Observation

Observation (2019) is a narrative adventure game that puts you on a space station to solve a power outage and find missing crew. However, here you play the role of the SAM, the System Administration Maintenance artificial intelligence software, rather than human protagonist. Your limited view, due to panning cameras and restricted interactions, make this both unusual and intentionally creepy.

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Play involves exploring the space station as the computer to build understanding of who the crew are and what has happened. You can control the station hatches and safety systems. As you get to know the crew they give you tasks to fulfil that slowly grant access to more of the space station. In this way you get to move your core presence between several of the modules on the station and manipulate cameras and other electronically-controlled equipment in that module.

All the while you are working to piece together what happened. From the intertwining personal stories to records and diary entries a picture starts to emerge of the events that led up to your lose of memory and malfunction. It's this that drive you forward as much as growing your power or abilities on board ship.

The result is a smart science fiction game that unusually leans on narrative as much as fear and jump scares. It's in the detail that this comes to life, and you find yourself in a labyrinth plot matched by the space station's flickering hallways. As Sam Greer puts it, "As we progress through Observation we go from reconnecting old systems to jettisoning compartments. Traumatic events in our lives leave marks that reshape us for better and for worse. Growing from these experiences means reconciling with them, understanding all that baggage and figuring out all over again what it is you actually need."

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Our examiner, Jo Robertson, first checked Observation 4 years ago. It was re-examined by Ellen Robertson and updated 4 weeks ago.