What was the first cyberpunk video game you played? Were you playing the point & click adventure games back on DOS? Shadowrun on SNES? Deus Ex on PC? Or did you just recently discover this thing called “cyberpunk” with Cyberpunk 2077?
I’m curious how long everyone here has been into cyberpunk.
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shadowrun genesis
… Crystal caves?
Or Beneath a steel sky?Also Wolfenstein had that cyberdolf.
And Doom had cyberdemon.But my memory def goes to System Shocks and Deus Ex. Love them. Actually I love all of the mentioned.
Have you tried playing Beyond a Steel Sky? I haven’t played it but I can’t imagine a sequel released so many years after the original would be any good. I could be wrong though, maybe it’s fun.
Didn’t know about the sequel, it doesn’t look horrible tbh (I got past the modern-design-shock that hit me at first in 20 or 30 seconds as the trailer played).
But yeah, if I get around to play it I’ll def manage my expectations.
Flashback. Still one of my favorites too.
For me it was Cops 2170 I had a human sized rat policing the streets and ahooting up bad guys
Probably SS2, but I feel like there might be something earlier
Does Duke Nukem 2D on PC count?
I never really considered Duke Nukem to be cyberpunk… but yeah, that screenshot totally looks like it came from a cyberpunk game. Weird.
Yah, maybe it’s more just sci-fi.
In that case, the first Deus Ex game was my first. Great stuff back then. Hard to play now, IMO.
G-Police, 1997, PC.
I absolutely love and played the shit out of Deus Ex, but, technically, I played G Police first.
G-Police Lore / Setting
The year is 2097.
Following the exhaustion of all natural resources on Earth, an ensuing rapid militarization and colonization of the solar system’s planets and moons, and a further devastating extra planetary war between large multi national coalitions…
… large megacorporations assumed outright control of most of these colonies, abolished the construction of capital class space vessels, and have forced the demilitarization of Earth’s remaning nation states.
What remains of them is a collaborative police force, largely focused on localized peacekeeping, anti piracy and anti terrorist operations.
The G-Police.
…
You are brooding male noir protagonist, a veteran pilot of the the earlier interplanetary wars.
Flying for the G-Police is basically the only semi-lucrative job option you’ve got left.
But for you… there’s also a personal motive.
Your sister flew for the G-Police too, a promising rookie with idealized notions of justice. She was rising fast, earning accomodations, even spoke of a potential lover.
But then she ‘committed suicide’, was apparently quite depressed and overstressed.
You don’t buy that for a minute.
Somebody killed her, went to the trouble of covering it up, and you want to know who and why.
Now you’ve managed to obscure your identity while keeping your flying record intact, landing you a post in the G-Police, in the same unit your sister was in, determined to find the truth.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vbm6RICA8_4&pp=ygUOZyBwb2xpY2UgaW50cm8%3D
This answer may be a cheat and a stretch, but hear me out…
Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Specifically, the opening levels set in Nar Shaddaa, one of my favorite, underappreciated locations in the extended universe.
The whole moon was one giant, grimey, neon-lit city blanketed in night, overrun with sleazy organized criminals and jazz music. Pretty big noir vibes too.
It’s the first time I remember experiencing the aesthetic, which felt so sharply different from the colorful, swashbuckling Star Wars I had known. And I knew I loved it.
Interphase (Amiga/Atari ST, 1989).
The player moves around in virtual space of a corporate system while their partner infiltrates the actual space of the building. You have to disable electrified doors and reroute security bots etc to create a path through the offices, all while fighting off defensive programs
Unusually for the era you steer with the mouse and it’s all in vector graphics.
Had no idea there was a Neuromancer video game.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer_(video_game)
Anyways, probably System Shock 2 for me.
If you want to try it out, you can play the Neuromancer game in your browser at the internet archive.
System shock 1. I loved the danger zones and safe zones and hacking the med bay to increase the safe zones.
Have you tried the remake? I always liked SS2 and thought SS1 was too clunky but I’m not sure if that means I’d want to play a remake of SS1.
I haven’t tried the remake.
I thought the first half of SS2 was amazing. After the bio labs the level design and story felt rushed and uninteresting. Presumably forced to release before they were done.
Deus Ex, on PS2. I can’t even remember if I finished or even enjoyed it. Later, I got it on PC and it’s been one of my favourite games ever since and fully got me into both cyberpunk and the immersive sim genre!
Speaking of immersive sims, how would you compare the original Deus Ex to System Shock 2? I feel like System Shock 2 probably pushed the genre further but I enjoyed the world of Deus Ex more for some reason.
It’s been a long time since I played System Shock 2 but I have the same feeling as you. There’s something about the near future conspiracy stuff that just drags me in. Space stations are cool and all but I prefer the atmosphere of Deus Ex.
If it counts, Shadowrun on Xbox 360, that remake multiplayer game.
If not, it was probably Deus Ex Human Revolution.
I didn’t really know about the cyberpunk genre until years later but DEHR was a blast.
There was a Shadowrun game on Xbox 360?? I might have to go look into that…
People hateeddddd it lol. I really enjoyed it.
It was one of those games where you could play against bots offline but it was meant to be played online. There was no campaign or real story to it. And it was a first person shooter.
But I wasn’t aware of the original so I didn’t know what to expect like others.
Remember Me was probably my first. Neo Paris was gorgeous and I still listen to the soundtrack.
Remember Me deserves a remake, the game got way too little recognition.
Maybe improve the fighting and get rid of the zombie ghoul things.
