Like a lot of attendees, I left E3 itching to dive headfirst into cyberpunk. Yes, I mean Cyberpunk 2077, the upcoming RPG by CD Projekt Red, but I also mean the genre more broadly. Reports of the game’s behind-closed-door demo–which you can hear us talk about right here–and some of the developer interviews that followed kicked off weeks of fascinating conversation about the history and nature of Cyberpunk as a genre.
Across the web (including right here on this site), people asked all sorts of fascinating questions: Is Cyberpunk inherently a radical, political genre, or has it always been more concerned with aesthetics than praxis? Is the genre at its best when it’s critical of corporate transhumanism or when it’s collapsing the binary between “organic” and “synthetic”? What does a more diverse cyberpunk look like? There was even a great thread over on our forums about everyone’s favorite stories in the genre.
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All of that conversation was great, but it still left me wanting something a little more… interactive. So many of my favorite cyberpunk experiences are about immersion, and I don’t just mean in the “first person climbing and healing animations” sense. What I first loved about Blade Runner was the sense of place, whether in Decker’s apartment, on the city streets, or in the abandoned building that JF Sebastian lives in. It’s a big part of why the Hell’s Kitchen level of the original Deus Ex is still so clear in my memory: that shitty bar; your brother’s apartment complex; the crummy free clinic. So much of what I love about Ken MacLeod’s The Star Fraction (one of my favorite cyberpunk stories) is the way he renders the feeling of being in different places–from the dorms of anarchist mercenary outfits, to the clean biolabs of corporate-sponsored universities, to the sacrosanct salesroom of the setting’s Mormon Church Turned World’s Super Store. (No, really, read The Star Fraction, it’s great).
So, is it any surprise that I convinced the rest of the team to spend the rest of the summer playing Shadowrun: Dragonfall, a game that so elegantly creates feelings of place-ness?
Dragonfall offers its own take on so many different stock Cyberpunk ideas, from the human-machine divide, to the place of faith in a world that has been overrun with both technology (and magic; it is Shadowrun, after all). It’s filled with memorable characters, and it has a hell of a pitch:
In 2012, magic returned to our world, awakening powerful creatures of myth and legend. Among them was the Great Dragon Feuerschwinge, who emerged without warning from the mountains of Germany, unleashing fire, death, and untold destruction across the countryside. It took German forces nearly four months to finally shoot her down – and when they did, their victory became known as The Dragonfall.
It’s 42 years later – 2054 – and the world has changed. Unchecked advances in technology have blurred the line between man and machine. Elves and trolls walk among us, ruthless corporations bleed the world dry, and Feuerschwinge’s reign of terror is just a distant memory. Germany is splintered – a stable anarchy known as the “Flux State” controls the city of Berlin. It’s a place where power is ephemeral, almost anything goes, and the right connections can be the difference between success and starvation. For you and your team of battle-scarred shadowrunners, there’s no better place to earn a quick payday.
A tactical RPG with “ruthless corporations bleed[ing] the world dry” set in “a stable anarchy known as the Flux State” that’s put under threat by “the Great Dragon Feuerschwinge“? How the hell hadn’t we already done an ep of Waypoint 101 about Dragonfall?
We’ll be recording our episode of Waypoint 101 sometime in the back half of August, so you have some time. Those of us on staff are committing to putting 10 hours or so in the game, though I’m pretty excited to play through the whole thing, including the Directors Cut content that I never got around to before. Also: You don’t need to go back to play the original Shadowrun Returns or any other Shadowrun game to play this. Just hop right in to Dragonfall.
If you wanna play along with us, grab the game from your favorite digital retailer, spend a few hours getting your feet wet it future Berlin, and hop into this thread to share your thoughts! (And hey, since this will be the first time through the game for a lot of folks, be sure to mark your spoilers.) You can also participate by sending us questions to gaming@vice.com and using the subject Waypoint 101- Shadowrun!
Either way, I’m looking forward to what y’all have to say about this one. Good luck, and remember the three rules of being a runner: Watch your back, conserve ammo, and never, ever cut a deal with a Dragon.
