Survival in video games has grow to be synonymous with simplistic managing of assets with a purpose to stave off the entropic forces that come for all of us. Neo Cab, from Californian studio Chance Agency appears to place a way more human and relatable spin on the idea.
Neo Cab is a sport about being one of many final cab drivers. In the not-too-distant future, you play as Lina, one of many final human members of a enterprise lengthy since taken over by AI within the metropolis of Los Ojos. Players are tasked with balancing cash, popularity and emotional well being, whereas navigating each the streets of the town, and the conversations that the job brings.
Neo Cab strikes a private chord, in my case. Before lastly discovering common work writing, I made ends meet as a night-shift cab driver. While hardly a threatened trade in my quiet Welsh neck of the woods, there was this ever-present sense that the writing was on the wall. If it wasn’t ride-sharing firms transferring in from the cities, it might be automation, and turnover was already excessive, partially from coping with the more and more drunk, despondent and determined locals.
While Neo Cab will undoubtedly be telling a vastly totally different story from mine, I can’t assist however be deeply curious as to what sort of tales will likely be informed each by the protagonist and their lengthy, nightly procession of fares. It’s additionally the newest in what appears to be a rising style exploring the extra mundane, human aspect of neon-slaked cyberpunk; video games comparable to VA-11 Hall-A, The Red Strings Club, and 2064: Read Only Memories.
The crew behind Neo Cab have some significantly spectacular credentials between them, particularly relating to non-standard, narrative-driven designs. Among the group are writers Leigh Alexander (Reigns: Her Majesty) and Patrick Ewing (Firewatch). Art director Vincent Perea is recent off the aesthetically breathtaking Where The Water Tastes Like Wine, and sound designer Joe Burke was composer on cellular puzzle hit Monument Valley.
Neo Cab will finally be accessible through Itch.io and Steam, and you can get on the mailing list here, to be told of modifications in improvement.
Disclosure: Former RPS contributor Leigh Alexander is among the lead writers on Neo Cab.
