In Bloody Disgusting’s Observation review, find out how No Code followed up Stories Untold with a unique sci-fi thriller aboard a space station.

The artificial intelligences of our own dark future uniformly present as faultlessly servile, attentive to our desires and unquestioningly obedient (provided they understand our requests). Alexa, Siri, Cortana: they’re always listening, always ready to help.

And while the AI that players embody in Observation, the new sci-fi narrative game from No Code, developers of 2017’s Stories Untold, certainly fits into that tradition, he’s more recognizable as a callback to an earlier model. SAM, the intelligence that maintains the titular space station, has the low, monotone voice of HAL, the rogue AI from 2001: A Space Odyssey. And, he’s just as compromised.

This is a new kind of empathy game; one that asks us to spend a stressful day in the life of one of our put-upon digital servants — at least the kind that Kubrick imagined. After a hazy incident lands astronaut Emma Fisher— ostensibly Observation’s lone survivor— in the isolating depths of space, SAM must assist her in the routine processes of bringing the sprawling vessel back online. To do this, you’ll engage in WarioWare-like microgames, pressing the thumbstick to the right to analyze Emma’s voice sample for authentication, pushing it up to fill a bar to power a necessary system on.

Even as you help Emma, you’ll begin question SAM’s loyalties. Periodically “BRING HER” will flash dramatically across the screen. We know who “she” is, but we’re left to wonder where we should bring her, and to whom. This overarching mystery helps Observation maintain a sense of intrigue, even as the small tasks in front of you feel (intentionally) small and rote.

As time ticks by, you’ll gradually gain access to more of the station. You’ll haunt security cameras to zoom in on crucial documents and download their information. You’ll possess roving spheres to fly around the station from a first-person perspective. You’ll get very, very lost and routinely ask Emma to repeat her instructions a good dozen times.

This is Observation’s greatest strength and biggest weakness: it trusts you to figure everything out on your own. While much of its story is delivered in cutscenes, piecing together what’s actually going on requires a nosiness that we rarely attribute to our AI servants (though we certainly suspect if of the companies that manufacture them). As SAM, you’ll spend a lot of time searching the environment for vital information and will discover a lot of not-so-vital information along the way. As you trawl emails, audiologs, and schematics, you’ll find confessions that serve as a framework for the primary plot…but you’ll also discover which crew members are sleeping together. I was frequently reminded of Prey, Arkane’s space station-set immersive sim, which likewise offered satisfying voyeurism, less satisfying zero gravity segments and buckets of mysterious black goo (yeah, there’s goo here, too).

But, Observation also trusts you to understand what SAM understands. Emma frequently gives vocal prompts that certainly have all the keywords an AI would need to execute a command, but, as the very human player controlling SAM, I was often left scratching my head. I received a key long enough before release that I had the freedom to walk away and think things over when the game threw me a curveball. But, playing it before release also meant that, eventually, I had to figure these mindbenders out myself, without the helpful walkthroughs that are no doubt populating YouTube and game sites as you read this. This in-character crypticness leads to the game’s most satisfying “Aha!” moments. But, No Code’s trust in the player also meant that I spent plenty of time flying around the station, headbutting vents that didn’t open.

While difficult gameplay occasionally blocked my progress, a tightly written, well-acted story kept me engaged. Given that much of Observation is a two-character play (and that SAM is only slightly more emotive than the old Microsoft tool he shares a name with), much of the game’s emotional punch rides on Kezia Burrows’ performance as Emma. And, given that roughly 70 percent of Emma’s lines are commands for SAM, the fact that Burrows has brought a memorable character to life is impressive.

The highly technical nature of the script doesn’t prevent the game from being intriguing, but it does hamper its emotional impact. While I was fascinated by what exactly went wrong on Observation, that interest rarely extended beyond the nagging desire to excavate the plot. One of the consequences of role-playing as an artificial intelligence— the bulk of whose conversations are one-sided — is that your relationships aren’t really relationships. As the game’s name suggests, you are an observer, always watching, always listening. Nothing more.

But, my own lack of emotional investment doesn’t negate what Observation does so well. No Code has created something truly unique. It defies easy “x meets y meets z” categorization. While there are recognizable component parts—the map of a ship-builder, the numerous small mechanics of a microgame collection, the rubberneckery of an immersive sim—I have never played anything quite like Observation.

But, I’m guessing it would be awfully familiar to the AI in my pocket.

Observation review code for PS4 provided by the publisher

Observation is out now on PC and PS4.