The exits are clearly marked with flashing arrows so finding them should never be an issue. You also have an inventory which you can view by clicking on the bag at the top left of the screen and which is never intrusive. You can then select either use or examine or talk to someone depending on the hotspot. You point and click to move your character around and left click to interact with different objects and hotspots. This also helps to show off the and talent of the artists involved the developers have clearly gone to a lot of effort to make the locations as diverse and interesting as possible and have without question succeeded in this aspect. You start off in the backstreets of the city and later on you travel to a gang’s headquarters, the band’s travel bus, a nightclub and other different locations which I won’t spoil here. One thing that I did appreciate a lot is the different types of locations in the game. There are also some nice sound effects of rain falling but these are rather minimal and it would have been nice to hear more background sound effects which would have helped further toe make the world seem more alive. I would have liked a little more variety as it does become a little repetitive as it plays on a loop but overall the music never bothered me and I enjoyed it overall. The synthesized electronic soundtrack is really nice to listen and is never distracting. While it’s a shame there is no voice acting, the music is of a very high quality. It is clear the developers have done a lot of research into these topics and into the cyberpunk genre as a whole as the conversations and the themes always felt like they naturally fit into this world and never felt out of place. ![]() Thankfully the dialogue is also not too long and the length is just right. There are some interesting conversations about how the world has changed and about the underground hacking culture which also helps to bring the characters and the world to life. Most of the dialogue is not necessary for the overall plot but it really helps to get to know the characters and to know more about the world they live in. Throughout the game you get to meet some wonderfully weird characters such as AVR graffiti artists involved in their own turf war, drug dealers, other smugglers of modded software, the last living live music band and many others. We see trains running in the background and the rain falling and as well as giving a nostalgic retro feel the game’s graphics also help to set the mood and help make the world feel alive. The differences are striking and are captured beautifully in the wonderful pixel art graphics. It’s dank, it’s miserable and it’s no wonder that most of the human race want to escape this reality and live in their own happier reality even if they have to live with more advertisements. Thanks to the VR headset Nathan can switch it off and see how the world really is. When you switch it on you see an augmented reality version of the world with avatars of people, neon advertisements and a corporate view of the world which most people in the game are connected to and are unable or unwilling to disconnect from. VirtuaVerse is available for your puzzle solving sci-fi pleasure on Steam ($15, macOS, Linux, Windows).One of the interesting things about the game is the use of the VR headset that can be found in Nathan’s inventory. What the barebones graphics engine can’t do in code, Valenberg’s mastery of looping GIFs does in art, while Master Boot Record pleases your eardrums with excellent audio. I’ll need to play more to speak about the wider narrative (so far the game has me repairing my VR headset while chasing after my disappearing girlfriend), but if nothing else, VirtuaVerse shows that you can make a completely immersive adventure without technical bells and whistles. The terminals, the vending machines, your character reading all kinds of sushi off a restaurant’s menu-everything gives off the vibe you’re part of a wider, (dys)functional world. In the first two hours I’ve only reached the first bigger area (Pill Street) and despite the lack of huge crowds or real-time reflections (khm, The Last Night, khm) the world feels surprisingly alive. The gameplay is as 90s as the aesthetic is the 80s. Some of them got me chasing pixels for quite some time, but eventually I pushed through. ![]() ![]() ![]() The game opens cold before you see the titles though, throwing you into the protagonist’s apartment, straight into a series of classic point-and-click puzzles (look at surroundings, pick up objects, use objects with surroundings). the opening credits) and you’ll know what I mean: artworks have always excelled at the neon-purple aesthetic, so it’s no surprise the world feels like stepping into one of his paintings, or better yet, music videos. VirtuaVerse is out! I played through the first couple of hours last night and it’s as cyberpunky as we’ve hoped.
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