Reboot sequence initiated. Initialising. Launching review of Observation, the newest title from the crew of No Code Studios for the Playstation 4.
Observation is a Sci-Fi thriller adventure game with some puzzle elements thrown into the mix, set on the space station of the same name. The player controls the space station’s, Systems, Administration and Maintenance Operating System or “SAM” for short. After rebooting, SAM notices the crew missing and finds the space station drifting, orbiting Saturn instead of earth, after an unknown anomaly occurred. Players will have to recognize and carry out voice instructions from the initial survivor Dr. Emma Fisher as she attempts to restore power and figure out exactly what happened to the station. Starting off by following the progress of Dr.Fisher by using the on board surveillance system and using it to connect and interact with other parts of the station. The player is eventually allowed to use either the on board systems or one of the small spherical probes on and around the station.
Observation does a great job of putting the player in the circuits of a cold AI that really changes the way you think about the whole situation at hand. If a voice print doesn’t match up will you accept it? If it does match but you don’t want to accept the command will you? From the offset there is something very strange going on and being put into an AI’s perspective changes the dynamics in a really unique way. SAM doesn’t feel like some omnipotent being the way HAL 9000 seems in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” he feels innocent and rooted far more in current technology. Observation is very methodical, camera controls are realistically slow and on board systems have a sort of clunky, outdated feel to them that even the crew’s logs complain about but this never feels like a hindrance.
The style of Observation is what really makes it stand out though, it strikes a balance between modern and slightly futuristic in all respects. The space station feels lived in with the daily life of the crew being visible but the Observation is still very clean and sterile meaning any overt deviation from order is jarring and strange. Camera effects and lighting play a major role, external station cameras are low resolution and fuzzy adding some great atmosphere while interior cameras are cleaner but still feel dated. There is always something eerie about the silence and isolation of space and the team at No Code have certainly got that feeling down to a science.
Observation is a fantastic Sci-Fi thriller that leaves the player with more questions than answers but definitely in a good way. A fresh take on a well worn genre with lots of little secrets and stories to discover. There are so many more good things to say about Observation but not without spoiling the mystery and charm players would experience by playing it themselves.
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Mat Panek, Chief Games Reviewer
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.
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Disclosure: Observation [PS4 code] was kindly provided by Power Up PR for this review.
