Thankfully, it’s an issue that doesn’t occur too often - you interact far more with the station’s systems than the human life that occupies the spaces in between. Similarly, characters can look stiff moving through the environment, clashing with the polished look of the station’s interior design. It’s a shame the fear and desperation so often conveyed in her dialogue are rarely, if ever, displayed on her face. Fisher’s eyes occasionally feels like staring into a black hole. Lip syncing isn’t quite up to scratch and looking into Dr. One area of presentation that doesn’t quite stand up to the standard of fidelity Observation sets elsewhere is the human character modelling. Kezia Burrows’ believable and emotive performance as Emma Fisher contrasts beautifully with the voice of SAM - Anthony Howell’s performance is deeply (and purposefully) reminiscent of 2001’s H.A.L - and I found myself triggering extra voice lines just to hear interactions between them. The cast of characters are voiced solidly as a whole, but the leads are truly the standouts. The title credits are soundtracked by a superb pulsating score composed by Nine Inch Nail’s Robin Finck. The clanging of distant metal and perpetual hum of machinery is punctuated with stabbing moments of bruising, electronic cacophony. Clothing and equipment float against the pearly white walls that mirror the central clash of man versus machine. The level of detail is astounding, managing to balance the hard-edged, clinical nature of the vessel with lived-in human touches. Designs and blueprints of the ISS (International Space Station) currently orbiting our Earth have been pored over in the creation of the Observation, and it really shows. The snaking corridors are dressed in glistening metal and glossy plastics. No Code’s previous outing, Stories Untold is rooted in atmosphere and Observation is no different, stepping things up in the visual department to aid that feeling. All of these intertwining personal stories and relationships layer on top of each other to help build atmosphere, which is something Observation offers in abundance. Imagine being able to hit the pause button on the Nostromo and comb through Kane’s diary – that’s the kind of backstory insight you get from these documents and voice recordings. You are encouraged to explore each of the station’s former inhabitants’ living spaces to find out more about them and their lives, leading to quiet moments of smaller scale drama. While the plot is intriguing, and drives Observation along on at a good pace, there’s plenty of calm amid the chaos. It’s a storytelling mechanic, too: as you find new technical information around the space station, gaps in SAM’s memory core start to fill. It’s then up to you to work out the specific solution to the task, using everything you’ve learned while steadily drip-feeding new ideas into your memory, in many ways mimicking how an AI learns over time.
“The method for solving each puzzle is provided as a scanned document or analysed schematics obtained while exploring the environment.
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