With the demo of the E3 game of Cyberpunk 2077 now in the wild, the hype for the tracking of CD Projekt Red to The Witcher III has reached a new record. Broadcast on Twitch, the demonstration showed around 45 minutes of game footage to approximately 460,000 viewers. According to GamesIndustry.biz, this massive audience became the largest for an upcoming game so far this year and made CyberPunk 2077 the seventh most-watched game of 2018.
Clearly, the diverse open world of Night City has fanatics clamoring for all the dystopia and body modification promised by the cyberpunk genre. Based on the 1988 RPG called simply Cyberpunk, the CDPR game takes place in the not too distant future where the world is controlled by massive corporations, and people are just as much machines as humans. Crime and violence abound in this city, and it is up to the player to break through the world and face the corporate threat.
Without a release date in stone, however, it is unknown how long we will have to wait to connect with Cyberpunk 2077. Fortunately, the cyberpunk genre is full of excellent titles to play in the meantime. Below are nine games that offer their own versions of a dystopian future and corporate oppression.
Invisible, Inc.
Essentially an XCOM of cyberpunk, Invisible, Inc. places players in the cybercantiles of a resistance group dedicated to fighting the corporate supreme bosses of the world. Players choose the order in which to tackle mission-generated missions while equipping their team with modifications that improve their ability to bypass security, hack control panels and knock out enemies. Successfully completing a mission rewards you with new ways to improve your cybernetic soldiers, give them more actions in one turn to increase the number of turns knocked down by enemies that remain unconscious.
The newest element of Invisible, Inc. comes in the form of Incognita, a multipurpose AI that players can take advantage of during missions. Serving as a way for players to interact with the level, Incognita can remotely attack security cameras, distract or attract guards, and even give your team additional actions during a turn. One of the most impressive tactical games of recent years, Invisible, Inc. has something for strategy fans and cyberpunks alike.
Observer
Blade Runner laid much of the basis of the cyberpunk genre, so it's fitting that the observer takes most of his cues from the iconic 1982 movie. You assume the role of Detective Daniel Lazarski, played by Rutger Hauer, one of the stars of the movie. In Observer, a digital plague has killed a large part of the population, and Chriton Corporation has seized the opportunity to enter and take over. Lazarski is an agent of Chriton, and one day a call from his estranged son kicks off an exciting thriller.
The observer instructs players to investigate several crime scenes by hacking the minds of victims and witnesses. Both a psychological thriller and a history of cyberpunk oppression, Observer makes liberal use of ambient sound and poor visual direction to ensure that the player never feels comfortable in the world. It is a cyberpunk experience like no previous one, which is a compliment considering the pedigree of the rest of this list.
Deus Ex series
In 2000, the developer Ion Storm redefined what could be a cyberpunk video game with Deus Ex. The game is a mix of first person shooter and RPG with emphasis on the player's choice. The missions present multiple paths to victory, from stealth to direct shootings. This sandbox approach to level design is a philosophy that is still used today.
Despite taking place in an imaginary future, the Deus Ex series uses organizations and real-world scenarios to build their fiction within the game. Reference is made to the Knights Templar, the Illuminati and more. Social prejudices are also an element of Deus Ex's history, since those who possess bodily increases are often belittled by society.
System Shock 2
Before BioShock, Ken Levine and Irrational Games left their mark with System Shock 2 of 1999. A sequel to the 1994 game of Looking Glass Technologies, System Shock 2 is an atmospheric shooter-RPG game hybrid that sees players facing the malevolent IA SHODAN aboard an abandoned space station. The sensitivity of Cyberpunk abounds, since it is known that SHODAN experiments with bioengineering methods that combine the human with the mechanical.
The influence of System Shock 2 goes beyond the cyberpunk genre. The narrative of Irrational's story has become the standard by which other games are often measured, and the tense and survival horror game remains a mainstay in immersive sims to this day.
Ruiner
Considered a 'cyberpunk Hotline Miami', Ruiner is a top-down action game flooded with brutality and dystopia. The corporation known as Heaven rules the city of Rangkok, where the protagonist must rescue his kidnapped brother. With the help of some unreliable voices in his head, he faces wave after wave of enemies in this bloody adventure.
The gameplay of Ruiner is the typical option of double shooter, but the variety of weapons and meetings with bosses. , keep things fresh for the most part. The story is unfortunately bland and cliché, but the brutal combat and the interesting design of the enemy make Rangkok a destination worth visiting at least once.
Shadowrun Returns
In 2012, the developer Harebrained Schemes raised almost $ 2 million (£ 1.5 million) on Kickstarter to bring Shadowrun Returns to life. A revival CRPG of the classic franchise, Shadowrun Returns puts players in the role of a roadrunner who seeks to solve the murder of his former accomplice. The battles are based on turns and take place in a grid similar to XCOM, and there are many different kinds of characters available, such as the decker, the street samurai and the rigger.
In 2014, an independent expansion was launched. Dragonfall was a totally new campaign set in Berlin, and starred in a new cast of characters. The critical reception of Dragonfall was significantly better than the base game, but it was taken as a complete package. Shadowrun Returns packages many hours of cyberpunk in one of the best CRPG of recent years.
Transistor
The transistor begins with the main character Red taking out a talking sword from a corpse. What follows is an exciting and elegant story of isolation, corporate greed and romance. The game is a mix of turn-based and real-time action that challenges most conventional labels, and requires both quick reflexes and intelligent planning.
The magnificent voice of voice keeps the story moving at a steady pace. The city of Cloudbank is designed in such a way that the player somehow feels part of something bigger and incredibly alone; a delicate balance that speaks of the skills of the developer Supergiant Games. It was recently announced that the game will come to the Nintendo Switch, so now is a good time to play it.
Syndicate
The Syndicate of 1993 is a tactical game of covert operations. Each mission puts the player in control of a group of cyborgs bent on dominating the world through control of the territory and a series of murders. Having to play as a corporation in a future cyberpunk is a change of pace for the genre, and the game's emphasis on micromanagement of the economy and soldier updates puts it in the company of strategy games like Civilization.
In 2012, the Syndicate series saw a reboot in the form of a first-person shooter. It received mediocre criticism, but it's worth playing if you're looking for a tight shooter and an admittedly generic cyberpunk story.
Technobabylon
Technobabylon 2015 manages to differentiate itself from other cyberpunk adventure games thanks to memorable characters and an excellent story. The plot revolves around an evil AI that controls the city of Newton, and a serial killer known as The Mindjacker.
Technobabylon is full of unexpected twists in the plot, and enough clever riddles to satisfy old-school fans. Click on adventures. The city of Newton feels real and lived, and the three protagonists of the game are defective and human, their decisions weigh. If you're looking for a mature cyberpunk getaway with intrigue, Technobabylon is definitely your destination.
- Here we have everything we know about Cyberpunk 2077 so far
