play station official magazine

PREVIEW

OBSERVATION

This space thriller is one HAL of a good idea

Something’s gone horribly wrong aboard

the LOSS (Low Orbit Space Station),

and doctor Emma Fisher, the only

remaining crew member, is trapped

inside an airlock. But you’re not the good doc,

you’re the station’s AI observing her struggle.

Playing on the ‘crazy AI’ trope made famous by 2001:

A Space Odyssey’s HAL, Observation starts with an

unsettling realisation you may be the game’s big bad,

and runs with it. As SAM (Systems Administration

and Maintenance), your first ‘puzzle’ is to free Fisher

from the airlock by manipulating the nearest onboard

camera and then hacking into the control panel.

This kind of voyeuristic guidance, as you follow and

help your solitary crew member, forms the basis of

a game that flirts with being a thriller but has the

potential to be one of PS4’s best new horrors.

It helps that the station – modelled on the real-

life International Space Station – is a cluster of

cramped corridors and cluttered panels, its functional

design removing any sense of comfort. When

something goes bump in these dimly lit modules

you’ll jump out of your circuitry. There’s some

comfort to be had in wrapping yourself in the core

loop of searching the LOSS for clues or repairing

damage (by highlighting areas of a

module and pressing p), and helping

the good doctor get closer to resolving

her sticky situation.

ARE WE THE BADDIES?

It’s a uniquely distant approach, but

you’re often brought down to earth,

so to speak, when Fisher remarks

on your behaviour. Get too many

puzzles wrong, and it can result in the

destruction of areas of the station, and

Fisher will naturally become suspicious

that you’re the real problem. For help

solving some of the puzzles, or aid

in gaining access to new areas of the

maze-like station without blowing bits

up, you can read computer entries or

scan and access the data logs the crew

left lying around the station – these

also fill in more of the story

Feeling fresh and looking stunning,

Observation is shaping into one of

the year’s more unique narrative

adventures. It’s one you should keep

a close eye on.

FORMAT PS4 / ETA SPRING 2019 / PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL / DEV NO CODE

Above Alone in space, can

you help doctor Fisher

recover her crew? Or are

you, in fact, the problem?

“GET TOO MANY

PUZZLES WRONG

AND FISHER WILL

NATURALLY BE

SUSPICIOUS.”

Viewed from various
cameras, the game
looks fantastic.