Long long ago in a galaxy far far away... well no, it was in Germany and it was the late 90s. A bunch of lunatics called Reakktor Media got together to create a post apocalyptic cyberpunk MMO with a difference. This one would be First Person, in fact a First Person Shooter. They called it Neocron
As the official description puts it "By the end of the third millennium, Earth has changed...
Global pollution, excessive wars and a perforated atmosphere have turned the planet into an almost lifeless sphere of toxic mud. Radiation is everywhere and most animals have either gone extinct or have mutated into bizarre monstrous creatures.
The remnants of mankind seek protection from the desolate, scorched world and gathered behind the protective walls of giant cities. These few mega cities became the last lights of hope, in the darkness of Earth's final dusk..."
This dystopian future of the great and the good having buggered off to another planet and left you behind is where you are dropped after going through a tutorial that gives you the basic grounding in the controls of the game.
After you choose your class and how your character will look off you toddle through a section of the city called "MC5" levelling up and questing you
Like many people , the FPS angle was what attracted me to the game and after poking around the forums a bit I signed up for the closed beta not expecting anything. A couple of months later, there I was in beta stage 3 loving it.
r little newbie heart out until you are big enough and tough enough to go up to a GenRep (Gene Replicator. Think "bind point" from other games) and port yourself to your apartment.
Yes, I said Apartment. Despite its age , this game has player property. You reading this Blizzard? A dozen Germans could do what you couldn't! Each player gets their own little hidey hole in a different location depending on where they start and which city faction they choose at the start. Each apartment has storage, a GenRep, and a computer you can use to access in game fora, mail, bug reporting tools and a stock market. You can also buy items to increase the storage , fluff items like plants, and even keys to other apartments. Once you decide to take the plunge, yank that Law Enforcer and join a clan you can also access a larger clan apartment. Basically, you have features in a decade+ old game that current generation games are only adding in expansion content.
Basic Player Apartment.
Alongside all this there is the fact Neocron is an odd fish, it's an MMO/FPS hybrid where your character class is just as important as your twitch gaming skills. No point trying to be a melee char and all in peoples faces if you're a Spy... they'll leave your twitching corpse on the floor and go grab a beer in the Pepper Park red light district. Also don't go thinking that your Private Eye can go waving about a Plasma Cannon the size of a car with any real efficiency, you'll not be able to hit a cows arse with a banjo. What you can do however, is build a character around your chosen skills that will be able to hold its own and complement your chosen play style.
The Neocron UI in all it's glory!
Ah yes, did I mention that this game release as an 18? It has drugs, sex, violence, and an emote system that includes humping people in the face. Add that to fact that to cap out your char you need to pull out an implant called a "law enforcer chip" that is all that prevents you from breaking out a flame thrower and hosing down your fellow players (and them returning the favour) and you can see that this game is not for the shiny happy people. It's for the ones who understand that cyberpunk is all about "Do unto others, just do it first!" / Style over substance attitude.
Neocron has had a troubled past, bankruptcy , 2 publishers, 5 years without an update and now... rescue! The support team picked up the remains of the old girl, kicked her into life, and took her Free to Play based on the Neocron Evolution 2.2. codebase.
Since then, the guys and girls have set up a Facebook page, IRC room, various twitter feeds and the like.
So If you're into the old Cyberpunk and not too bothered about a mildly aged engine, check out the game!
Oh yes, and if you get shot in the back by "Ithaqua" or are lucky enough to get a ride across the wasteland in the Magic Bus say hi. If you're polite I might not leave your corpse halfway up a mountain...
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