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It was released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 15, 2020.
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CLOUDPUNK DECISION ABOVE THE CLOUDS WINDOWS
Fixed camera angles and slightly floaty character movement mean these sections aren't as compelling as when you're in the air. Cloudpunk is a cyberpunk adventure game developed by German developer Ion Lands and published by Maple Whispering Limited for Microsoft Windows on April 23, 2020. Occasionally you're forced to park your car and explore parts of the city on foot. It's a narrative game first and foremost, more concerned with telling you a story than challenging you. But for the most part, Cloudpunk is a pretty easygoing experience. There are some light simulation elements too, such as stopping at garages to refuel, or forking out for repairs if you've traded paint with a few too many hover buses. And it only gets better as you spend your hard-earned wages on upgrades, including a nifty booster that gives you a short, satisfying surge of speed. Gliding across those dazzling cityscapes, weaving through traffic, and firing your repulsors to gain altitude feels sensational. Or is it flying? Your little hover car is a delight to control, with a nice feeling of speed, weight, and momentum. And as Control grows to trust you, you're given more lucrative jobs-including a visit above the clouds to the Spire, where wealthy corporate stooges live and work away from the mass of humanity below.īut what really holds Cloudpunk together is the driving. As Rania makes her deliveries she learns more about Cloudpunk, how the city is run, and the tensions bubbling beneath the surface.
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And I love Camus, Rania's AI companion, who has an infectiously naive, optimistic personality. Ion Lands studio head Marko Dieckmann expanded on that a bit further in an email, saying that Cloudpunk shares some similarities with games like Firewatch and VA-11 Hall-A, in the way it tells a. Huxley is a private detective who speaks like he's narrating a hard-boiled crime novel, and frustrates Rania with his tortured mixed metaphors. Cloudpunk absolutely nails the cyberpunk aesthetic, but it backs up style with substance. There are some great characters here, though. Nivalus is a city filled with stories, although the quality of the writing and voice acting is pretty uneven. As you make your deliveries you'll meet a large cast of characters along the way, including shady nightclub owners, hackers, hover car racers, CEOs, cops, and self-aware androids. (Image credit: Ion Lands) (opens in new tab)Ĭloudpunk is a game almost entirely about exploration and conversation.
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