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Game review: ‘Observation’, a space puzzle with promise
Essentially a hidden object game, Observation pits puzzles against players playing the role of a space station's AI.
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Alone in space: 'Observation' captures a sense of containment, isolation and paranoia through its retro-futuristic visuals. (Courtesy of Devolver Digital/-)
B
y putting players in control of an artificial intelligence (AI), Observation provides a very different perspective than is usual for sci-fi games, which typically have an AI as the sidekick or the villain.
In Observation, players control SAM, aka System Administration Maintenance, an AI tasked with monitoring a space station called – you guessed it! – Observation, and are essentially handed the ability to play god of the space station, seeing, hearing, and knowing everything that goes on there.
Along with astronaut Emma Fisher, SAM must figure out why Observation isn't working like it should as it leads the two to the darkest corners of the station. The question is how much of what's happened is in your hands as SAM, and this sense of mystery is one of the game's strengths.
The game's mood is retro-futurist with artsy horror flourishes reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but also parts of Alien as it progresses into a more menacing arc.
The game captures a sense of containment, isolation and paranoia through its design and atmospheric visuals. It isn't hard to navigate through the cold, narrow halls of the Observation and feel like you really are on a space station far from home.
The game's puzzles are solved mostly through a fixed camera, which limits the viewing angle in a good way, adding to the suspense of unseen corners that permeates the game's tenser moments. The puzzles themselves are technical and relatively simple; there aren't many hair-pulling moments here.
