You can endlessly guess what future awaits us and our descendants, or you can open a selection of games where everything has already been predicted and predicted for the next 100 years. The changes have already begun and there are first preconditions that corporations will come to power in the future. Perhaps even some of the plots of these titles will be confirmed in real life.
When making games, developers often aim at the setting of the distant or not very future. And this future is very different in the eyes of each company: in one game an ideal, progressive and technological tomorrow is presented, where people live like in Eden, and in another project, the futuristic world is more like a frightening anti-utopia.
The concept of tomorrow has often attracted players more than the action of the past, and the release of Cyberpunk2077 has once again revived the trend for the cyberpunk genre. Here’s a selection of the top ten games set during the technological dawn.
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
The action of the second part of one of the best parkour games takes place in a magnificent city of the future – Mirrorthat clearly shows everything the fruits of technological progress… Everything is excellent here, except for the government, in the form of which the totalitarian mega-corporations act, which have established anti-utopian laws.
The Kruger Seck Corporation is secretly developing Project Reflection, capable of finally allowing the acquisition of total control over a stratified population Mirrors. The main character, after 3 years, is still released and immediately joins her flock. Team Faith, meanwhile, is actively preparing to fight the Kruger Seck and a real war for the freedom of the city.
The ascent
The main character is an ordinary gear in the huge mechanism of the system. The player’s character works for the Ascent Group, the largest corporation in the world with incredible influence.
Life goes on as usual, until mysterious circumstances abruptly end the existence of Ascent, and the hero himself is drawn into very unpleasant events: the fall of security systems, the division of the spheres of influence of the AG, attempts by crime bosses to take advantage of the situation.
The world of The Ascent is a completely ordinary world of Cyberpunk, which is divided into futuristic and rich streets of the future, as well as poor slums that breed poverty. The player will have to be on both sides of the fence.
Ghostrunner
Ghostrunner is very similar to the symbiote of Mirror’s Edge, Cyberpunk2077 and TitanFall, and that’s a good thing. The plot originates in post-apocalyptic world of the future, which survived many collapses, and less than 5% of the total population remained. The survivors moved into a huge tower erected by a mysterious Architect. Another feature of the tower is that it directly shows class division of society: the lower strata (the poor, the workers) live at the bottom, and the elite at the top.
Years passed and the Dharma, which had previously served as a haven for the surviving population, began to turn into hell. The ruler of the tower, Mara, gets rid of the Architect and begins a horrific repression. The player takes control of a ghost runner, the best swordsman of all who have lived and lived before. Now the main task is punish the traitor and free the city from the tyrant… The game pleases the eye with neon locations and spectacular battles.
Saints row 4
The Saga of Saints presents the player with an extremely unusual concept of the future, which is not touched upon as often. A Gang of Saints who have become US Presidents prepares for a press conference at the White House. Suddenly, she was interrupted by aliens who decided to visit Earth. Later, the whole gang gathers in a spaceship and starts prepare a plan for the return of the city…
An ordinary metropolis that players may remember from the third part of Saints Row has turned into the abode of neon towers, red spotlights shine from the sky, and alien patrols roam the streets. Now, in addition to the usual criminal showdowns, the player will have to perform non-standard tasks, regularly visit space stations and plunge into the frightening world of the future.
Katana zero
Pixel platformer, which is made very soundly and conscientiously. The main character is the swordsman Zero, who has been tormented by a certain disease for a long time. Of the side symptoms, Zero has memory loss and headaches that he thinks are related to the past. Because of this, the man visits a psychiatrist, who along the way gives him contracts to eliminate certain subjects.
The world around the swordsman is cruel and ruthless: heavy and oppressive corporate pressures makes itself felt. The state is trying to enslave its citizens using the armed forces and drugs, which people are hooked on. The game is filled with colorful battles, lots of effects and references to retro games.
Watch dogs 2
Markus Holloway is a member of the DedSec hacker group. The young burglar joins a group of rebels opposing the system. Their main goal is to destroy the ctOS system, which is aimed at total control of society through and has already managed to destroy the life of the protagonist. Teaming up with experienced hackers and criminals, Marcus begins his the fight against corporations and the state…
Despite the fact that Watch Dogs 2 is set in modern-day San Francisco, the technological progress in the game has far outstripped progress in real life. Everything in this city is connected through a network, people are addicted to technology, and ctOS is increasingly expanding its spheres of influence. Ubisoft, using the example of an ordinary US city, shows what can happen to society if you succumb too much to the influence of technology and forget about everything.
Deus Ex
Deus Ex truly represents the progenitor of the cyberpunk genre in games. In 2052 the planet is gradually covered by disasters: An economic collapse begins, due to which governments weaken and lose influence, and on such fertile soil terrorist groups begin to appear.
The protagonist serves in an anti-terrorist organization that must use all available technologies in order to fight evil. Social issues aside, in an anti-utopian future a terrifying epidemic begins, the vaccine for the fight against which is extremely small, but even its crumbs go exclusively to the elites of this world.
Watch Dogs: Legion
The third part of Watch Dogs begins in London of the future… A beautiful, bright, neon-drenched, but very impartial “tomorrow”: constant surveillance, military corporations take control over states, criminal groups flourish, and the situation is only getting worse. The main character, who will need to be recruited on his own, is waiting long struggle for London’s freedom, fighting the state and opposing factions…
The plot begins with the enemy Zero-Day faction organizing a terrorist attack in central London, trying to frame DedSec. The consequences were terrifying: part of the group died, another part went missing, and the rest had to go to the bottom. After such shocks, the player will have to regain respect for the gang of hackers and protect the innocent.
Detroit: Become Human
The game takes place in 2038, in Detroit. Humans have made so much technological progress that they are not the only intelligent beings. The promising Cyberlife corporation was developed humanoid robots – Androids, which are adapted for completely different tasks: cleaning, security and much more. Cities are fully adapted to the convenience of people: android charging stations, automated shops, autopilot buses.
But the idyll ends at the moment when some robots gain awareness of their existence: they understand that they are also alive and capable of feeling. Then the situation starts to spiral out of control. The player will be given control over three characters, whose non-linear stories will take place at the same time, but directly depend on each player’s choice. And only the player has to decide Will androids live on a par with humans or will they remain slaves?
Cyberpunk 2077
The plot of the sensational role-playing game begins in the distant 2077 in the city of the future “Night City”. After a series of crises and wars between superpowers, the US state had to ask for help and funds from corporations, which is why all power will soon pass to these very corporations.
There are two worlds: an expensive and progressive center, where all-powerful corporations rule and the polluted, backward and poor outskirts, where poverty is widespread and all influence is divided between groups, each of which controls its own area. In Night City, power, luxury and body modifications are valued, so the protagonist has a long way to go from a simple “no-name” to one of the most significant residents of the city.
Despite the technical failure of the game (bugs / lags / optimization), the plot turned out to be quite interesting. Who wants to get to know the game better, we recommend: passing Cyberpunk 2077 with all possible endings.