Observation

If you’re after an experience like no other, that will challenge your problem-solving skills in logical and believable ways, you absolutely need to play Observation. It’s one of the most compelling and surprising games I’ve played in recent years. Its biggest achievement, though, is that it didn’t make me feel like I was playing a game; it made me feel like I was genuinely assisting a crew member in distress.

Observation combines weird sci-fi and cosmic horror with clever adventure gameplay and amazing atmosphere.

An astronaut and a self-aware AI form an uneasy alliance.

A smart sci-fi that isn't without problems, though they're balanced out by an incredible amount of style.

Observation is not a perfect game. I found it unwieldy to play and, at times, was often grasping at straws for what to do next. If you can get past that, this is a gripping tale with a foreboding and mysterious aura that drives the narrative forward at every turn. Like Stories Untold before it, Observation is game that I think you really need to play to appreciate how masterful No Code is at setting a tone and building a compelling world for players to explore.

During the five or so hours I spent playing through all of No Code’s narrative puzzle game Observation, I became really invested in the game’s compelling story. Due to excellent voice acting and gripping storytelling, I was always excited to find out what would happen next.

Observation promises an eerie space thriller, and it delivers. Almost. There's a great game there but its flaws too often make it feel like it's trying to hide from you.

Observation is clever, but it's also astoundingly dumb. You're placed in a unique perspective, where onscreen inhumanity accentuates your oh-so-human instincts. Then it subverts that! But then it makes you control a sphere that can't move directly up or down, furthering the nightmare of navigating already labyrinthine spaces. It asks you to do something, without telling you how.

It's full of stars.

While it could have done more with its central concept, Observation is a terrific, thrilling adventure game and a superb follow-up for No Code. The blend of the realistic workings of space exploration along with more bizarre elements is perfectly executed and creates an engrossing story with a haunting atmosphere that you'll want to see through. It's an epic mystery you'll want to experience, and while it may not be the full-on video game equivalent of 2001, it's still a killer ode that Kubrick would hopefully be proud of.

Observation is a sci-fi thriller that takes place on an international space station. The game follows the story of Dr. Emma Fischer, through the eyes of the station’s AI system, S.A.M. Throughout the game, S.A.M. helps Dr. Fisher with various tasks, which range from unlocking doors in the space station, to performing spacewalks, to solving puzzles. It won’t take long to find out that everything is not as it should be. It is up to you to figure out what is going on and what it all means.

Observation combines an excellent narrative and presentation with some often cumbersome gameplay elements that really drag the experience down. It’s absolutely worth seeing through to its conclusion, but it may not come easy to the impatient and unforgiving.