The gameplay is slow and plodding, but I mean that in a good way. Decisions that you make will affect the world the game exists in and even change the ending too. While Observer does take place in one location, it still manages to feel very open as the game never seems to hold your hand, it never fully answers any questions that you will inevitably ask as you play it. Observer: System Redux really is nothing more than a ‘walking sim’ horror game… but it manages to avoid a lot of the tired and clichéd gameplay that the genre has become bogged down with recently. The ‘hacking’ into people really provides a variety in terms of visuals and even gameplay. While everything is set in one location, there’s still a lot to see and do. You can even ‘plug into’ dead bodies and relive their memories to help with your investigations too. You scour crime scenes looking for clues, talk to and interrogate a variety of people (mostly via intercoms) and more. This is where the main meat of the game comes in, the investigations. Night vision to help with the searching of the darker areas of the world that Observer: System Redux takes place in. Bio vision to help him analyse blood, etc. Daniel Lazarski is armed with all sorts of cyber enhancements to aid in his investigations. I think the perfect way to describe this game would be if George Orwell and Ridley Scott had sex, this game would be the result. Everything about it just oozes futuristic dystopian fiction. When you first play Observer: System Redux, I think it is pretty much impossible to avoid comparisons to Ridley Scott’s awesome Blade Runner flick. I kept this brief and light for a good reason. Along the way, Daniel tries to reconnect with his estranged son. You are sent to a rundown apartment complex to investigate a possible murder.

Daniel has the ability to hack into people’s minds using cybernetic augmentations, this is set in 2084. You play as Daniel Lazarski (Rutger Hauer), an Observer… basically a detective working for the police. All I can do is tell you what Observer: System Redux is like and if it’s worth playing.Ī quick (no spoilers) synopsis of the story first I feel. Anyway, I never got the chance to play the original release all that much before it was removed from Game Pass, so I’m not the best person to ask if the improvements are better or worse than the original version. New gameplay mechanics, new story elements and more. Improved graphics, lighting effects, textures, etc. But remember, no matter how deep you go, you can never hide from an Observer.As with quite a few games recently, Observer had had a bit of a facelift for the next-gen of consoles, thanks to the developers Bloober Team. Virtual realities, mind-altering drugs, neural implants-pick your poison and drift away into a blissful oblivion. Where most people will do anything to escape their grim existence. But beware: the deeper you go, the greater the risk of losing your own sanity.Įnter a world ravaged by war and cyber-plague, where life is cheap and hope is scarce. Delve into these twisted neural mazes and search for clues that will help you find the elusive killer. Using a device known as the Dream Eater, hack into the minds of the dead and dying to relive their final moments, to explore their fears and obsessions. You creep into their dreams, expose their fears, and extract whatever your investigation may require.

Feared and despised, you hack into the darkest corners of your suspects’ minds. With no one left to seize power, corporations took over and forged their own crooked empires. Then came the War, leaving both the West and the East decimated and shattered.

A digital plague that killed thousands upon thousands of those who chose to augment their minds and bodies. The future has turned out much darker than anyone could imagine. Newcomers get the chance to experience one of the most thrilling cyberpunk stories in all its next-gen glory: boasting 4K resolution, upgraded textures, new animations, models and effects, and transformed with jaw-dropping Ray-Tracing and HDR lighting. On top of that, System Redux offers expanded gameplay, which includes new game mechanics, new secrets to find, redesigned stealth, additional neural interrogations, and quality-of-life improvements made with the help of the Observer community. “Errant Signal,” “Her Fearful Symmetry,” and “It Runs in the Family” add another layer of depth to the game’s story while exploring thought-provoking themes of a future that soon might become our present. Veteran Observers can dive deeper into this dystopian reality thanks to three brand-new side cases to solve. Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

Observer system redux