Observer: System Redux confirmed for PC, and it has a demo now
Rutger Hauer as a brain-hacking detective
As a nice little Gamescom surprise, Bloober Team today announced that Observer: System Redux will also be coming to PC. The original Observer from 2017 was a lovely little cyberpunk horror game starring Rutger "crying in the shower" Hauer, and the upcoming System Redux is an expanded and prettied-up version - but was only announced for next-gen consoles. Well, Bloober today not only confirmed a PC release, they released a demo so we can see for ourselves. System Redux won't be a free upgrade, but it does have a discount if you're quick.
Observer is a first-person horror game starring Rutger "sobs in the fog" Hauer as a detective whose speciality is jacking into people's minds to uncover evidence. This can be pretty grim in our grim cyberpunk future, and a real nightmare if you crack the cranium of a corpse. It's a good game. System Redux builds on that with three extra side-cases to solve, remastered graphics, improvements to the shonky stealth, more secrets, and other bits and pieces.
Bloober have added or changed enough that they're releasing System Redux as a separate game with a separate price tag. It'll cost £24 if you're coming in fresh, same as the original, but folks who already own Observer on Steam can get an 80% discount if they pre-order by September 15th. Not a great way to handle it (why end the discount then?) but $6 for an expanded and upgraded version isn't too bad. No word on what's happening with the original's GOG and Epic releases, mind.
"This, I think, is a cyberpunk game that captures the social and political aspects of the genre, as well as the body horror and the credibility of the tech," dear Adam said in our Observer review. "What it doesn't have is the cool factor, and that's because we're only shown one part of the world – a part where everything has gone to hell and where nobody wants to draw attention to themselves. It's the Cronenbergian cyberpunk game I never knew I wanted, and it's shot right into my top ten of the year so far."
Katharine had some choice words for it too.
Observer: System Redux is due on Steam this holiday season (which usually means November). The demo is available from Steam right now.