Cyberpunk stylistics entered pop culture thanks to science fiction writer William Gibson, author of “Neuromancer” and “Johnny Mnemonic”. She has not spared video games either: today everyone can plunge into the abyss of chaos and walk through cyberspace, fearing “black ice” and dreaming of a new augmentation. In anticipation of Cyberpunk 2077, Cybersport.ru recalls the top ten titles of the genre. There are games for every taste: from story-driven shooters to visual novels with a mandatory stop in a neon-lit bar.
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Blade runner
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The player is sent to the near future, bleak and gloomy, in which all the most famous conspiracy theories – from the Illuminati to the reptilians – are true. Society is slowly sinking into chaos, the stratification between the rich and the poor can be seen with the naked eye, and besides this, humanity also suffers from the “Gray Death” – an extremely dangerous disease that has managed to cripple the world’s population. In the role of a government agent, the player will have to perform many different special operations and find out what the “Gray Death” really is.
For a reason, Deus Ex regularly makes it onto various lists of the best games of all time: it is the exemplary Immersive Sim, offering non-linear playthroughs and many ways to solve the same problem. The game was the beginning of the series: the prequel Deus Ex: Human Revolution, released in 2011, is very popular.
Observer
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As a result of global warming, most of the land was under water, along with the lion’s share of the world’s population. The shortage of people able to work was compensated for with the help of robots, enshrining in the Geneva Convention that it is forbidden to create models that are indistinguishable from humans. And yet someone started doing it. And the strangest thing is that in this new reality, even the robots themselves sometimes did not know about their true nature.
The creation of Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the Yakuza series, boasts an interesting plot and non-trivial gameplay solutions. For example, a player will have to build relationships with teammates so that they do not fail at the most crucial moment. By the way, orders can be given by voice: the shooter recognizes six languages, including English. The game did not gain wide popularity and is now completely unfairly forgotten. Nevertheless, it is worth paying attention to both cyberpunk lovers and those who lack truly interesting stories: Binary Domain was not without reason compared not so much with other shooters as with interactive films.
Ruiner
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Berlin of the distant future is mired in anarchy: power does not belong to giant corporations, but passes from hands to the hands of various gangs. The most enterprising survive in such a place. In the role of one of the runners – something in between a mercenary and a courier – the player will have to enter a rich mansion and steal an important item from there. But the customer did not warn about the secret bunker with a bunch of guards hidden under the building, which was the reason for the death of one of the gang members. You will have to dig yourself to the truth.
The second game in the updated Shadowrun series boasts a much more interesting and deep storyline with many additional activities and high non-linearity. Along with this, the amount of gameplay content has also grown: more weapons, more augmentation, more magic. In all other respects, Shadowrun remained true to itself: the same deep tactical combat system, the same world of high-tech and dark fantasy that can fall in love with you at first sight, and an adventure that will take you for many hours.
Transistor
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In the middle of the XXI century, most of humanity died out, “thanks” to the biological weapons used. Gillian Sid, for whom you have to play, is part of a special squad looking for “snatchers” – humanoid robots that kill people and use their appearance to disguise, replacing the missing. Where the new threat came from is anyone’s guess. It is also worth noting that Gillian suffers from amnesia: five years before the events of the game, he and his wife were found unconscious on the border of the USSR and Japan. And if they are not aware of their past, then for some reason they know a lot about the Snatchers.
One of the first games by Hideo “Genius” Kojima, author of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid. The renowned game designer drew inspiration for his visual novel from classic sci-fi films such as Blade Runner, The Terminator and Akira. Snatcher became the first swallow for Kojima in writing complex scenarios, and the game gained the status of a cult.
Va-11 Hall-A
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Waking up from cryosleep, the hero realizes with horror that the entire crew of the Von Braun spacecraft is dead. Eerie messages are written on the walls in blood, and those who were not lucky enough to acquire cyberimplants during their lifetime now walk in the form of living corpses controlled by artificial intelligence. What really happened at Von Braun?
The complex non-linear structure of the story, the presentation of the plot through the environment and the widest variability of actions with an admixture of role-playing elements – all this allowed System Shock 2 to become an ageless classic, which is still played with great interest by millions of gamers. And in horror there is Shodan – an artificial intelligence that instills fear much cooler than the familiar GLaDOS.
