I'm On Observation Duty 3 is the black sheep of the series, due to one main change: instead of finding anomalies through surveillance cameras, you explore the level in first-person and snap the anomalies using a smartphone! This means that this entry offers arguably the most unique experience in the series, since all the other games use the typical surveillance cam setup. The different perspective can feel potentially more unnerving to see anomalies right in your face vs through a camera. The game's still largely dead silent just like the other games, only adding to the creepiness. Haven't tried VR, but I could see that being good for some extra thrills.

Unfortunately, first-person gameplay largely works against it too. Reporting anomalies by moving around a building means you spend most of the time tediously walking from room to room, which takes away from the tension at times. This especially applies for the Headquarters level, which at the time of writing this review, I still haven't beaten, because the level is way too large and there's too many objects you can interact with, so it takes a load of attempts just to get a feel for what can change. So you get one challenging level that's totally doable after a few attempts, and the other level that's close to impossible without a ton of patience or looking up the anomalies. In my experience, most of the anomalies tend to appear only when you're not in the room they would appear in, so some anomalies can get predictable. I assume that this was done because it would otherwise be easier to see when things move or appear. Additionally, while you may think that first-person could make for some really crazy intruder encounters, there's surprisingly very few jumpscares or ways to die from intruders. Worse still, sometimes when you snap a picture of an anomaly, it may not register unless you're super close to it.

Ultimately, while I'm On Observation Duty 3 is the weakest installment in the series, that's not saying a whole lot. It's still worth a try if you enjoy this series, or spot-the-anomaly type games in general. It's commendable to try something new, and even if not everything worked out, Notovia definitely learned more about what works best for this series, as the later games are significant improvements over this one, and even the 2nd game. If anything, I wished we'd get a map or two in a later game with fixed first-person, or maybe even a setting that could be toggled per map, in addition to the regular gameplay style. That'd make for a nice change of pace, and even more content.

[b]I'm On Observation Duty 3[/b] is the black sheep of the series, due to one main change: instead of finding anomalies through surveillance cameras, you explore the level in first-person and snap the anomalies using a smartphone! This means that this entry offers arguably the most unique experience in the series, since all the other games use the typical surveillance cam setup. The different perspective can feel potentially more unnerving to see anomalies right in your face vs through a camera. The game's still largely dead silent just like the other games, only adding to the creepiness. Haven't tried VR, but I could see that being good for some extra thrills. Unfortunately, first-person gameplay largely works against it too. Reporting anomalies by moving around a building means you spend most of the time tediously walking from room to room, which takes away from the tension at times. This especially applies for the Headquarters level, which at the time of writing this review, I still haven't beaten, because the level is way too large and there's too many objects you can interact with, so it takes a load of attempts just to get a feel for what can change. So you get one challenging level that's totally doable after a few attempts, and the other level that's close to impossible without a ton of patience or looking up the anomalies. In my experience, most of the anomalies tend to appear only when you're not in the room they would appear in, so some anomalies can get predictable. I assume that this was done because it would otherwise be easier to see when things move or appear. Additionally, while you may think that first-person could make for some really crazy intruder encounters, there's surprisingly very few jumpscares or ways to die from intruders. Worse still, sometimes when you snap a picture of an anomaly, it may not register unless you're super close to it. Ultimately, while [b]I'm On Observation Duty 3[/b] is the weakest installment in the series, that's not saying a whole lot. It's still worth a try if you enjoy this series, or spot-the-anomaly type games in general. It's commendable to try something new, and even if not everything worked out, Notovia definitely learned more about what works best for this series, as the later games are significant improvements over this one, and even the 2nd game. If anything, I wished we'd get a map or two in a later game with fixed first-person, or maybe even a setting that could be toggled per map, in addition to the regular gameplay style. That'd make for a nice change of pace, and even more content.