14 DAY TRIAL // 
There is life in the sci-fi world of cyberpunk beyond the issues and daily updates from CD Projekt RED. While Cyberpunk 2077 still struggles with countless problems, in its shadow other games strive to reach the light of our screens. In a previous review we already talked about the charming experience presented by Cloudpunk, and today we present another adventure game set in a dystopian future. Observer System Redux is not quite a new game, rather a rerelease for the current-gen of a three years old dark adventure, starring the late Rutger Hauer.
Observer System Redux although has updated graphics, and some tweaks here and there, but in essence does not change the basics of the original game. It remains a first-person adventure game, where you will have to navigate both the surrounding reality and the fictive world built on memories, in order to put together an intricately woven and hidden story. Despite the skillful voice acting by Rutger Hauer, the original Observer did not get universal praise due to several issues, including the inconsequential visual representation interfering with the puzzles and the immersion in the game world.
The developers apparently listened to all the feedback and decided to give another go to their game, trying to better represent their vision. As a result, the story in Observer Redux System is less convoluted and better explained, the relations among the characters are more obvious, and the plot unravels in a way that is easier to follow. The story is centered around Dan Lazarski, a police detective, that reminds us of a burnt-out Blade Runner. Instead of hunting down androids, Dan has to face the filth hidden in the dark corners of human nature, by investigating more mundane crimes. The entire game feels better anchored in reality than other cyberpunk themed videogames, clearly targeting a more mature audience.
The game starts with Lazarski himself in quite a dark place, but a call from his long lost son puts everything in motion once again. The story will take Dan into an apartment building with multiple stories, a surreal place suspended between the reality of the rundown physical structure and the layer of digital eye candy that hides the decay. The narrative is mundane and sci-fi, colorful, and dark at the same time. In Observer System Redux there is nothing glorious or “gangsta” about the struggle to survive.
All the tenants have to face common desperation, caused by the lack of resources and paranoia that big brother is always watching. This includes the Observer himself, our hero, making all the wretched characters part of the same play on the same stage. This equality among observer and observed contribute immensely to the atmosphere of the game.
After the mandatory first steps, the game explores philosophical and ethical issues typical to the cyberpunk universe, putting in balance the aspirations, beliefs, and morals of the different characters you will encounter. The result is thought-provoking on different layers and how far it strikes the players, depends only on how far they are willing to go down the rabbit hole. The road will be paved with mysteries and puzzles, but those who already played the original will have no major surprises. Despite the new side missions, there are only minor adjustments when it comes to the gameplay. The new content represents just another way to immerse the player in the micro-universe of the building, and highlight even further the hopelessness of its tenants.
The added missions also better explain the context of what is going on around the player and the process of exploring the memories. This gameplay element still feels overstretched, although the game is still short. The mixing of the reality and the after-effects of memory diving is still pivotal, but with the improvement of the narrative structure, the developers also toned down the jump scares.
Your character will still be assaulted by unexpected sound effects and visual hallucinations, but their impact is considerably reduced compared to the original game. Instead of focusing on cheap scare tactics, the developers managed to achieve a very tense atmosphere throughout the game, with some memorable moments, that trade cheap jump scares for an almost palpable tension that remains with you even after you finished the game.
The most obvious improvement is the graphics, which include now Ray Tracing and HDR. But very early in the game, Observer System Redux reveals itself as a not so perfect upgrade: there are unexplainable framerate drops and various bugs that will require you to load previous saves in order to be able to continue the game. Also, the new shiny graphics tend to confuse and make it very hard to notice the visual prompts about interacting with different objects. The voice acting of Rutger Hauer is still great and contributes considerably to the haunting atmosphere of the game.
Conclusion
Observer System Redux is a better game than the original and manages to convey the thought-provoking story in a more structured fashion, with added details. It does not offer just a graphical upgrade but also manages to better portray the surrounding moral and physical decay, improving the atmosphere and the overall experience. The bugs are annoying, but can easily be fixed.
Those who did not try the game yet, should go ahead and dive into this adventure, they will not regret it. Thanks to the added extra content, Observer System Redux can be also recommended to those who already unveiled Dan’s story. Still, it feels that it would have been more appropriate to offer System Redux as a free upgrade to those who already own the game, instead of charging extra money for it.
