cjmelendez_
Layers of Fear developer Bloober Team surprised us with a reveal at their cyber punk horror game Observer at the E3 2016 PC Gamer Show, and since then I’ve been anxious for new details. Today the Polish developer dropped a link to the game’s wiki page, filled with the early beginnings of the lore of the world in which Observer is set.
Observer appears to be a cross between Bladerunner and Deus Ex, with a little bit of Inception thrown into the mix. Society in the future is fractured due to a troublesome political climate, and more than half of mankind have cybernetic augmentations. We play as an Observer, a member of a special police unit specialized in interrogations via a neural device called the Dream Eater. Observers are vital to law and order, but their interactions with Dream Eater devices has caused many of them to become mentally unstable and act out in violent ways when they’ve reached a breaking point. Thus the public perception of Observers aren’t positive despite their usefulness.
The world is plagued by a condition known as Nanophage — a cancer-like disease that affects augmented humans when their nanomachines acquire “the AA Glitch”. The glitch causes their nanomachines, designed to merge their bodies with cybernetics, to “go rogue” and attack the host’s body. This leads to horrific symptoms as the nanomachines destroy the host’s body and mind from the inside. Worse, Nanophage infects on a biological and digital level, essentially becoming airborne via transmission through wireless networks. Lower class augmented humans are most susceptible due to their dense living conditions and limited access to preventative procedures.
Daniel Lazarski is the protagonist of Observer, he himself a member of the titular police unit. His mission in the game is to solve the disappearance of his son using his skills and access to the Dream Eater. With what little I played of Observer behind closed doors (actually stealthily on a laptop in the main E3 hall), it looks like Daniel may have to dangers of the investigative machine and the nanophage, meaning Observer‘s sources of horror will be of the psychological and monstrous variety. I absolutely can’t wait to get my hands on this game.
