I'm on Observation Duty 8

[u]SPOILER WARNING![/u] This review contains spoilers about the game and its content, marked accordingly with the [spoiler]spoiler tag[/spoiler]. Read on at your own discretion. As the eighth installment in the [i]I'm on Observation Duty[/i] series, IoOD 8 presents an intriguing set of [spoiler]six[/spoiler] new locations with a varied abundance of both existing as well as new kinds of anomalies. Finnish developer Notovia has yet again taken the core concept of the game series, refined and expanded upon it to create another game that has left me eagerly awaiting its successor. Core gameplay of "spot the difference" has not changed. The player monitors security cameras in various rooms across various locations and files anomaly reports when they notice any changes. What struck me pleasantly is Notovia's ability to find a great balance between subtle and obvious changes, between static and dynamic differences. Not only has the variety of the anomalies increased, but the game has managed to make me chuckle more than a few times - such as how [spoiler]some anomalies will actively react to being reported[/spoiler] - showing the developer's clever and unique sense of humour that they manage to incorporate well into an otherwise fairly tense and even sometimes disturbing horror game. While I appreciate the abundance of different types of anomalies, both of the [spoiler]"Context Report" and of the "Global Report" kind[/spoiler], I must admit that I disagree with the decision of [spoiler]having the same anomaly only ever appear once[/spoiler]. I believe this could be changed, albeit possibly at a drastically reduced chance. Graphics have improved slightly yet again, continuing the trend of being semi-realistic while staying within what players would expect out of a game such as this one. The game's soundscape has expanded as well by implementing new ambient background tracks, new sound effects and even a [spoiler]full-length in-level music track[/spoiler]. Replayability is given limitedly through the use of [spoiler]two[/spoiler] distinctive difficulties, albeit there is no clear indication what the differences between them are. Furthermore, striving to collect all achievements requires multiple playthroughs as, in order to unlock some of them, [spoiler]certain special intruders must be observed and dealt with[/spoiler]. All in all, I've enjoyed my nearly full day with IoOD 8 quite thoroughly, despite the occasional frustrating moment. Personally, as a customer, I might purchase the game on sale or as part of a bundle, though I do not inherently disagree with the price tag. Notovia has once again left me excited for the, at time of writing, confirmed ninth game in the series.

Man, if you keep making them, I'll keep buying them. Great to play with your girlfriend. She'll ditch anything for these games, lol. Thanks Notovia

Love these devs games so much. From 1 to 8 you can see the progression of this series and I'm impressed every year. Keep up the amazing work!!

I love this genre of spot-the-difference anomaly games and this is the best series to do it.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Thanks for making me hate farm animals. It's clear that production and graphics quality has majorly improved since the first 5 games (which were solo-made) so the Notovia team have really done a lot of good work. I don't like the direction that 8 is leading the series: the increased reliance on in-your-face intruders, subversion of reporting and very obscure anomalies is not what we want! 7 was more difficult than 6 but still maintained the essence of the series, but 8 just seems cruel at times.

Having played some of the older games, this one "feels" the best and is probably the best entry for a new player to the series currently. Playing solo is a great experience, and streaming it to your friends in Discord while you all work together is even better.

observation duty

I enjoyed it

OG anomaly game is back! Excellent Game. Took me about 30 hrs to get all achievements. I like the vibe, the levels, the anomalies...if you are into anomaly games, buy this one.