Cloudpunk

When I was a kid, I desperately wanted to live in the futuristic world of Blade Runner. I loved the neon buildings, the flying cars, the advanced microfiche technology and, of course, the idea of chasing down replicants. Never did I imagine what it would be like to live as a regular, normal person just trying to get by in that far-flung dystopia. The new game Cloudpunk helped to put that into perspective. It's a game set in a dark and dreary vision of the future where corporations control everything and those on the margins take soul-crushing jobs in what remains of the gig economy. All it took was one harrowing night as a delivery person in Nivalis to throw cold water all over my childhood dreams and wake me up to the truth -- unless you're the one hunting Rutger Hauer and Sean Young, the future kind of sucks.

Rania is not from the big city. She grew up on the East Peninsula, but fate and tragedy has brought her to Nivalis to start a new life. This is where she works delivering packages for a shady company named Cloudpunk, and today just happens to be her first day. But this is not going to be an ordinary first day, because there's something in the air tonight. Violence has spiked, Cloudpunk drivers are dying by the hour, everybody is acting a little crazy and the city is literally crumbling around us, and all that is before Rania gets caught up in a life or death conspiracy that could change the course of history.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves, because Cloudpunk is an easy game to describe. We control Rania as she drives around the sprawling city delivering packages and completing missions. She'll earn a small amount of money for each job, which she'll use to buy gas, food, repairs and decorations for the new apartment. It's not enough, which is what makes taking on side jobs and pursuing risky decisions more attractive. We take on this shift in real time, experiencing firsthand what it's like to be stuck in a horrible night that is somehow only getting worse.

Rania is doing this to not only keep her head above water, but also give her AI companion Camus a new body. You see, he used to be a dog, but now his mind has been transferred into the car we use for deliveries. This sets up a fun dynamic where Rania is having lengthy conversations with her car, who wants nothing more than to get back to life as a dog. Got that?

And that's a lot of what you should expect from Cloudpunk. More than anything else, this is a game about understanding the futuristic world by talking to the city's many colorful characters. She's an outsider just like us, so Rania has just as many questions for the different types of clients. This allows the game to explore a lot of socially-relevant topics dealing with the haves and have-nots, the burden of technology, bigotry against the Automata, the lack of privacy, government control and so much more.

The problem with a job like this is that it's so easy to get roped into helping questionable clients. It won't take long before you're running errands for the city's more powerful mobster or helping a 1940s private investigator track down a missing girl. All the while, Rania is searching for clues about something called CORA, which could be a secret organization, curse word or even an ancient religion, depending on who you ask. She has a lot on her plate, but just as long as Rania continues to make deliveries on time, she should be able to figure out how all these threads are connected.

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There's something about the simplicity that I really appreciate. This is a story-focused game, so it's nice to see that the developer didn't make the gameplay too complicated. We mostly drive from point A to point B and deliver the packages. The trickiest part of the process is that we'll need to find a parking spot and then run around the rainy city on foot. With elevators, bridges, walkways and even portals, navigating Nivalis can be a little confusing. It's a helpful reminder that this is a job and you're actually working for that money, and sometimes that means jumping through a lot of hoops. But it's ultimately worth it, because this is a rich and fully-realized world that is bursting with personality. It's important to see how people are living on the ground level, and that's not something you can get a sense of when you're motoring around in a flying car.

In case I haven't made it abundantly clear, Cloudpunk is more interested in story than action. Don't go into this game expecting it to be another Grand Theft Auto or even Crazy Taxi, because there's nothing like that here. We're not running away from the cops or getting into shootouts, because we're too busy delivering packages and getting into deep conversations. Instead of getting into fistfights, we get to make moral decisions that will impact the story in both big and small ways. Choices that start out so simple and seemingly frivolous become life-changing by the end, and it made me curious to see what would happen if I made different decisions.

Unfortunately, there are a few things that pull me out of the experience. The most glaring issue is the voice acting, which can be a little rocky at times. Don't get me wrong, I love that every character is given a voice, but had a rough time getting through a lot of the stilted dialog. Rania is generally pretty good, but there's one character towards the end that drove me up the wall. If there was an option to make only that character mute, I would have probably given this game a higher score.

I also found the gameplay a little disappointing. While it's certainly fun flying around the city, I wish the cars handled better. I understand that this isn't designed for racing, but the car we use for delivery has a terrible time with sharp turns. I had similar issues when Rania was on foot. She likes to get caught on garbage cans and light poles, and there are even times when she gets permanently stuck in the geometry. When it comes to both driving and walking, the gameplay could use a little tightening up.

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One thing I have no complaints about is the presentation. I love the look of Cloudpunk. This is one of the most ambitious use of voxel graphics yet, to the point where you might not even realize the world is created with little blocks until you get close to one of the neon skyscrapers. What's even better is that every section of the city has a unique look and personality. More than anything else, this game works because the developers spent the time to make this feel like a living, breathing city. I loved hanging out in Nivalis, but I definitely wouldn't want to work there.

With Phoning Home and now Cloudpunk, ION Lands has proven to be a developer worth paying attention to. This Blade Runner-esque delivery game shows what it's like to live on the margins in a futuristic dystopian city. The story runs the gamut from being silly and goofy to emotional and thought-provoking. It has a lot to say about the impact of technology and the problems with the gig economy, two things that are incredibly relevant in 2020. While the gameplay could be tightened up and some of the voice acting is shaky, these minor imperfections shouldn't keep you from working at Cloudpunk. This is going to be one of those games that sticks with me long after 2020 has come to a close.