Neo Cab Review – Neon Punk turns “Nowpunk”

Neo Cab has something subtler to say than many Cyberpunk tales I’ve played in recent years. Its particular style looks a lot like ‘Neon Punk’; the same themes of social struggle, but a little less grunge and a little more – you guessed it – neon. In fact, in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, creative director Patrick Ewing described it more as “Nowpunk”. The city of Los Ojos is fictional, yet it would fit right in the world we know, allowing for a couple of decades of technological advancements.

There’s no evil villain, no extra-terrestrial threat. Just the struggle of people trying to live their best lives in a socially complicated world. And in Neo Cab, we experience it through the eyes of the protagonist Lina. In this narrative adventure, Lina juggles her job as a driver for the Uber-inspired ‘Neo Cabs’. She’s one of the last human drivers in a world of increasing automation, and it’s her job to ferry the busy people of Los Ojos to where they need to be. Oh, and she also needs to investigate the disappearance of her best friend Savy while she’s at it. No pressure or anything.

I got invested right away into this one, thanks mostly due to the fantastic character writing. Lina is easy to identify with, and her motivations relatable while avoiding being too predictable. Her history with her estranged bestie Savy is an especially great source of tension, as I related with Lina’s barely-disguised insecurity and doubts.

The actual gameplay involves Lina driving around the city, picking up passengers and visiting locations in the hopes of finding out more about the city. Lina’s passengers always have something going on in their own lives, which she can choose to engage with or ignore. She can be a hard-ass, sympathetic, or meek, but be mindful of her attitude – going off on a customer feels cathartic, but Lina needs all the 5/5 star reviews she can get.

The whole experience is simply choosing dialogue options and pickup locations, and yet it feels like so much more than that. Each pickup is its own mini story, many not even relevent to the plot at hand, but they never felt like a chore. Set only at night, the game has a unique look that utilises beautiful deep blues and contrasting neon lights from the surrounding traffic lights and billboard signs. Everything combined with a chilled-out soundtrack, it made for a great couple of hours. I really only wish there was more of it. The game can be easily finished in a couple of sittings, and as the story pulls to a close, things feel kind of rushed. There were also some issues with the ‘timeline’ of the game, whereby characters would sometimes mention passengers that I hadn’t picked up yet, or dialogue options I hadn’t chosen. Again, a pretty small issue that didn’t take away much from my experience, but still could have been ironed out to make for a seamless playthrough.