The space station Observation is twirling through the cosmos, the power cut and the crew missing. The station’s lone occupant is Dr Emma Fisher, who players must help solve the mystery by taking control of SAM (Systems Administration Maintenance), the station’s AI software that’s based on HAL from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). This sci-fi thriller draws inspiration from many similar interstellar-set horror stories and puts players in command of a potentially malevolent AI.
The developers were intrigued by the question of whether AI could even be evil or if its code had somehow failed it. Observation players get to explore that idea, and their actions as SAM affect the game world and story.
Curator Notes
Observation harks back to the grand space operas of the 1960s and 70s, which explored themes like the nature of existence and ideas by writers like Arthur C Clarke. You play as an Artificial Intelligence on a space station, which is unique and draws parallels to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as fears of humanistic computers, like replicants in Blade Runner. It’s an interesting theme at a time when people are anxious about AI – are they saviours or SkyNet?
– Assistant Curator and Programmer Arieh Offman
The Observation release trailer via IGN's YouTube channel.