Hallways creak as you stalk from door to door, listening to bizarre noises rising from each apartment.
OBSERVER SYSTEM REDUX IGN MODS
Being in the moment is all that matters and every movement you make, whether it’s scanning ID tags on illegal body mods or sneaking a look at the tenant list before the janitor comes back, pushes you deeper into Observer's illusion.Īnother key feature that helps this universe emerge fully formed is the outstanding sound design. In these bloody crime scenes and filthy apartments, the ability to open a door inches at a time adds another sense of sweat-soaked tension. Exploration, discovery and human interaction drive the narrative forward. Throughout the course of the game, it is these extraordinary sequences that present the horrific story beats in psychedelic, surreal ways.įrom terrifying nightmare worlds, low-tech video game holograms and game designs that border on mad genius, both you and Lazarski emerge from these sections mentally exhausted but also instantly compelled to push forward to find out what happens next. He also makes use of his "Dream Eater" augmentation, which is designed to observe people’s minds. Told from a first-person perspective, Lazarski slowly unravels events with his augmented technology by scanning crime scenes for either biological or electronic evidence (either of which can reveal different clues). The society that has been carved out in this apartment building is all that matters and it’s here that Observer starts to pull away from its influences and blaze its own unique trail. There's a constant sense of the towering dark skyline of the city but you're too focused on putting your hands in the muck to feel like you're missing out on anything greater. Talking to residents, examining crime scenes and deciphering clues make up a lot of the gameplay here but it is all housed inside gorgeously detailed environments, the twisted memories of deranged strangers, and one of the most intriguing cyberpunk narratives in years.
Citizens are divided into classes and this bleak Class C district is bursting at the seams with desperate, frightened people hiding in their rancid apartments and whose only escape from the absolute hell of their daily lives is drugs-chemical or technological.Įssentially a detective story, Observer almost immediately becomes more than the sum of its parts.
Lazarski gets called to a slum in the worst part of Krakow and this is where the majority of the game takes place.
Lazarski takes jobs from his contact at Chiron and using his body tech, is able to violently jack into the minds and memories of people (alive or dead) to track clues and solve crimes. Thanks to this all-consuming conflict, Chiron rose from the ashes and became the leading authority and manufacturer of basically everything. A digital plague killed thousands of augmented people and a colossal war wiped out any previous global superpowers. Set in the year 2084, Observer tells the story of Daniel Lazarski (played by Blade Runner's Rutger Hauer), a detective who works the despair-ridden streets of Krakow under the direction of the leading corporation of the Fifth Polish Republic, Chiron.
With that in mind, it’s a small revelation to see Polish studio Bloober Team take early cues from these influences and use them as a springboard to create something new and exciting with Observer. Despite writers, filmmakers and game designers telling stories in similar worlds with outstanding results, the familiar dark rainy streets, grimy neon lights, and cautionary tales of body augmentations remained seemingly steadfast. After Blade Runner implanted itself into the minds of moviegoers back in 1982, elements of its cyberpunk world and story would echo throughout pop culture for decades to come.
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