between real and unreal begin to blur, it’s an unsettling walk through madness I’m happy I took.

Bloober Team’s >observer_ marries cyberpunk and body horror tropes into an intense, disturbing sensory feast, for the most part successfully.

During 8 hours I spent with Observer I never felt that the developers’ creativity is waning. [10/2017, p.45]

Observer is filled with alarming images, sounds en conversations, elements that come together as a mystery which is bound to get under your skin. Let the raw voice of Rutger Hauer guide you through a nasty world, in which the game-within-a-game With Fire and Sword: Spiders forms a nice diversion of all the somber misery. But be forewarned that this is more of a walking simulator than a Outlast-like horror game.

Layers of Fear proved that Bloober Team knows how to make horror games, and now Observer proves that they can tell great stories too. A little more variation in the gameplay and Observer would have been just perfect.

Observer crushes you with its extremely rich, but deliberately disgusting environment. Here cyberpunk means garbage, ruins and dirt, and you will remember this atmosphere for a long time.

Solid step forward from Bloober´s previous game Layers Of Fear to offer a great first person horror adventure game that creates gorgeous cyberpunk setting. A true must have for the fans of the sci fi genre, who will be blessed with the voice of Rutger Hauer acting as the game´s main character.

Obscure and really paranoid first person adventure from the makers of Layers of Fear. Great atmosphere and a very dark and enjoyable story to step into.

Dark, violent, visionary. Observer's cyberpunk universe hits hard despite some too long and boring mind trips.

Observer is a must buy for cyberpunk fans. Bloober Team's ambitions grow and this game is a good example. An interesting idea, well designed visions, pretty graphics and superb soundtrack are worth the price of admission. It's still a "walking simulator", but a very good one.

Observer features remarkable trips through fictional minds that unsettle and terrify without relying on excessive jump scares. The nightmares contrast wonderfully with an atmospheric and detailed cyberpunk world that is always fascinating to explore.

Quotation forthcoming.

Observer is a brilliant commingling of cyberpunk and horror. It demonstrates how interesting the game concept is and how much Bloober Team has grown.

Observer is a good sci-fi horror adventure, with a strong narrative, blessed by the amazing performance of Rutger Hauer. Some less-convincing elements (notably, recycling of assets and gameplay ideas from Layers of Fear, the previous game from Bloober Team) don't diminish the value of an intriguing experience, full of love for Blade Runner and the sci-fi avantpop.

A brilliantly unique experience later soddened with unusual game design decisions.

Observer is a great sci-fi adventure that looks goods and drags us into its world. We missed more difficulty, but other than that, it's worth the journey.

Observer is a very interesting first person adventure game featuring a well-crafted setting and characters as well as the team's signature transitions, which manage to carry everything forward in spite of the gameplay which gets slightly repetitive over time. While the single elements may not be particularly original, the sum of the parts more than makes up for it, making Observers a worthy purchase for fans of psychological horror and dystopian settings.

Observer is an interesting experience, which finds its main strength in the spire of a deep and intriguing story, and harmoniously combines sci-fi themes (primarily trans-humanism) with other intimate and familiar topics.