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Cyberpunk? Anybody? Bueller?
Sorenson
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Registered User regular
For some reason I've got a reeeeeal bad hard-on for Shadowrun (the good bits, anyway, fuck that magic shit) and I really need something to give me a fix. Problem is, it seems like Cyberpunk's quite possibly the least-represented of any kind of game sub-genre whatsoever: you've got Deus Ex, you've got the old-school Shadowrun for the Genesis (and maybe the one for the SNES depending on whom you ask) you've got Uplink and perhaps Singularity (though that's more post-Cyberpunk) you've got a whole buncha' adventure games and interactive fiction games from the late 80s/early 90s, you've got a few Source multiplayer mods, and...that's it. And that's not enough to sate my thirst. Are there any kind of under-the-radar titles, freeware stuff, that sort of thing?
STUFF I'VE ALREADY PLAYED:
Deus Ex (good for one runthrough, but it hasn't aged well, at all)
Genesis Shadowrun
Singularity
Anarchy Online (which is CP and PCP and a nice breath of fresh air, though the amount of twinking and shit that was going on eventually drove me away)
Uplink (well, an ABOUT to, anyway, just bought it off Steam)
Syndicate (though I don't even know if I could get the sucker to RUN at this point, much less how well or badly its mechanics have aged)
System Shock 2
STUFF I DON'T CARE FOR
Interactive Fiction
P&C Adventure Games
Dystopia & NeoTokyo (more due to the kind of riff-raff you probably run into with these kinds of games than the games themselves, unfortunetily)
STUFF I'VE ALREADY PLAYED:
Deus Ex (good for one runthrough, but it hasn't aged well, at all)
Genesis Shadowrun
Singularity
Anarchy Online (which is CP and PCP and a nice breath of fresh air, though the amount of twinking and shit that was going on eventually drove me away)
Uplink (well, an ABOUT to, anyway, just bought it off Steam)
Syndicate (though I don't even know if I could get the sucker to RUN at this point, much less how well or badly its mechanics have aged)
System Shock 2
STUFF I DON'T CARE FOR
Interactive Fiction
P&C Adventure Games
Dystopia & NeoTokyo (more due to the kind of riff-raff you probably run into with these kinds of games than the games themselves, unfortunetily)
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There's a sequel of sorts called .hack//G.U. but while being much better looking and with much smoother gameplay I wasn't nearly as impressed with the story which came off as more typical 'anime-esque' stuff.
It is one of the shittier games made for the PS2. The entire premise is a thin justification to wring as much money as possible from you, forcing you to buy four games for an amount of plot that could easily be crammed into one. Furthermore, the gameplay is...
You're playing as a person playing an MMO. You are playing an MMO, except without the MM. Or the O, actually. What this means is you are grinding in the most generic, tedious, randomly generated environments imaginable. Why would anyone subject themselves to this? Why in the fuck?
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I'm not sure whether it counts quite as "cyberpunk", but Frozen Synapse is an awesome turn based strategy game with a cyberpunk-ish visual style. Currently in beta for pre-orders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lQQt4qc79Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXbsSLeINhg
Basically consider it as if it were a computer's eye-view of a tactical plan. Each turn is 5 seconds of time. You issue orders to your units and virtually test how they play out. You iterate your plans and simulate enemy courses of action until you're satisfied you've got something that works, then you hit "Prime". Assuming your opponent has completed their move as well, both turns play out simultaneously and you get to see the results of your course of action.
There's often a fair amount of "wheels within wheels" strategy where you're effectively trying to plot out what your enemy's most likely course of action is, and counteract it. Assuming he hasn't already planned ahead and considered your counter-plan and decided on a course of action that's a counter-counter plan...
It varies depending on the situation. But there's a fair amount of depth to it for such a simple game.
I'm really stumped for this OP, though. Cyberpunk just doesn't seem to get any love compared to some other genres. Deus Ex 3 is due at some point (next year) and Subversion looks pretty neat (made by the same guys who made Uplink and is also not due out anytime soon).
You could give Darwinia a spin, but that's very much just "cyber" and not really any "punk". Still, it does feature something of a post-apocalyptic world, lots of tech stuff, and really sweet, atmospheric visuals. Again, made by Introversion, the same guys who made Uplink.
Thanks for reminding me how empty the genre is. Thank you so much.
Soul Hackers or SMT1, more likely. Especially Soul Hackers.
I can't exactly argue with you there, on either point. Though it's the only thing I know of off hand as far as cyber-punk games go and I found the story itself to be alright.
It's cheap enough now that's it not too bad to get into, but on further thought you're probably right that it's still not worth the effort unless your really, really, really, interested.
In fairness, what we've seen of upcoming Deus Ex 3 looks awesomely cyberpunk. None of that wishy-washy "sort of future-tech but not really punk" sci-fi, but visually and thematically right in there with Blade Runner and Neuromancer.
I've been craving cyberpunk more and more lately as well, it's such a neglected genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UJ8KjdfmbU&feature=related
Start with the first season of the series, Stand Alone Complex.
o_O
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Deus Ex: Invisible War
Blade Runner (it's a point and click adventure game, which I know you said you don't like, but it's not a "combine the items" or "click on the right thing" sort of game; it's actually incredibly easy but it's a FANTASTIC game with its own awesome story with different endings [and middles])
I've never played Flashback but apparently it's cyberpunk (if you can find it)
Magic in cyberpunk is stupid.
Or start with the manga. They're both quite different, and reading one before the other won't confuse you. Just remember they were produced about 15 years apart.
Avoid the other "sequels" to the manga, though. They're not very good.
Oni is somewhat less horrible, control and loading wise, on PC, but hasn't aged well (it's worse on the PS2 in this regard).
If you're looking for something else in the post-Cyberpunk vein, consider the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex PS2 game. The controls are a little complex (the game uses every function on the PS2 controller), but it's very true to the source material (and even has good voice acting), and the setting is quite cyberpunk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM1c06svY4U
I dream of Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series of books as the setting for a great cyberpunk game. The technology level in the books and the ability to actually switch bodies (sleeves) with better or different ones makes me think an RPG-style like Deus Ex might work. Add in that you could even change a game-over into a re-sleeving and well... I wish I had millions of dollars to sink into a game company to make that!
EDIT: On the subject of Cyberpunk game wishings, I would looooove to see something that's essentiall a mashup of GTA and Prototype. Being able to augment yourself to the point where you can start doing crazy shit that's splatter an ordinary dude, combined with all the different criminal-and-otherwise opprotunities to earn scratch and rep, oh yeah.
EDIT: It should be noted the GITS game use the same voice actors from the series. So it's excellent voice acting.
Curse you, WMain! Curse yoooou!
The concept of Shadowrun is literally: What if you took cyberpunk and added magic to it.
Shadowrun without magic is a ham-and-cheese sandwich, minus the cheese. Just have a ham sandwich.
And Shadowrun has one of the neatest magic systems I've ever seen in RPGs. I'm not sure how much of that comes out in the video games, but the background on it is pretty fantastic and manages to play very nicely with major themes of cyberpunk by creating a dangerous and potentially powerful subset of the common rabble for corporations to oppress and fields of diabolical corporate research into things best-not-investigated.
Then it's not Shadowrun that is being craved!
Midgar as a city has some pretty strong cyberpunk influences--but at the same time, FFVII is supposed to be set in a sort of early information-age society that has been racked by decades of industrial-age war. Most of the world isn't advanced enough to be cypberpunk.
The Shinra Corporation is very cyberpunk in many regards--it's where all the technology is, and it controls the means of production and the legal/police institutions of the state.
Maybe you will too
You will not regret it
SNATCHER is cool. But be prepared to pay A LOT to have the privilege to play it.
And look at that direct Syd Mead ripoff right there. Dayumn. Still awesome game.
If you've played Dystopia and Neotokyo and Deus Ex 1, well, that about covers all the bases on the PC
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For fuck sake.
That said, I will be following this thread. I need a cyber punk game myself I think.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/freesynd/