Ready for the best 2017 Cyberpunk Games?
Cyberpunk, which first appeared in the early 1980’s is a neo-futuristic fantasy genre, oftentimes drenched in dystopian overtones. The genre has roots in film noir and plays on the fears of encroaching megacorporation control and increase in technological advances.
Kind of like the way we all felt after watching The Terminator. Video games have a long history with Cyberpunk but in the last decade the industry has steered away from it. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a plethora of great games just waiting to be played and with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and eventually, Cyberpunk 2077 on the way, the genre of cyberpunk seems to be up for a long awaited long revival. In no particular order, here are our 17 picks for the best cyberpunk games.
1) The Technomancer
In this brand new adventure from Spiders Studio, The Technomancer is set on the red planet of Mars, now a wasteland, 200 years after the human colonization. You play a rookie in the War of Water, named Zachariah, set to complete his initiation rite to become a full-fledged technomancer (a technological mage-warrior).
You start the game by choosing Zachariah’s appearance and initial talents and attributes, customizing him to your own preference. As you progress through the game you will be able to customize your talents and attributes further through tree systems. While you are only able to train to four attributes, talents have a wider variety of options. Talents include stealth, crafting, science, and charisma, to name a few. Specific clothing can also give you a boost in specific talents.
As you make your way through the game, you will find yourself immersed in stunning environments. You will traverse through legendary cities, barren wildernesses, and dilapidated civilizations formed from the ruins of the first human colonies. There is a strange beauty about the destroyed planet of Mars. Ruins, that are reminiscent of Earth’s ancient structures, painted across alien landscapes. It’s a peculiar contrast but there is a harmony there.
I wouldn’t want to be in the ring with that guy
You’ll find both humans and terrible monsters that you will have to fight. Creatures who were bio-engineered by colonists when humans first came to Mars, but have since gotten out of control. Massive spider-like beasts, rhinoceros-lizard hybrids, and mutants who were exposed to solar radiation are among the enemies you’ll come up against.
You’ll also meet many friendly humans in your travels. There are seven potential companions whom you can bring along with you on your adventure. Each companion has special abilities, their own mood, preferences, and moral code. Much like Fallout 4, you can get a special relationship bonus for each companion that you become friendly with. But be wary, the decisions you make and your reputation and karma score can alter your relationship with your companions.
StarLord, is that you?
With 40 hours of quests which can be solved in a variety of different ways, difficult decisions that affect the world, factions, inhabitants, and companions, and character customization, you can truly make The Technomancer your very own.
2) Mars: War Logs
The predecessor to The Technomancer, Mars: War Logs, is created by the same developer, Spiders. This game takes place 20 years after human colonization, nearly 200 years before the events of The Necromancer.
Mars has moved closer to the sun, causing colonies to grow desperate for resource, especially water. Powerful guilds fight for its control and the government has become corrupt, controlling its citizens by force. Using Technomancers to keep them in line and torturing them through experimentation.
Cybernetics are all the rage
You play as Roy, an escaped prisoner of war and renegade, caught in a power struggle between multiple powerful factions. Each difficult decision you make will affect the fate of Mars and its human colonies.
With many side quests to go along with your main mission to restore freedom, you will fight alongside your companions in a hostile and uninhabitable world filled with monstrosities.
Similar to The Technomancer, you are able to customize your character, Roy, from his appearance, to his combat style and abilities. Forge your own destiny and play your own way using a karma system.
Destroy mutated beasts
If you have already played The Technomancer, Mars: War Logs is a fantastic prologue. If you’re looking to get into this Mars-based universe, this is a great place to start. There are some mixed reviews, but all-in-all, this is an interesting and fun to play third-person RPG.
3) Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition (2000)
The original Deus Ex, developed by Ion Storm may be over fifteen years old, but it remains a classic must-play game. The series, which is heavily influenced by real-life secret societies and conspiracy theories, focuses on the threat of potential world domination of groups similar to the Illuminati. Deus Ex, despite its old age handles well. Steady maneuvering and smooth controls makes this game timeless.
The game takes place in dystopian future Earth, year 2052, in the midst of the Gray Death, a nano-virus plague, which is spreading and infecting millions of people across the world. You play as JC Denton, a human with top of the line cybernetic augmentations.
Put your hands up!
You work for an organization called the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition, or UNATCO, that focuses its efforts on eliminating threats from multiple terrorist organizations who are Hell-bent on taking over the world. You jump right into the action, handling a terrorist hostage situation.
Upgrades to your augmentations use a points system, where you can choose between different skills and a variety of different weapons. Using your skills, you can hack into electronics to bypass security doors, cameras, and reprogram machine gun turrets. There are many different ways you can approach each mission, whether it be direct combat or stealth. You can choose to use non-lethal force, or barreling into the action, guns blazing.
Don’t get caught
Since the release of Deus Ex in 2000, the series has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide and the first in the line of great games remains one of the most widely regarded cyberpunk games.
4) Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Human Revolution takes place over 20 years before its predecessor, in the year 2027. You play as Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT specialist with mechanical augmentations. You start out as a security consultant at Sarif Industries, an advanced biotechnological engineering company based in future Detroit, when it is attacked. Faced with hunting down this threat to Sarif’s security, Jensen traverses the globe to find its source and purpose.
The player is given the opportunity to make game-altering decisions and a variety of approaches to utilize throughout the game from stealth, hacking, and social interactions, to good old-fashioned gunfights.
Take the fight to them
Similar to the 2000 Deus Ex, Human Revolution’s skills are points-based and you can upgrade your skills, or augmentations through different parts of the body. These augments include things like a radar system, and being able to see enemies through walls.
You are able to buy and sell certain items and upgrades like weapons and virus software from local merchants in the various cities that you will visit using credits acquired by looting fallen enemies. Some side-quests may require you to use your credits if you cannot pass social skill checks.
Jensen knows how to make a great entrance
Convince characters to give you information, or take it by force. Take down opponents or get past security. Save hostages, or turn your back on them. The choice is yours and the way to play determines the outcome of your story in Human Revolution.
5) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Adam Jensen returns in an exciting new adventure to be released August 2016. Mankind Divided takes place two years after the story presented in Human Revolution where the majority of augmented humans have gone berserk. With a death toll of 50 million people, and tens of thousands more injured, the world has grown to resent and even hate augmented humans. Jensen, along with a squad of counter-terrorist commandos called Task Force 29, must stop a shadowy worldwide conspiracy.
Take out the most difficult enemies yet
Jensen is fitted with brand new, innovative augmentations that you will be able to choose from. An electric shock option, similar to a stun gun, for example, will allow Jensen to non-lethally take out enemies quickly and quietly. You will be able to customize these augmentations so that you can play the game your way.
Enemies will now be stronger than ever, as like Jensen, some of them have special augmentations, which make them more difficult to beat. They may have better armor, more strength, or special skills that will make defeating them more complicated. The good news is that you will be able to customize and upgrade your weapons by changing your sights and ammo to your preference. This will significantly impact combat and assist you in your mission.
Stealth is your friend in situations like this
You will be able to explore a set of diverse, breathtaking locations like Dubai and Prague as you address threats to humankind. Solving problems across the globe with stealth, combat, hacking, and social interactions options that give you control to complete missions the way that you see fit.
Mankind Divided seems to be a combination of its predecessors, perfected. With new features, incredibly detailed and highly realistic graphics, and an exciting new storyline, this cyberpunk sequel to Human Revolution is scheduled to be released on August 23.
6) Shadowrun Returns
Shadowrun: Returns is the 2013 reboot of the original 1993 Shadowrun game for Super Nintendo, based on the popular 1989 tabletop roleplaying game. Funded by donations via Kickstarter, Shadowrun Returns is based on a mega-corporation owned Seattle in 2054. Magic has returned to the world, bringing along with it mystical creatures such as orcs, dwarves, and elves.
The story focuses on a mercenary group called Shadowrunners who complete dangerous deeds for the desperate and rich. In the main campaign titled Dead Man’s Switch, you play as a Shadowrunner, who receives a mysterious message from an old friend who recently died. The message states that there is a sizable fortune for whoever is able to bring justice to the party responsible for his death. The adventure begins there, but there are plenty of other player-made campaigns available for download.
Totem poles, another throwback to modern-day Washington
You are able to customize your character’s gender, appearance, race, and class. You can choose to be a human or fantasy creature: orc, elf, troll, or dwarf. Maybe you would like to be a mage, a magic class, with the ability to use spells to harm and heal, or perhaps a street samurai, a warrior with a penchant for combat. With six classes available to choose from in a classless system, there is no limit to the skill combinations you can choose from.
You can decide which attributes you’d like your character to have. Between strength, quickness, intelligence, willpower, charisma, and body, with specializations for each. Attributes affect not just combat, but conversation as well.
Public Market Center in future Seattle
A nod to the original, Shadowrun: Return features tactical turn-based combat similar to X-COM. You have an assortment of weapons and fighting styles to choose from as you go up against enemies from hellhounds to thugs.
The hand-painted gritty, neon-drenched environments makes this game visually stunning. There are even some real current-day Seattle locations like the Public Market featured. And with the exciting feature, Shadowrun Returns Editor, players are able to create their very own environments, stories, and campaigns and share them with others.
7) Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Originally premiered as an expansion to Shadowrun: Returns, Dragonfall was released as a standalone game in September 2014. Upgraded with five new missions, enhanced combat and visuals, and a redesigned interface. Add that to one of the most memorable stories of all time, it makes sense that Dragonfall has been called the definitive version of Shadowrun.
Dragonrun is based in Berlin, an anarchic city in disrepair. It spotlights a brand new team of characters, and a conspiracy: the Great Dragon Feuerschwinge may still be alive. This story is extremely well-written with interesting conversation options, based on your character’s skills and attributes.
Face off with monsters
One of the most noticeable changes made in Dragonrun is the perspective. Still top-down, a homage to great games like Baldur’s Gate, the view is closer and more detailed in comparison to the original.
Battle has also been improved upon since the last game. You lead a team of shadowrunners. Their specific abilities compliment one another and allows the player to have a lot of variety in their gameplay. There are over 200 combat options for you to choose from, allowing for superior tactical conflict.
Explore Berlin
Shadowrun: Dragonfall has exceedingly high ratings and has been on numerous Best of 2013 lists. If you enjoyed Shadowrun: Returns be sure to give Dragonfall a try. You won’t be disappointed.
8) Shadowrun: Hong Kong
The most recent installment of the Shadowrun series, Shadowrun Hong Kong was released in August 2015. It is based in, you guessed it! Dystopian future Hong Kong. More beautiful and vivid than previous Shadowrun games, this installment features hand-painted cutscenes as well as a brand new, vivid environment.
Similar to previous Shadowrun games, this game the game starts with your character travelling to Hong Kong from Seattle to seek out riches. You meet your foster brother, Duncan, with whom you will must find a foster father who has gone missing. This is where your adventure begins. Not only are you able to choose your portrait, the color of your skin and hair, but you are also able to choose your own backstory and relationships.
Vivid, hand-painted environments
Despite there being some voiceover work during cutscenes, the conversations are still, like previous games, text-based. You can have deep conversations with your companions, and even regular people to learn their detailed backstories.
The map itself is huge – twice as large as the original Shadowrun game, with plenty of things to do and see. Each mission is unique, with plenty of ways to decide how your character will progress through the story. The huge variety of enemies, from gang members to gargoyles, further enhances the feeling of diversity in this game.
Explore Hong Kong slums
Shadowrun: Hong Kong is one of the best C-RPGs of its year, and includes even more tile sets for players to create their own Shadowrun stories and environments. Harebrained Schemes knows how to create an enthralling and immersive story, and they do it right with Shadowrun: Hong Kong.
9) Dreamfall Chapters
Dreamfall Chapters opens with one of three protagonists, Zoë Castillo, who is trapped in a nightmarish world called Storytime. She must find ways to release others who, in the waking world, are deep asleep. In Storytime, though, they suffer their worst fears.
Released in 2014 by Red Thread Games, Dreamfall Chapters is an emotion-driven episodic journey through two parallel worlds: Arcadia and Stark. Arcadia is a place of mystery and chaos. A world of whimsy. Where fantastic creatures roam and magic is woven into every aspect of life. Stark is a technologically advanced world where order and practicality reign. Logic and science take the place of magic. Arcadia and Stark sharply contrast one another, but they are both absolutely gorgeous and awe-inspiring.
Stark, a place of science and technological advancements
The return of The Longest Journey Saga, this profound game centers three protagonists: Zoë Castillo, Kian Alvane, and Saga. Each have a different journey, but they are all intertwined. Each character must choose their own path. As you play, you will be given difficult decisions and with each decision comes a consequence.
The choice and consequence feature is reminiscent of TellTale games like The Walking Dead remove and The Wolf Among Us, but what sets Dreamfall Chapters apart is that the game gives you time and information to consider your choices in a thoughtful way. Nothing is split-second, and you can take as much time as you need to make these difficult decisions.
As Dreamfall Chapters is the third installment after a very long hiatus, it may be difficult for newcomers to jump right in. If you haven’t played the original two games, you may want to try them first. But Red Thread does its best to ease in new players while still giving veterans to the series the conclusion they’ve been waiting for.
One of the many otherworldly creatures found in Arcadia
Dreamfall Chapters’ development was funded through a Kickstarter campaign and there has been positive feedback from gamers new to the series as well as those who have played from the beginning. This story-rich and mesmeric tale was well worth the wait.
10) Remember Me
Remember Me is based in Neo-Paris in the year 2084, when memories can be digitalized and shared. The game centers around Nilin, a memory hunter who is able to pillage and remix memories. When Nilin wakes up with no memory, her journey to regain her memory begins.
With the help of some old friends, Nilin searches out her foes to seek the truth. Her memory hunting skills come in handy when she needs to overcome obstacles. She is able to take and learn from the memories of her enemies. Through their memories, she is able to see how to get around landmines, traps, and more.
Use your powers to affect your world
In order to learn information and remove threats, Nilin is able to manipulate the memories of those who get in her way. Everyone has a defining moment or two in their lives and Nilin uses this to her advantage. By entering the minds of others, she is able to shape the way events unfold in their memories, which ultimately changes their personality, mood, and demeanor. By rearranging their psyches, Nilin is able to extract information from them that they would not otherwise give away.
She will also use her advanced combat skills, which she will need to re-learn, to cut down her opponents. The combat system is based on combos, which the player is able to customize. To go along with the theme of memories, players will need to memorize combos to perform heavy damage maneuvers.
Defeat the psyches of your enemies
Remember Me is an interesting look into the most personal parts of ourselves – the thing that defines us – memories. In a future world where nothing is private, memories are a great commodity and it is your job to help Nilin get hers back. According to developer Dontnod, Remember Me 2 is ready to be made.
11) Dex
Enter the dangerous 2-D futuristic world of Harbor Prime. Where the poorest areas are plagued with deep poverty and vicious gangs and the wealthy districts boasts riches and shiny skyscrapers but equally treacherous megacorporations.
Every day is a fight for survival and in the midst of it all is Dex. She is being hunted by corporate mercenaries and she has no idea why. You will follow her through this non-linear adventure to uncover the truth and change the lives of everyone you meet.
The neon glow of the near future
With cybernetic augmentations, hand-to-hand, and weapon training, Dex will battle her way through beautiful, hand-painted environments, fighting for her life in real-time combat, highly influenced by 90’s arcade games. Dex can hack her way through cyberspace in order to bring down gangs and expose the secrets of powerful megacorporations.
You will be able to decide the fate of everyone you meet in the city of Harbor Prime, from the punks living in filth, to the suited businessmen of affluence in this side-scrolling, open world adventure.
Change the destiny of everyone you meet
In this neon-saturated cyberpunk journey, you will find complex storylines, interesting characters, and solve Dex’s mysterious past. Intriguing and intricate, Dex, funded through a Kickstarter campaign, will not disappoint.
12) Flashback
Flashback, released in 2013 is, well, a flashback to the highly-acclaimed original 1992 science fiction game under the same title. Agent Conrad B. Hart is re-enlisted in this platformer RPG.
In this reimaging of Flashback by the original core team, Conrad finds himself with no memory. His memories have been completely wiped and he is left alone in the jungle. Conrad finds a cube with a hologram of himself saying that Ian is not safe and that he must find him. Conrad, of course, does not know who Ian is, but knows that he must save him.
Modern-day graphics update this classic
Truthfully, Flashback doesn’t have a lot of great reviews, but has a lot of personality with a lot of great old school flair. It teleports you back to the days of old cyberpunk games and platformers and is really quite entertaining.
You will solve puzzles, find your way through obstacles and fight off difficult, technologically advanced enemies to reach your goals using customizable interface.
A 90’s nostalgia dream
Flashback has been modernized with contemporary graphics, especially those in cutscenes. It is stylistic in the best of ways and evokes memories of the 90’s. It has a fantastic high-tech dystopian feel. If you’re looking for a flashback to the 90’s this is it!
13) System Shock: Enhanced Edition
Originally released in 1994, System Shock is back with enhanced features. This first-person action and adventure roleplaying game reboot was funded by a Kickstarter campaign by fans of the original and was released last year.
Set in 2072, aboard a space station owned by TriOptimum Corporation, you play as a hacker, set to shut down Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, more easily referred to as SHODAN. SHODAN is an artificial intelligence system gone rogue.
Destroy your opponents
System Shock is actually quite the horror game. SHODAN sees humans as worthless life forms and does everything in its power to play God, destroying every one of the members of the space station through death or transformation into a horrible mutants and cyborgs. Everyone, that is, except for her creator, you.
You must fight through these beasts and robot-human hybrids in order to shut SHODAN down using whatever you have at your disposal: assault rifles, lasers, and ion beams, to name a few of the available weapons you can choose from.
Tons of weapon options to choose from
Despite its age, System shock is a must-play classic and its revamp makes it better than ever. Whether you’re looking to play the game for nostalgia purposes, or as a newcomer, this critically-acclaimed, highly awarded game will shock your system.
14) System Shock 2
Released in 1999, the sequel to the original System Shock is now available on Steam. Thought-provoking and emotionally driven, System Shock 2 is another classic sci-fi/horror RPG from the mind of Ken Levine and co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios.
In this sequel, which received a multitude of Game of the Year awards, you play a soldier on a space station in the year 2114. You are implanted with a cybernetic interface and must fight through the remaining crewmen, infected by strange eggs found in an old ejection pod.
Virus-infected monsters abound!
SHODAN, from the original, reappears in System Shock 2, and it is once again, your duty to end its control of the ship and remove the source of the infection using an artillery of weapons and upgradeable abilities.
The graphics are decidedly higher-quality in comparison to the original. It is easier to navigate the three-dimensional field and fight off enemies. This only makes it all the more frightening.
Explore the horrors of the space station
System Shock 2 is one of the better video game sequels of all time. It is terrifying with an interesting storyline that keep you engaged and thirsty for more. After playing the original System Shock, you will definitely want to move on to System Shock 2.
15) Invisible, Inc.
From Klei Entertainment, the makers of Mark of the Ninja, comes the 2015 cyberpunk spy game, Invisible, Inc.
Winner of the 2015 Best Video Game at the Geekie Awards, Invisible, Inc. is a game that centers on espionage and stealth.
You play as one of 10 unlockable agents who is charged with infiltrating some of the most dangerous corporations in the world. You are able to fully customize your agent with tons of different augmentations, programs, and items.
How will you customize your character?
There are five different game modes with many customization options and each game is randomly generated. Worlds, enemies, and loot all change each time you play so you will never play the same game twice.
You will have three days to prepare for your mission, where you will traverse the globe completing side-quests to find equipment and highly important information for exact infiltration. The combat is turn-based with emphasis on strategy.
It’s a break-in!
You can play Invisible, Inc. over and over without getting bored. With infinite possibilities and different ways that you can complete objectives, it’s almost addictive.
16) Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death
You play Judge Dredd from the 2000 AD comic series, based in Mega City One, the third decade of the 22nd century. In a world where everyone is bored, there’s nothing left to do but cause chaos and Judge Dredd is there to enforce the law and judge wrong-doers for their actions.
Dredd vs. Death, released in 2003 is an extremely comical satire where Dredd must stop villains of all kinds, from evil scientists, criminals, and even vampires and zombies. Dredd is the most feared judge of them all and the player can choose how he deals with criminals.
Bye, bye zombie scum!
Shoot your way through 11 levels of complete anarchy and hilarity. A law meter will show you how much (or how little) you execute your job in accordance to Mega City One laws. You can choose to be a merciful judge or be ruthless and unforgiving (the latter is more fun).
Dredd vs. Death offers a LAN multiplayer death match mode so that you can play with friends and choose a variety of characters, or you can play the arcade version of the game for even more mayhem.
I am justice!
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death is ridiculous in the best way and you are sure to have hours of fun handing out justice to criminals and lawbreakers. Laws against having an annoying voice, for instance. Don’t miss out the fun.
17) I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
Adapted from the short story by Harlan Ellison, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a 1995 point and click horror classic.
In the game, a horrible monster of a computer named Allied Mastercomputer, or AM, has grown to despise humankind and therefore has decimated the entire human race. With the exception five, whom he cages and toys with in order to break their spirits.
Our five caged human protagonists
It is your job to outwit and master AM, proving that humans are superior to computers. AM has kept these five humans alive for 109 years, focusing in on their weaknesses with laser-like precision. You will learn of their past and how AM tries to humiliate and psychologically destroy them.
Decisions, decisions
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is one of the most interesting and psychologically complex games of all time and is highly regarded for its stories. Your decisions can cause four different outcomes. You must help these five remaining humans to overcome their pasts, or AM will win.
If you’re looking for a high quality cyberpunk game, you have a ton of great options. With a variety of genres and styles to choose from, you will be happily occupied as you wait for Cyberpunk 2077 with, potentially, a new wave of other new cyberpunk games to come out.
