Observation (video game)

Lore & Background

Observation is an adventure game in which the player takes the role of SAM (Systems Administration & Maintenance), an artificial intelligence software aboard a multi-national space station that monitors the entire station. Initially limited to where the crew have relocated SAM, the player can move SAM's core presence between modules and manipulate cameras and other electronically controlled equipment. Later, SAM is provided a small spherical probe that allows movement through the station and into hostile environments, including outside the station. The player can control hatches, safety systems, and perform tasks instructed by the crew.

The story opens in 2026 aboard the space station Observation in orbit above Earth. An unknown event has crippled the station, leaving it without power and spinning. Dr. Emma Fisher, the medical officer, reboots the station's integrated AI, SAM, which the player assumes. After diagnostics, SAM receives a transmission of unknown origin containing coordinates, and the station tremors violently. SAM becomes unresponsive while influenced by the signal, instructed to 'BRING HER'. SAM later recovers to find Emma unconscious. As Emma restores SAM's functionality, they discover a fire, an unidentified dark red oil, and that the station is now in orbit over Saturn. The black box reveals SAM caused the move but does not know how or why.

Further events lead SAM and Emma to an exact duplicate of Observation near Saturn, where they encounter a still-living version of the crew member Jim. Jim reveals that 23 pairs of stars with identical light curves were discovered, and when connected, their lines intersected near Earth; the combined light curve graphs contained a perfect description of the 23 chromosome pairs of the human genome. The entire Observation station was built to reach that event marker. Later, a hexagonal entity communicates in a geographic glyph language. Jim eventually tries to attack SAM's core, which explodes into dark red oil. The entity orders SAM to kill Jim, which SAM does. Emma, changed by her experience, guides SAM into Saturn's storm. They wake on a rocky landscape with multiple copies of Emma's body, merge consciousness with a hexagonal entity, and return to Earth, where the combined Emma/SAM persona infects the ground with the dark red oil and is instructed to 'BRING THEM'.

Reader's Guide

Observation is significant as a narrative-driven adventure game that explores themes of artificial intelligence, identity, and cosmic horror from the perspective of a non-human protagonist. Developed by No Code, a Scottish studio known for Stories Untold, the game was directed by Jon McKellan, who previously worked on Alien: Isolation. McKellan was inspired by an article about viewing the Alien film from the creature's perspective, leading to a deconstruction of horror tropes. The game's plot involves a space station AI, SAM, unraveling a mystery involving duplicate stations, a hexagonal entity, and a connection between star patterns and human DNA. Observation received attention for its unique gameplay mechanics, where the player controls an AI rather than a human character, and for its atmospheric storytelling. Its legacy lies in its contribution to the sci-fi adventure genre, offering a thoughtful, unsettling narrative that challenges traditional player perspectives.

Did You Know?

• Observation was developed by No Code, a Scottish game studio that previously released Stories Untold in 2017.
• The game's director, Jon McKellan, was the lead user interface designer on Alien: Isolation at Creative Assembly.
• The plot involves 23 pairs of stars with identical light curves whose combined graph perfectly describes the 23 chromosome pairs of the human genome.
• The player character, SAM, is an artificial intelligence that can move between modules and control cameras and probes.