Observer Reviews
Check out Observer Review Scores from trusted Critics below. With 22 reviews on CriticDB, Observer has a score of:
Observer is a wonderful game from start to finish. It is both fear-instilling and intriguing. So, if you're looking for a horror game that is visually striking and insightful enough to warrant self-reflection, Observer is a wonderful choice.
I haven’t seen a world this interesting in horror for a while. I apparently took 62 screenshots while playing, and that goes to show how much there is to take in. A few minor technical flaws keep me from giving it a perfect score, but Observer is one of my favorite games in a year that has much to offer.
If you don’t like ‘walking sims’ then Observer isn’t going to change your mind, even if it does include some rudimentary detective work. However, if you like to be swept away by a story and pulled in to a world where every door has a new experience behind it, then close the curtains, turn off the lights, crank up the surround sound and immerse yourself in this great cyberpunk horror tale.
Ultimately, the performance complaints are just nitpicks. You do not need a solid 60fps to enjoy taking a ride into future Poland. >OBSERVER_ is a superior, more frightening take on the experience we glimpsed from Westwood Studios’ Blade Runner adaptation back in 1997. Outstanding level design and a perfectly paced nightmare make for one of the best adventure titles I’ve ever played. You will feel a sense of cybernetic dread that has been missing since your last run in with Shodan. This is a must play for fans of the genre or anyone looking for a solid scare. 9/10 tears in the rain - would mindjack these people again.
>observer_ takes the beats from Bloober Team’s own Layers of Fear, adds a layer of cyberpunk, and somehow comes out the other end both unnerving, and more than the sum of its parts. There are a few small technical hiccups present, and some infrequent uneven voice work, but beyond that there’s an amazing story about the human toll of investigation and observation.
Observer begins like many classic mystery stories: with a phone call. Detective Daniel Lazarski is in his patrol car when he receives a desperate distress call from his estranged son, Adam. Tracking down the signal, Lazarski races through the futuristic and corporate-controlled Fifth Polish Republic to find the call coming from a run-down apartment complex in the poor part of the city. The grizzled protagonist steps out of his car and into the building, entering a hellish labyrinth where both the sins of his past and the horrors of humanity’s technological future await him.
An audio and visual tour de force, Observer doesn’t pull any punches. It would appear that Layers of Fear was simply foreplay for Bloober Team; a warm up for the full-on craziness that Observer is. Combining investigation, exploration, stealth, puzzles, and a near constant barrage of horror, Observer is a meticulously created game that rarely puts a foot wrong. If you think you have the stomach for it, this could be one of the biggest surprises of the year.
>observer_ is a first-person dystopian thriller/horror game that focuses on a dark, atmospheric environment and deep story-telling.
Observer is a huge improvement from developer Bloober Team’s last horror game Layers of Fear. Observer is a wild ride similar to Layers of Fear but with a l ...
Observer is a tad clunky as a straight detective game but its story, setting and mind-diving conceit make it much more than that. It's gorgeously depressing, uncomfortable in a number of ways, and you won't be able to shake it from your own thoughts for some time.
While the long, immersion-breaking load times and repetitive nightmare sections are disappointing, horror fans will still find a game worth sinking their teeth into with Observer. Observer's story is reason enough to play the game to completion, but even those that aren't driven by the disturbing cyberpunk tale may still enjoy its puzzles and compelling crime scene investigations. Overall, Observer is a step up from Bloober Team's previous effort, Layers of Fear, and cements the studio as one to watch for horror fans.
The gameplay in these scenes is mostly focused on light, environmental puzzles with the rare ‘don’t get spotted by this creature’ moments. Looking at the right part of a room, walking in the right sequence of doors and even occasionally connecting multiple objects together as imagery symbolism bombards the player in a dream like manner. This can be problematic, but the environmental design by Bloober Team does a great job at directing the player where they need to go. Audio, lighting and good level structuring shine as I rarely felt lost even when the rooms around me were a labyrinth in layout, and playing with the sense. The confusion on Observer is deliberate and intentionally there to stress out the player, and blur the lines of reality. There is a downside to the deliberate confusion: multiple times during my playthrough of the Steam version, I encountered sections where a necessary world object wouldn’t load. When these glitches pop-up it undid some of good faith I had with the world. “Is this me not understanding the puzzle, or is the game broken?” is something I had to ask myself a few times, luckily the saves are generous and the loads are quick, and the problems were limited in the review build.
>observer_ is a wonderful futuristic Cyberpunk adventure game with plenty of detective work that adds the occasional scary thrill. The story is well written and the interrogation scenes are a wild, fun, vivid psychedelic ride.
Last year, Bloober Team delighted horror fans all over the world with Layers of Fear, a very good first person horror game featuring a rather disturbing story and characters as well as a setting that can only be described as the true stuff of nightmares. Now the team is back with yet another first person adventure game which addresses some of the issues of Layers of Fear while providing a setting and a story that can potentially be even more interesting, depending on the player's taste. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to enter the twisted world of Observer.
Even with its many flaws, the superb voice acting and serviceable story were still an entertaining playthrough. A linear horror-mystery thriller is a bit niche, but if that’s what you’re into, Observer is a title still worth picking up. If nothing else, it gives us a glimpse of what the Switch is capable of, and it will hopefully be the beginning of a trend of pushing the handheld to its limits.
Observer has some really noticeable issues, including some iffy voice acting, lame stealth segments, pixel hunt puzzles, and crashing issues. However, it's saved by better puzzles, some great imagery, and a story that is worth paying attention to.
Observer has an original premise: a first-person cyberpunk detective experience with a side of psychological horror. It sounds like an intriguing combination but how well does it all come together? Let's take a look.
An impressive blend of old school cyberpunk and modern survival horror, that’s almost ruined by one of the worst acting performances of the year.
Read PlayStation Lifestyle's Observer PS4 review and find out if this psychological horror is worth your time. Take a step into the future!
Observer feels like a step down from Layers of Fear. It's intriguing and mind-bending enough for sure with its atmosphere sure to creep out people. But the lead VA, annoying artefacts and some of the horror elements just don't click.
Experience strange days in this cyberpunk horror game.
Observer is a good psychological horror game with some minor road blocks that ultimately hold it back. Still, if you are looking for a horror game this summer, you could do far worse.