It’s ostensibly an RPG, but there’s not much in the way of RPG elements to be found. There are a handful of side quests, such as collecting old video games or punch cards, but nothing ever makes you feel under pressure to complete them with urgency. It’s a simple formula that Cloudpunk largely repeats throughout. There’s a story behind most packages, and often a message behind those. Control sends you to pick up the package, and you subsequently deliver it. It’s slow-paced, relaxing, almost peaceful. The main storyline never feels like it expects you anywhere. Nivalis feels like a grimy sci-fi city right out of Blade Runner. A synth heavy soundtrack fits in just perfectly, too - it’s just the right kind of music to drive to, never too fast or too slow. There are futuristic whooshing noises and beeps and boops, all making Cloudpunk’s sound design much more than the sum of its parts. Motors whine as cars float by, my footsteps are gentle, I can always hear the rain. I say hear, because Nivalis sounds alive in a genuinely impressive way. I never feel rushed (surprising, given it’s a game about deliveries) and I’m always able to take my time to really see and hear the city. You can get away with cheaper work in a fast-paced FPS, where a player might be too busy shooting to really think about these, but Cloudpunk knows it’s a slower game and subsequently worked until things were just right. Cloudpunk’s cleanest successes are in the art, lighting and sound directions.
Even little details - tiny flares as a character passes in front of a light - are thoughtfully rendered. The voxel character models are well-made and unique.
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It’s perpetually raining in Nivalis, leaving puddles everywhere that are full of reflections. On the ground, things are just as amazing.
Nivalis feels like stepping into Los Angeles from Blade Runner, grimy and intoxicating.Ĭloudpunk’s art, sound and lighting shine through as its finest parts. There’s just enough traffic to make the city feel busy and alive, without becoming terribly cluttered or difficult to navigate. The skyways, where you fly your HOVA between deliveries, are populated with other cars. CorpSec, the cops of Cloudpunk, periodically rush by, their lights flaring and sirens blaring. Other cars, towering buildings, even the clouds above and below each district are lovingly rendered. Cloudpunk mostly takes place either in your HOVA car as you drive between deliveries, or on foot to cover the final distance and deliver the package.
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You play as Rania, a recently arrived migrant to Nivalis who manages to get work as a driver for the semi-legal Cloudpunk delivery service. It’s a nice spin on the generic cyberpunk setting that lifts things up into the sky instead of leaving the criminal underbelly lying in the dirt, and it’s beautiful for it. Everyone has a story, and in the course of one night in Nivalis, everything will change.Cloudpunk, from developer Ion Lands, is set in the metropolis of Nivalis. In this story-based exploration game, you will meet a diverse range of characters including androids, AI and unscrupulous humans at every level of society.
No delivery job is too dangerous, and no one is faster than a Cloudpunk driver. You go everywhere, from the Marrow below to the spires that pierce the grey clouds high above before scraping the edge of the troposphere. This is your first night working for Cloudpunk, the semi-legal delivery company based in the sprawling city of Nivalis.
Two rules: Don’t miss a delivery and don’t ask what’s in the package. It’s your first night on the job working for the Cloudpunk delivery service. A neon-noir story in a rain-drenched cyberpunk metropolis.