You’ll never know quite what could come next as you turn a corner in these sequences. Shifting rooms, flashes of light, mysterious figures, and harrowing chases await you in the minds of your suspects. These levels are designed in such a way that they convey the story and the memories of the person you’re jacking into the mind of, but it’s presented in a fast, sometimes completely chaotic fashion that is both abstract and horrifying in equal measure.
Bloober team has always been masters of environmental manipulation, and the only game that has come close to the sheer existential terror of Observer’s sequences is Layers of Fear 2, though I think Observer: System Redux wins out.
When you’re not exploring the dark and winding neon tunnels of The Stacks, you’ll spend your time jacking into the minds of suspects, which is where Observer: System Redux truly shines. Particularly, one quest involving shrines spread through the building was very haunting and intriguing in equal measure. Side quests are also on offer, with some new ones added in this PS5 version that I really enjoyed. The game chooses to keep its story smaller in scope than you would think with this premise, focusing on the pursuit of Daniel’s son, who mysteriously reaches out to him in the beginning of the game and sets you on a hunt to discover what is happening to him.Ī lockdown in a giant apartment building forces you to interact with the myriad of different residents, some of whom will offer unique stories that add more to the world. He himself is augmented with the ability to jack into suspect’s mind and interrogate them via their own subconscious. You play as Daniel Lazarski, who is a futuristic detective known as an observer.
#Observer system redux vs observer Ps4#
For those who haven’t played the PS4 release, Observer takes place in 2084 after humans have augmented themselves with cybernetic parts and suffered a plague known as the nanophage which only affects those who have been augmented. A Gorgeous Return to a Fully Realized Cyberpunk WorldĬyberpunk and horror aren’t something you would immediately associate with one another, but Observer makes the combination feel as natural as peanut butter and chocolate. The question is, does this new release surpass the original and wipe out some of those performance and gameplay issues? Let’s find out. After all, you combine the voice of the late Rutger Hauer with a dystopian cyberpunk setting and horror, and you’ve got a recipe for something truly special. I reviewed Observer for PS4 back in 2017 and found it to be one of the best horror games in recent memory. One of the games that piqued my interest for the new system was the remastered and expanded Observer: System Redux. While it has been difficult to find PS5 consoles, those of us lucky few who were able to secure one can absolutely assure everyone else that the wait is worth it.