Observer (video game)

Observer is a psychological horror video game played from a first-person perspective. The player controls Daniel Lazarski, a Krakowian 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 read documents. ==Synopsis==

Observer is set in a cyberpunk rendition of 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. 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 man near death 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 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 mentioning a place called Sanctuary. He finds his way deeper underground, ending up at Sanctuarys gates. Inside Sanctuary, Daniel meets Adam in a 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 shared control over his body and leaves the building. 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 by police as the lockdown is finally lifted, leaving the fates of both Daniel and Adam unknown. ==Development and release==

At Kraków-based Bloober Team, a staff, at times exceeding thirty members, developed Observer with Unreal Engine 4. ==Reception==

According to Metacritic, Observer received generally favourable reviews. It was a runner-up for the Best World award at Giant Bombs 2017 Game of the Year Awards, and won for Best Setting in Game Informers 2017 Adventure Game of the Year Awards. Eurogamer and Polygon ranked it among the best games of 2017. The game was also nominated for Use of Sound, New IP at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, and won the award for Best Emotional Indie Game at the Emotional Games Awards 2018. Game Informers Javy Gwaltney wrote "Observer makes the most of its fusion of cyberpunk sci-fi and terror", citing the minimalistic setting as something that distinguished it from other futuristic stories. He commended the hacking sequences for being "intense, terrifying" and interesting. The game was praised for its puzzles, consistent scares and plot revelations, which Gwaltney thought kept it from being boring, despite the lack of combat. Brittany Vincent of Game Revolution said the game was, "by far", among the best of the year. She felt the exploration was thrilling and declared the atmosphere and visual effects during hacking sequences "masterful". David Rayfield at GameSpot praised the detailed environments and found the story to be "one of the most intriguing" in the genre in years. He felt the ability to open doors inches at a time added to the horror. He liked the blend of the sound design with Reikowski’s music, and how the writing made "even the most fleeting of characters" genuine. Writing for PC Gamer, Jody Macgregor said certain moments of "surrealness" were effective, finding the visual effects "genuinely shocking" at times. The cat-and-mouse levels were lauded for "livening up the dreams". Shacknews Chris Jarrard agreed with Rayfield that the "hyper-detailed world" made an impression. He observed a "superb" use of binaural recording and thought the pacing was "excellent". Conversely, Gwaltney criticised Rutger Hauer's line delivery and the stealth sequences. Vincent and Rayfield both disparaged the stealth areas, calling them "frustrating". Macgregor complained that, although the visual effects looked "kind of cool", they eventually lost their appeal; similarly, he called the cat-and-mouse sequences "overused". Other complaints included the use of jump scares and a disappointing plot. Jarrard saw the exploration as "cumbersome and mildly ". ==Film adaptation==

In December 2017, a film adaptation with American production company Zero Gravity was announced, increasing the value of Bloober Team's shares by over 8%. ==References==