In Game Rant's countdown to Halloween, one studio that has appeared quite frequently is Polish developer Bloober Team, which established itself as a major force in the horror genre with the games it released on PS4 and Xbox One. Following 2016's generally well-received Layers of Fear, Bloober Team moved forward with Observer, a cyberpunk horror game that earned even stronger reviews than its previous effort.
Observer was praised for its eerie atmosphere, genuinely scary moments, and smart puzzle design. In the game, players take on the role of an "Observer" named Daniel Lazarski, who is able to hack into peoples' minds to get information. Lazarski receives a distressing call from his son Adam, but upon arriving at Adam's apartment building, discovers that something sinister is going on. From there, players are free to explore the apartment building, interacting with the tenants and happening upon all kinds of horrors along the way.
With Observer, Bloober Team proved that it was able to do more than just emulate other horror games. While Layers of Fear certainly has its fans, Bloober Team has been open about it was clearly inspired by Hideo Kojima's PT. Observer's cyberpunk horror setting, meanwhile, is something that's rarely been explored in gaming, and it goes a long way in making the game stand out in a crowded genre.
Like Layers of Fear, Observer is becoming a franchise of sorts for Bloober Team. An Observer film adaptation is reportedly in development, which should only help Bloober Team's desire to become the Blumhouse of the video game industry.
Meanwhile, there's also a revamped version of Observer in the works, entitled Observer: System Redux. Observer: System Redux is a next-gen version of the original Observer game, with improved visuals, new story content, new quests to complete, and more. Needless to say, it should be the definitive way to experience the Observer story, and luckily, it's set to be available for both next-generation consoles at launch.
Observer: System Redux being available for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X at launch means that anyone that purchases either of the new consoles will have a high-quality horror game experience to play right off the bat. Looking ahead, fans can expect Bloober Team to build off the foundation it established on the PS4 and Xbox One with new titles for PS5 and Xbox Series X. The first of these will be the Silent Hill-inspired The Medium, set to launch December 10 as an Xbox Series X exclusive.
Observer is out now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.