Observer: System Redux

A fantastic world brought to life by great storytelling, world-building, and visual and audio design. Though I wish the voices and dialogue could have gotten some extra work put into it, overall Observer: System Redux is Bloober Team's best game yet. The Ray Tracing breaths life to a dusty and decrepit building while the DualSense allows you to feel the various actions Lazarski performs. Observer: System Redux is a great example of what both Ray Tracing and the innovations of the DualSense controller are capable of.

Released as both a remaster and an expansion, Observer: System Redux manages to fully deliver its promises, improving the original's experience with new meaningful content, quality of life changes, and massive visual improvements that leverage the power of the new consoles. The game hasn't changed a whole lot since the original, so those who did not like it in the first place will not change their minds with Observer: System Redux, but those that did will find the remaster to be a worthy purchase.

Blade Runner meets 1984 in Observer: System Redux, a tense and atmospheric psychological horror murder mystery.

A compelling game given new dimension. New wrinkles in the tale justify revisiting, but the more abrasive parts of its personality are wearing thin three years on. [Issue#183, p.74]

Observer: System Redux is not for everyone. Hell, it wasn’t for me. But the experience itself, where it takes you at least, is worth the ride. It’s worth the sweaty palms and the dread of turning on your new console, knowing full well the tense and often uncomfortable adventure through madness that awaits. Some may even decide that it’s worth a second go-round.

Observer therefore remains a horror-tinged investigative thriller that absolutely deserves to be experienced and, thanks to the next gen, also “felt” on your skin.

Alongside the visual upgrades, improved gameplay mechanics and the somewhat budget price they are. Observer was a great game, and Observer: System Redux sees it further improved in every area. It’s just a shame that the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions haven’t been created equally. Still, if you’re after a comparably inexpensive game to show off what your next-gen console can do, it’s well worth picking up, especially on PS5 where it particularly shines thanks to its DualSense implementation. Though be warned: it’s not for the faint of heart.

Observer System Redux represents a solid and visible improvement over the original: therefore, a worthwhile upgrade.

Observer System Redux is a better game than the original and manages to convey the thought-provoking story in a more structured fashion, with added details. It does not offer just a graphical upgrade but also manages to better portray the surrounding moral and physical decay, improving the atmosphere and the overall experience. The bugs are annoying, but can easily be fixed. Those who did not try the game yet, should go ahead and dive into this adventure, they will not regret it. Thanks to the added extra content, Observer System Redux can be also recommended to those who already unveiled Dan’s story. Still, it feels that it would have been more appropriate to offer System Redux as a free upgrade to those who already own the game, instead of charging extra money for it.

Observer is a decent game. The highly detailed environments and disturbing dream sections are hobbled only by the gameplay’s limited, repetitive nature during the real world sections. It features a solid voice work performance from Rutger Hauer too. As an early title for the PS5, there is much to be impressed with. Observer runs smooth and loads quickly, and it looks great even though the artistic direction subdues the impact. However, the old dictum remains – good graphics alone do not make for a great game.

Observer: System Redux weaves a moving story, both fascinating and relatable. With fantastic updated graphics, stunning audio, moving voice acting, and a memorable environment, this is a tale worth experiencing. I just wish it actually played better. The few times you actually have to do more than walk from room to room, the game falls apart. Thankfully they don’t make up a huge chunk of Observer, but they grow more common as you get deeper into the game. If you’re okay with that, though, and have time for an interesting cyberpunk story, Observer is worth your time.

Overall, Observer: System Redux is a great pickup for those looking to see just exactly how well their shiny new consoles can perform, as well as having an interesting experience to boot (you know, like a computer). Environments are beautiful in a truly depressing, atmospheric manner, and lead Rutger Hauer really makes the effort to portray a downtrodden detective tired of the new cybernetic world order. This is a clear pick up for fans of psychological horror drama, looking for a few jump scares and… uncomfortable-ness over a few hours. For the rest, however, it's an interesting experiment that perhaps could benefitted from less of the shocks and more of the Detective chops.

Observer: System Redux creates a miserable vision of the future that will appeal to sci-fi and horror fans. The game is essentially just an evolved point and clicker but it sucks you in and at the very least does a good job of showing off some clever PS5 tech.

Observer: System Redux is a legitimately impressive overhaul. At long last, the PS5 has allowed Bloober Team’s ambitions with this title to be properly realized. New quests slot into the experience wonderfully, Rutger Hauer’s performance remains impeccable, and the game just generally has a lot more to offer this time out. While an overreliance on jump scares and a plot desperately in need of some trimming hold the experience back from true greatness, Observer’s fancy new PS5 incarnation at long last feels like the title it was originally intended to be.