The futuristic dystopian setting of the cyberpunk genre is nothing new in video games but is very much alive in 2020 thanks to the hype around CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. However, back in April, developer Ion Lands released Cloudpunk, an adventure game that features all the tropes and elements that one could expect from a cyberpunk game.
Cloudpunk puts players in the futuristic city of Nivalis that features a gorgeous design filled with neon lights and slick buildings. Players take on the role of Raina, a new delivery driver for the Cloudpunk agency tasked with picking up and delivering mysterious packages.
Story-wise, Cloudpunk features familiar tropes of the cyberpunk genre. While Cloudpunk’s narrative can be interesting at times, the way it is told is not as engaging as it should be, and the voice acting doesn’t help with immersion at all. Unlike in other games where the player unlocks the story through interaction with the environment and other characters, Cloudpunk mostly narrates the bulk of it to the player, and most of the game’s plot is revealed to Raina either through calls or commlinks that tend to drag along.
The gameplay in Cloudpunk mostly involves flying around the HOVA throughout the city, picking up packages, and dropping them off. Players will also have an opportunity to park their HOVA and deliver the package on foot, allowing them to truly see Nivalis and ask the citizens about it. Despite a slight learning curve, the controls in Cloudpunk work well on the PS4, and shouldn’t take players that long to master. Navigating the HOVA with the DualShock 4 is seamless, which is definitely a good thing given that’s where players will spend most of their time.
It is worth noting that the HOVA takes damage whenever the player bumps it into nearby buildings or other vehicles, which is bound to happen initially. Given this, players must be mindful of whether the HOVA requires repair or if it needs to be refueled. Although there are some side quests outside of the main campaign, the bulk of the gameplay revolves around players delivering packages from point A to point B. There is also an opportunity for players to find rare collectibles such as clothes and upgrades, though most of these items do not impact the gameplay.
One of the best features that cyberpunk fans will enjoy in Cloudpunk are its visuals. Its blocky aesthetic design works extremely well in depicting a dark, yet futuristic city. Walking around the city for hours on end is quite enjoyable, especially for those who like exploring at their own pace. The music is another great element in Cloupunk, especially since its synthwave sound creates an atmosphere that feels like the player is actually in a futuristic dystopian city. Overall, the redeeming factors of Cloudpunk are its visuals and soundtrack, making exploration enjoyable despite the limited locations that players can visit in the game.
However, it is worth noting that Cloudpunk is not without technical issues. There were numerous times when dialogue would repeat, prompting the game to revive a mission that was already completed. The game also stuttered quite regularly, and there were even instances when it would just crash and return to the main menu. Of course, given that the game was just released to the PS4, bugs and glitches like these are expected. Thankfully, it appears that there are no major problems that a simple patch update wouldn’t be able to fix.
Overall, the idea behind Cloudpunk has the potential to be a great cyberpunk game. Although the game’s world is visually appealing and offers a limited opportunities for exploration, minor technical issues disrupt immersion, making it difficult to appreciate the few good elements that the game offers. Cloudpunk is a good game to pick up every once in a while for short sessions, but its lackluster story and monotonous dialogue may put off players from investing long hours into the game. In the end, Cloudpunk is able to capture the essence of a cyberpunk game despite its issues, but gameplay that mostly comprises of fetch quests may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Cloudpunk is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided with a PS4 code for this review.
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