Five years ago, Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the Cyberpunk 2020 pen-and-paper role-playing game that forms the basis of Cyberpunk 2077 told me: `As long as the street needs heroes and heroes are willing to throw the dice to beat impossible odds, the world is going to need cyberpunk.`Done correctly, cyberpunk can help us experience futuristic worlds, amazing stories and emerge as a wiser person on the other side. It`s a genre that takes the problems of present-day society to troubling, dystopian ends, and explores ways to combat them. For a while, major works like Blade Runner, Neuromancer, Akira, and Ghost in the Shell overshadowed strides forward in the genre, but they`re no longer the be-all and end-all. In just the last few years, there has been a surge of new creators in all forms of media who are more than willing to dive into these eternal yet difficult concepts, and explore new issues relevant to us today.Bloober Team`s Observer (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One) Whether it`s the revival of Deus Ex or Shadowrun that kicked things off, game developers especially are starting to explore cyberpunk worlds. In the last year, studios in Poland delivered two original titles with Observer and Ruiner, both drenched in strong aesthetics and interesting narratives. Observer deals with themes of family and humanity while forcing protagonist Lazarski to corrode his soul through the use of irresistible technology. Ruiner, on the other hand, keeps its focus squarely on blood and balletic carnage, set against the backdrop of corporate augmentation and gang warfare. These games uphold some tropes of the genre, like cybernetic wars in far-off lands and pulsating cities overflowing with dangerous people, but at the same time, they pose fascinating questions. How strong are family ties? Are we losing ourselves to machines willingly? In the end, do we as human beings really matter?Wadjet Eye`s Technobabylon (PC)Games like Wadjet Eye`s Technobabylon and 2064: Read Only Memories f ...
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