Neon Blood
Developer: Chaotic Brain Studios
Publishers: Meridiem Games, Astrolabe Games
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $19.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
The aesthetic of a cyberpunk world is always a huge draw, especially when done well. Mix that with a little, or a lot, of dystopian future and there is the makings for some great storytelling to pull from, whether it involves humanity pushing the limits of what actually can still be considered human or mega corporations dominating the world. Chaotic Brain Studios has brought out their own take on a cyberpunk dystopia with a unique blend of pixel characters and 3D environments dripping with signature neon. So, now that it has arrived, is Neon Blood worth the trip to the grungy neon-lit future?
Story
The year is 2053 and everyone in Viridis has cybernetic implants of some sort, whether they are older biological based implants or the new fangled top of the line tech being rolled out by Nilkcorp. The quality of these implants is massive and with everyday life revolving around cybernetics in this dystopian future, those who are wealthy rule while those who are barely scraping by end up in the sewers, literally. Players take on the role of Axel McCoin, an amnesiac detective who was once one of the best cops in Blind City but once his memory loss, migraines, and addiction to the powerful drug Spark took hold he’s been barely holding it together.
With the help of his police commissioner wanting to honor his legacy and a fellow Spark addict who happens to be the best hacker in the city, McCoin finds himself placed on a serial killer’s trail. A mysterious murderer known as Robin Slash has been slaying any engineers working for Nilkcorp and with the company about to roll out the next major patch to their cybernetics, the company’s owner Ruby Emerald is prepared to take any means necessary, even if it means using her own security force “The Samaritans” that far outnumber and outgear the police to do it. With little time and only a few clues to go off of, McCoin soon finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy that’ll change the lives of everyone and not only contains the truth behind McCoin’s memory loss but his unusual abilities that slowly unveil themselves over the course of the investigation.
Neon Blood tells a fairly interesting tale with a world that is just detailed enough to draw players in but never quite deep enough to keep them interested for long and is a bit stereotypical for a cyberpunk story as well. This is both something of a blessing and a curse as Neon Blood is an incredibly short game with players being able to explore and talk to nearly every NPC in each location, find all the notes and newspaper clippings scattered around that provide a bit of extra context, and still beat the game in roughly three hours. This, accompanied with the fact that there are no unique paths or different outcomes to McCoin’s journey means that this is a one and done experience, even if some later revelations add a bit of extra context to earlier scenes.
That’s not to say that the story is bad by any means however and what the writers have detailed about the world is entertaining enough. Whether it be the Spark drug that many fall victim to and the foul way it is created, the “Rat Man” transformation the addicts can suffer, or even the dilapidated conditions a region can turn into once its mega corp pulls out. These little world details help add extra context to Neon Blood’s storyline but unfortunately the actual characters are the ones that need the most growth and explanation. Numerous characters that join McCoin’s investigation or come up against him have their own little personalities but they are never expanded on in any meaningful way in game. In fact, the main villain of the story, while stereotypical for their reasoning about what they want to do, isn’t even given most of their backstory within the title. Instead it is relegated to dev logs on the game’s Steam page where players shouldn’t even delve into before playing the game as it will spoil certain events within the game itself. Including these extra pieces of background information as post-game rewards or unlockable in-game content would have been a far more preferable way to handle these.
Gameplay
Throughout Neon Blood players will only find themselves controlling McCoin as he travels around the various locations pertinent to his current investigation. The only real navigation options are a slow walking pace, a standard jog, and shortly after starting the game, the ability to scan a small area for clues. Players can talk to various NPCs with quest-related NPCs given special exclamation marks next to their chat boxes as well as examine some objects in the environment but for the most part, almost everything having to do with exploration is incredibly simple.
Puzzles themselves are pretty much non-existent other than having to occasionally scan an area and follow a neon-lit trail left by McCoin’s target. This is as simple as going from point A to point B at nearly every occasion and even the dreaded sewers are a slog of activating terminals to lower bridges, an activity that players will need to do twice as they return to pad out the game’s length near the end of the title. The only notable puzzles have to deal with a couple of interactions that require the player to properly remember some clues to convince a character to move or real life knowledge of games as the title is full of references to both gaming as well as the cyberpunk genre in general. We counted at least three obvious game references though there are likely more for a more discerning or cyberpunk loving eye.
There is no inventory system in any way, as players will simply obtain items that will then just be used as needed by the plot and the same can be said for McCoin’s cybernetics and combat abilities. As players advance through the story McCoin will just be given upgrades by his allies or, in a couple of odd cases, just grow stronger out of nowhere. Ironically, despite having a turn-based battle system and featuring allies that seem like they could fight alongside McCoin at multiple times throughout the game, McCoin will always be alone when it comes to fighting. As for the fights themselves, as mentioned before they are entirely turn-based and there is no real way to judge which character will act first. McCoin’s initial combat options are standard attack, items that take turns to recharge, defend, and a headshot critical skill with no cooldown. As players progress they’ll obtain more item and skill attacks to the point that combat becomes a moot point, with there ironically being absolutely zero challenge once players obtain a certain final skill, making even the big bosses a breeze.
Not that there is any actual punishment for dying in combat. Should players take a risky gamble or take an unlucky critical hit and die, the game will simply reset the fight. Every so often after a fight, and one other time, players are sent into a series of quick time events to rapidly unleash powerful moves to finish off a foe in a bombastic looking fashion. The only problem here is, these quick time events are completely silent and so is the action happening on screen, removing a lot of the impact they may have otherwise.
It is rather unfortunate to note that despite clocking in at roughly three hours, Neon Blood has its fair share of bugs throughout our time with the game. This included interacting with an NPC only to find our character locked in place and unable to move, forcing a quit to menu and relying on the game’s lackluster auto save only option, a handful of translation issues, characters having the wrong text boxes for their dialogue to the point it made them look like they were talking to themself, and even an issue that glitched out a quest NPC that once again forced a quit and reload. It is also worth noting that while this may or may not be a bug, a combat skill that states that McCoin’s attack will never miss but will always attack second if used, misses extremely often.
Audio & Visuals
Players will immediately be able to tell that Neon Blood’s unique blend of chunky pixel art against 3D backgrounds laced with neon lighting throughout is a real labor of love. The game’s environments are great looking, even if some are unfortunately reused a couple of times too many, while the characters look wonderful, maintaining a unique aesthetic throughout while also providing a bit of a twisted look at how some of those who fall prey to the Spark become. Throughout the game the quick time action sequences are some of the best looking pieces of pixel art in the game and oddly enough, there are even full blown animated cutscenes from time to time but they are rather brief. That being said, these scenes do help provide a bit of extra detail to put some proper features to pixelated faces.
There is no voice work in any form throughout the game, though there are a large number of text language options available for accessibility. As mentioned before, there is a strange lack of sound effects for quick time event fights and even some of the animated scenes lack sound too which is extremely unfortunate. As for the background music, there are a solid array of tracks that fit the cyberpunk/retro theme of the game but none stand out in any notable way.
Overall
Playing through Neon Blood it is easy to see that it is a labor of love from some passionate developers. The pixel artwork and setting of the game are impressive and gorgeous looking at times and there is a certain level of detail to the world building that feels like there could be so much more to the game. But that feeling is sadly one that persists throughout many aspects of it, as the storyline itself isn’t bad but lacks impact thanks to its short length and lack of background details for certain characters outside of Mc Coin and the combat is bare bones at best and lackluster at its worst. With a handful of bugs accompanying it as well, it feels like Neon Blood could have been much more.
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