I managed to complete the brain-hacking horror game Observer in two sittings live on our Twitch, here’s some thoughts.
Disclosure: Key provided by Aspyr Media.
If you want to see the entire playthrough that I did live on our Twitch channel, you can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here on YouTube.
Observer paints a very bleak future for human kind. After the “NanoPhage” (a digital plague) wiped out thousands and a major war between the East and the West, the world has become pretty dark. The only winner was Chiron, a huge corporation that seized power, with no one left to oppose them. It’s set in 2084 Poland and you are Dan Lazarski, an Observer, someone who literally plugs into the brains of others to gather evidence.
Honestly, I wouldn’t say it was actually all that scary overall. There were a number of moments that made me jump, sure, but overall as a game it wasn’t the type of horror experience I was expecting. If you’re after something to completely terrify you, this probably isn’t it. However, if you go in expecting an adventure game with horror elements then it will probably satisfy you. Most of the horror is psychological, with the use of some fantastic audio work that leaves your mind to wander into the unknown.
Visually, it’s a wet-dream for sci-fi fans. Mixing in retro-futuristic devices that could have been taken out of an 80s film depicting the future, with reality-bending overlays. It’s like if you mixed the technology from the Aliens film and merged it with Virtual Reality interfaces.
It’s a clever story too, with your character’s own fears and memories leaking into the minds he’s currently hacking into. It creates some truly incredible scenes, both disturbing and thought provoking, not to mention confusing.
The game does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes, keeping you guessing and wondering just what the hell is going on. It perfectly blends the lines between what’s real and what’s not. The story is done exceptionally well for the crazy setting they created. Thanks to playing as Lazarski, who gradually starts losing his mind, things get more than just a little weird.
The level design and environments are incredible, it offers up an experience I truly think I’ve not had with any other game. There were moments of sheer panic when the walls around me started crumbling away, when I turned and found everything had changed and with items that phased in and out of existence as I moved around. It’s constantly mesmerizing and elements of it are terrifying, as everything is so constantly unexpected.
I think Rutger Hauer did a fantastic job of portraying Dan Lazarski. His delivery was near-perfect on every line. The sounds he made when you wake up, all confused and delirious after hacking a brain was some fantastic acting. My only complaint is that the voice-over was often a little on the quiet side compared to the rest of the game's audio, so having subtitles on did become a necessity.
One part of the game did annoy me, which was the way you picked dialogue options and interacted with the environment. It was often hard to tell exactly where the mouse pointer was to pick an option. You get what looks like a single white pixel, which was a bit annoying.
I should note, that the game does have two major issues in the Linux version. The mouse often becomes hard to move. I’m unsure if it’s intentional or not, but it seems the mouse behavior is extremely strange. Often it’s as smooth as silk, other times it felt like I was fighting my mouse just to look around.
On top of that, performance wasn’t great. Even on Medium settings, I often saw massive FPS drops, sometimes in really important situations, and it wasn’t pretty when it did that.
It took just short of five hours to finish. To me, the length was pretty perfect, unlike some horror and adventure games that drag on and put padding into everything they can, Observer told exactly what it needed to.
In terms of audio, story and graphics it’s close to a masterpiece in my eyes. Not quite due to quiet dialogue, performance and mouse issues, but close. I enjoyed almost every single moment spent in it. Honestly, I would say it’s the game I’ve enjoyed the most this year so far.
I would really love to see more stories made from this universe—fantastic.
You can find the Linux version of Observer on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: ShmerlSorry, my bad, wrong example. :)Quoting: jensBut you do know that it is kind of hypocrite if you are advocating Linux everywhere but would buy lets say Tomb Raider 2013 for Windows when there is a Linux port?
I wouldn't buy Tomb Raider 2013 at all. It's not available DRM-free.
I'll rephrase: Would you prefer to buy the DRM-free Windows version of a game or the Steam version of its Linux version? I think this is the case with Observer and may be Everspace.
Quoting: jensI'll rephrase: Would you prefer to buy the DRM-free Windows version of a game or the Steam version of its Linux version? I think this is the case with Observer and may be Everspace.
If there is a Linux version on Steam and not on GOG, while the game is available on GOG, I normally wouldn't buy it at all. I think the only exception is KoTOR II, which is a rather old game. In case of Everspace and Observer, I'm waiting for Linux versions to come out DRM-free.
Last edited by Shmerl on 5 November 2017 at 7:39 am UTC
Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: jensI'll rephrase: Would you prefer to buy the DRM-free Windows version of a game or the Steam version of its Linux version? I think this is the case with Observer and may be Everspace.
If there is a Linux version on Steam and not on GOG, while the game is available on GOG, I normally wouldn't buy it at all. I think the only exception is KoTOR II, which is a rather old game. In case of Everspace and Observer, I'm waiting for Linux versions to come out DRM-free.
Thank you for mostly sticking to your principles. But since you made an exception for KoTOR II (which is btw a cool, except from the last chapter), I can elaborate a little bit on that.
I guess you bought this game since you wanted to play it, short term entertainment. Now looking from the outside this is actually an action that is quite contrary with what you want in the long term, making Linux more popular, make it a first class citizen within the gaming platforms. I assume here that you agree that only increased market share will make Linux grow. But because you bought it as a Window game the sell strengthens the Windows platform and weakens Linux. Pretty destructive actually and not really rational considering your primary goal ;). You said that decisions from Executives are beyond any rationale and you disrespect people that wants to push DRM everywhere since it only gives a feeling of control but no financial win. Well, I could say same here with you. Buying a game for windows is not really rationale, regardless DRM or not, if you want Linux to grow. You could say "it was just one game", an Executive could say: "With DRM I'm loosing just 1% sells due to Linux market". I could say the behavior you despite and yours are not that different, just completely on the opposite site. ;)
My point is: It is really not just black and white. It is just to easy to condemn other as idiots that think or act differently. People have their principles, if they are wrong or not is not absolute but depends on context and goals. Furthermore people tend to bend their own rules once these rules become inconvenient. Note that I'm not saying DRM is the way to go.
Quoting: jensI assume here that you agree that only increased market share will make Linux grow. But because you bought it as a Window game the sell strengthens the Windows platform and weakens Linux.
In this case it doesn't help, since Aspyr have some kind of issue with GOG. I.e. Aspyr know perfectly well they are losing sales, but that didn't in any way help them release it on GOG as we can see. So for me Aspyr are out of the picture altogether, I'm buying the game made by Obsidian, not by Aspyr. And it's an old game which Obsidian aren't going to port to Linux. It's same reason I don't mind buying older Windows only games on GOG. Developers moved on long ago.
So your comparison is invalid. You are buying DRMed games from developers / publishers who have the choice to release them DRM-free. And doing so you are supporting their bad behavior with your money.
Last edited by Shmerl on 5 November 2017 at 5:48 pm UTC
Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: jensI assume here that you agree that only increased market share will make Linux grow. But because you bought it as a Window game the sell strengthens the Windows platform and weakens Linux.
In this case it doesn't help, since Aspyr have some kind of issue with GOG. I.e. Aspyr know perfectly well they are losing sales, but that didn't in any way help them release it on GOG as we can see. So for me Aspyr are out of the picture altogether, I'm buying the game made by Obsidian, not by Aspyr. And it's an old game which Obdidian aren't going to port to Linux. It's same reason I don't mind buying older Windows only games on GOG. Developers moved on long ago.
So your comparison is invalid. You are buying DRMed games from developers / publishers who have the choice to release them DRM-free. And doing so you are supporting their bad behavior with your money.
I think you are missing my point. I guess this comes due to different long term interests between you and me. My assumption is that you are primary interested in getting DRM out of the world, no matter what. My primary interest is to make Linux a serious platform on the Desktop (thus market share similar to Mac of better), no matter what. These targets seem related, but I would say they are not, they even contradict each other. You value a DRM-free buy the most. I value a buy that counts for Linux the most.
Last edited by jens on 5 November 2017 at 5:43 pm UTC
Quoting: jensI think you are missing my point. I guess this comes due to different long term interests between you and me.
They are different, but not very different. I also support Linux developers and don't buy Windows only games from developers who can release it for Linux, but don't do it. However I include DRM-free consideration in this choice, while you don't.
Quoting: jensYou value a DRM-free buy the most. I value a buy that counts for Linux the most.
I think both count for Linux, but while I think you're right that Shmerl will "contribute" less to the Linux cause by avoiding Steam, my gut tells me that Shmerl's sensibilities are quite rare. I don't mean that there aren't hundreds or even thousands of people like him, but that in the grand scheme of things, Shmerl's DRM-only stance is the 1% of the 1%.
I might be wrong of course. Just my experience of years of GOL and Reddit - most people on these sites tend to want games, not ideals. In fact, there's the tendency to go the other way - many buying Windows games to play on wine or dual-boot, or buying from potentially non-Linux bundle sites like
Quoting: scaine…Shmerl's DRM-only stance is the 1% of the 1%.Actually, closer to 10% of 1%.
Quoting: scaineI might be wrong of course. Just my experience of years of GOL and Reddit - most people on these sites tend to want games, not ideals. In fact, there's the tendency to go the other way - many buying Windows games to play on wine or dual-boot, or buying from potentially non-Linux bundle sites likeThere are, fundamentally, two groups of people using Dual-boot:BundleStarsFanatical. Those guys just want their games, have no interest in "furthering the Linux cause".
1) those who in the process of migration to Linux (and using their already owned pre-Linux games);
2) those who are playing pretend to be a Linux user but can't possibly afford missing on a new shiny AAAAAAAA title of the summer.
The first group is essential and we must provide them as much comfort for migrating to Linux as possible, and this includes development of WINE and advises for troubleshooting.
The second group of Linux-wannabees is essentially hurting itself. I'd suggest them sticking with Windows and not torturing themselves with technology they have no use. After all, that way won't be any hard feelings and "Waaaa, Linax suuucks it dont even runs my Wachdoogs total garbage dont recommend this POS!!!!!1111" on the forums and YouTube™.
slaapliedje Nov 6, 2017
There have been quite a few that do. I think I there is even a list on Steam of DRM free games, though yes, Steam itself is a type of DRM.
Quoting: Alm888The second group of Linux-wannabeesPlease just stop with the elitism already. Some of us do everything on Linux, others are not as committed to the "cause". This isn't about good and evil, or even about real Linux users and pretenders. It's just people running whatever software they choose on their own computers. Zealotry will only hurt our community in the long run.
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