Off the Shelf Media

Cloudpunk is one of those incredible games that you never heard of until one day it falls in your lap by chance, or you pick it up on sale after thinking it looks cool. You would be right to think it from a quick teaser; it is a great experience for a game that offers so much by using so little. 

In recent years, games centered around atmosphere, like Sable and Stray have been on the rise – and for good reason. While this game was my first experience in this genre, I was pleasantly surprised. I should get it out of the way and say I did not, nor was I attempting to, platinum the game, but I completed every mission I came across, which seems like most given the achievements I racked up, but there were still a few that fell through the cracks. The near-perfect completion is a byproduct of excellent design that compelled me to resolve the missions I was exposed to.  

What is it about Cloudpunk that makes it noteworthy? That might be a bit hard to nail down, but hopefully, in my attempt, you might find yourself wanting to explore those reasons in the game yourself.

Gameplay: 2

In simplest terms, you’re a delivery driver in a futuristic supercity, reminiscent of the first few minutes of Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element. If you are not a fan of driving, or I guess flying, under pressure to hit a time limit then this game is not for you. That being said it, will be the most intense moments of play. 

The art style is voxel-based, where everything is designed around cubes, which I know can cause some people to turn away. Personally, I think that’s a stupid decision to entirely deter someone from playing, but to each their own. This square style makes the game run smoothly on almost any machine, and while it is available on all the recent consoles, most PC players can rest easy knowing the game will look good even if you might be in need of an upgrade. This allows the lighting effects to literally shine on even toaster-grade technology. 

Typically, the boxy design style lends itself to more building or crafting-style games like Minecraft for simple processing. Here, it is used entirely for aesthetics, which makes it rather unique considering there is no build mechanic. Many times, the game is visually stunning and is generally fun to switch between the first and third-person views. 

While you can purchase items for your apartment, this hardly qualifies as a crafting game. The few times you may find yourself going back to your apartment, it is nice to mark your progress by spending these small milestones and filling the cramped room with nicknacks that offer a homie feeling. It is a small mechanic in the grand scheme of the game, but it does make a lasting impact to see the fruits of your labor. Something about attempting to personalize what little you have in the backdrop of a crumbling city at odds with itself feels fitting. The game has engrossed the player to naturally want them to participate like the other NPCs would even without seeing them do it.  

Most of, really close to all of, your time is spent driving through the three-dimensional roads and alleyways to deliver your target. The traffic obstacles are quickly avoided and really only present a problem when you let the stress get to you. One collision can easily lead to many while attempting to regain control, but the movement is simple and intuitive, creating an overall relaxing experience. You can check my experience trying to demonstrate the core mechanics of the game after several months of not playing. 

Atmosphere: 1

Even when you do leave your robotic companion and taxi behind, the walking platforms nestled between the towering skyscrapers offer more cinematic views than you would expect from the pixelated style. With the push of a button, you can change the camera to be fixed like classic Resident Evil style as you traverse these platforms. It breaks up running around looking for collectibles and objectives, which is nice considering the limited parking spots. 

It might feel tedious running around so often should your quests line up with similar fetch quests, but with such a well-designed atmosphere, they hardly feel annoying. The simple enough objectives and easy controls, the driving factor to move the game along is the unique dialogue. 

You might wonder why then I have not given it a perfect score for the atmosphere with such high praise all around. It is an issue that persists the entire game and may not bother most people but an hour in I could not avoid it. The dialogue between characters has a slight pause that is too long and does not seem natural. At first, I thought maybe oh they are on radios or something of that nature but no it happens with every conversation whether on the phone or face to face. 

Story: 2

Many of the stories feel like an homage to sci-fi, but the other half feels unique and intriguing, especially when you never know when or how your decisions will take effect. A part of storytelling that excels in videogames is the re-emergence of a non-playable character (NPC) with no expectation, especially when based on a moral decision you made. Cloudpunk delivers plenty of satisfaction to properly appreciate it but not too often to enter predictability. 

While the storytelling captivates and pulls the plot forward organically, it also leaves room for one of my biggest complaints with the game. It’s the type of complaint that could very well go unnoticed by many players, so if you like what I have already said about the game, stop here and go get your copy. 

Now that that is out of the way, the biggest issue with this game is the dialogue timing. The messages between characters often lack proper timing between comments and rebuttals to feel normal. For instance, each time the dialogue changes to a different character, there is an extra half-second wait than there should be. It could be rationalized away by only occurring between robotic or digital characters, but it feels like almost everyone, like none of the actors, were in the same room or call as they were being recorded. 

It creates a phantom disjointedness that is hard to pinpoint the cause, especially when it is so close to being perfect. It is an indie game, so obviously the complaint should be taken with a grain of salt. However, since the dialogue is what keeps you playing, for such an issue to exist, I find it fair to highlight, even more so because the game was swimming in a sea of awards, which it rightfully deserves.

Duration: 2

Cloudpunk was my first step into what I would call the ‘Casual Atmospheric’ style of games. Everything is done well, but nothing feels overly complicated to begin with. The heart of the game lies within the story, and the glistening design offers an endless opportunity for urban voxel backgrounds. 

Cloudpunk is a great starting point for those interested in this genre of game as it starts to gain traction or for those looking for a more relaxing type of game.  It may not be the longest game you play, but you can enjoy absolutely every minute of it. The definition of flawless duration.

Value: 1

The game is not incredibly long and I managed to get most of the achievements while finishing the main story in around 12 hours. It certainly has more content, but for a single playthrough, the price is a little steep when not on sale. I did not play the DLC which offers an entirely different story and new character.

Total Score: 8/10

The gameplay feels unique in the best way because it maintains a seamless control scheme and pivots to the design strengths. The atmosphere is largely breathtaking and vivid, but I could not give it a perfect score because of how the gaps between dialogue seem like they could have been edited better. In a dialogue-heavy game, the objective should be to make it feel more natural or offer an explanation for the delay such as having to use radio comms with a worse latency. For me that production issue seems like a simple enough fix it should not have existed or been picked up in post-production. Extending as far sometimes to feel like the actors were not in the same room or not even on the same call. Like a cold read given to a wall, recorded, and shipped as a final product. Rare but it happened more than once. 

Overall, it is a unique game with minor flaws, this studio is certainly one to keep on your radar for future releases and hopefully, the minor problems can be ironed out in their future games because it is certainly a group that cares about the game they created.After this article was originally written ION Lands, the developers behind Cloudpunk, announced a new lifestyle sim game called Nivalis. This is the same city Cloudpunk is based in and we will be sure to cover it in the future with a current release date set for 2025.