Cyberpunk 2077 is delayed, so play these future noir games instead
The upcoming sci-fi game has been pushed from September to November, but there are other ways to get a hit of high-tech dystopia.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Video game delays are nothing new, so it came as no surprise when the upcoming high-tech thriller Cyberpunk 2077 was pushed from April to September. And again just a week ago, when it slid to Nov. 19. If you were hoping to close out your summer with some hacking and fighting alongside virtual Keanu, that's a bummer. But that doesn't mean your neo-noir longing for neon-lit, rain-slicked streets has to go unfulfilled.
These games share a lot of Cyberpunk's DNA, taking cues from William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Syd Mead and any film/novel/game where people have raised a cybernetically enhanced fist against the political order.
Read more at GameSpot: Cyberpunk 2077 hands-on
Observer
This 2017 psychological sci-fi thriller goes so far down the Blade Runner rabbit hole as to have actor Rutger Hauer as the face and voice of police investigator Daniel Lazarski. Rather than chase down rogue replicants, this police protagonist uses high-tech implants to search through suspects' unconscious minds by literally plugging a jack from his smartwatch into the backs of their heads. Naturally, there are plenty of dark, damp environments covered with neon signs and futuristic advertisements. It's mostly a walking simulator with little action, but also an interesting twist on the familiar future noir concept. Read GameSpot's review of Observer.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
The closest you're likely to get to a Cyberpunk 2077 vibe before that game hits shelves, this ambitious adventure combines stealth, combat, mystery solving, politics and more into a remarkably well-rounded experience. There's plenty to chew on, from transhumanism to robot rights, and many, many ways to play through each scenario. That said, the dated-looking cyberfashions are a bit much, from the angular sunglasses to the pointy facial hair... Read GameSpot's Deus Ex: Mankind Divided review.
Blade Runner
One of the great "lost" games of all time, this 1997 adventure had been unavailable for more than 20 years, mostly thanks to rights issues. It's finally been rereleased on GOG, the online game service best known for resurrecting classic games, tweaked to run on modern computers. Amazingly, it's one of the few retro classics that really holds up. Since the graphics are still '90s-era, this had no trouble running on my work laptop. A remastered version has also been announced, but there's no firm date on that yet. Read GameSpot's Blade Runner review.
But if nothing but Cyberpunk 2077 will satisfy, note that a handful of people have played the opening hours of the game. It's not the same as playing it yourself, but our hands-on impressions might be enough to hold you over until November, or you can see what our GameSpot colleagues thought in the video below.