Observer (stylised as >observer_) is a psychological horror video game developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 15 August 2017. Observer follows Daniel Lazarski, a detective known as an Observer, who can hack people's minds as a method of interrogation and employ augmented vision to investigate his surroundings.
A team of around thirty developed the game using the Unreal Engine 4. It stars Rutger Hauer, who was also in Blade Runner, one of the game's primary influences. Arkadiusz Reikowski composed the score, infusing it with choral, diegetic and ambient music. Observer received generally favourable reviews from critics. They praised the world design, visual effects and hacking sequences but criticised the stealth areas and its focus on style over substance.
Gameplay
Observer is a psychological horrora video game played from a first-person perspective. The player controls Daniel Lazarski, a Krakówian detective of the Observers police unit. He can hack people's brain implants with a device known as the Dream Eater, for interrogation purposes. Equipped with augmented vision split into Electromagnetic Vision—which scans for electronic devices—and Bio Vision—which scans for biological evidence—he is able to analyse and highlight certain objects in his environment. Objects can be interacted with and examined, while dialogue trees are used for speaking with non-player characters. Nanophage cards, patient records, radio-controlled cars and roses serve as collectibles. A mini-game called With Fire and Sword: Spiders is accessed through computer terminals, which can also be used to read documents.
Synopsis
Observer is set in 2084 Kraków, Poland after the nanophage, a "digital plague" that cost the lives of thousands, resulting in war and rampant drug use. After Chiron, a megacorporation, took control of Poland and manifested the Fifth Polish Republic, a police unit known as Observers was put in control of the denizens with license to hack their minds. Drug and hologram addicts were made Class C and cast off to live in tenement buildings.1
One morning, Observer detective Daniel Lazarski receives a call from his estranged son Adam, whose caller ID is traced to a tenement building. Locating Adam's apartment, Daniel discovers a body missing its head. He scans a ComPass implant and sees a missed call from "H.N." Checking the tenant log, he learns the initials belong to Helena Nowak who lives in apartment 104. At this point, a lockdown has been triggered. In apartment 104, Daniel finds a moribund man called Amir and hacks his brain for clues. Given a glimpse of the tattoo parlour outside, he heads to the courtyard.
Helena is found dead inside the parlour; hacking her brain reveals she was working for Adam, smuggling data out of Chiron. Daniel goes looking for Jack Karnas, the owner of the tattoo parlour, in apartment 210. He finds Jack murdered and follows a trail of the killer's blood to the attic, where he is ambushed and knocked unconscious. When he regains consciousness, he finds the killer dead and hacks the remains. Daniel continues from there and into the sewers, arriving at the killer's hideout. Adam's severed head lies underneath a cover on a table. Distraught, Daniel is met with his son's voice urging him not to connect with the severed head's implant and mentioning a place called Sanctuary. He finds his way deeper underground, ending up at Sanctuary's gates.
Inside Sanctuary, an abandoned virtual reality salon, Daniel enters one of the pods. He meets Adam in the virtual world and learns that Adam's consciousness was transferred into a digital realm hoping it was out of Chiron's reach. However, Adam claims Chiron deployed a virus to break down his defences. Daniel is urged to manually override the signal that caused the lockdown, releasing Adam from the building's private network. In the adjoining building, Adam reveals he killed the original Adam for sending the virus after him and triggered the lockdown to lead Daniel to Sanctuary. Adam asks that he be hosted in Daniel's Observer mind to save what is left of his son; if Daniel accepts, Adam takes full control over him. If he refuses, Adam transfers Daniel's consciousness into a maintenance drone and steals his body. Daniel manages to steal the body of the drone's owner and uses it to attack Adam but is shot dead by police as the lockdown is finally lifted.
