Neo Cab is a neon-drenched ride through a near-future take on the gig economy, with a thoughtful story, sharply written characters, and an impressively realized setting. As this perfectly-paced game hurtled toward its memorably depressing conclusion, I was reminded of Hemingway’s, The Sun Also Rises, because, for the pair of friends at the heart of Neo Cab’s story, the more things change, the more they stay the sam💎e
Survive While Uncovering The Truth
Set in the fictional California city of Los Ojos, Neo Cab follows Lina, a human driver for the titular Uber-like company in a world overtaken by Capra, a massive tech company whose self-driving cars have radically reshaped the market. Lina, who drove for the oppᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚosition before automation put her out of a job, arrives in Los Ojos at the start💛 of the game to make amends with her estranged best friend, Savy, and move in with her. Savy presents Lina with a FeelGrid — a bracelet that displays the wearer’s mood via colored lights — then promptly goes missing. Lina soon finds herself in the middle of a web of corporate intrigue, attempting to uncover what happened to her friend and make enough money to cover her hotel fees in the meantime.
You’ll earn that money by stepping into Lina’s role as a driver, selecting and carrying out gigs displayed across a city map. Getting to each job will drain a certain amount of charge and will bring in a certain amount of money (though you won’t know how much money until you’ve completed the drive). You’ll use that cash💝 to pay for charge and housing. Capra Pods — housed in automated hotels that are more human hive than home — are cheapest, but are anathema to Lina, who has a personal hatred for the corporation.
Familiar, Yet Improved
The game’s interface is nearly identical to the one used by July’s taxi driver simulator 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Night Call — a weird instance of the “these extremely similar things are coming out at the same time” phenomenon; think The Prestige and The Illusionist. But, Neo Cab surpasses its recent competitor in every way (unless, that is, you prefer Night Call’s black-and-white neo-noir Paris to Neo Cab’s vibrant West Coast late capitalism). Neo Cab’s interface is a joy to use, in the way that an interface in a lightly interactive game should be a joy to use. You rarely need to think about it. It’s snappy, tactile, and the ga🅠me quickly moves from event to event without pausing to watch your car inch toward your destination.
The bulk of gameplay finds Lina behind the wheel ofꦉ her cab, making conversation with passengers, and attempting to maintain her five-star rating. Some conversations are locked off if your rating falls below a perfect five, and you run the risk of losing your job if your rank stays low for too long. This makes conversations a delicate tightrope walk between saying what you really think and saying what you think will result in a better score.
The FeelGrid’s implementation complicates this system. Neo Cab builds on one of the smartest decisions that the interactive fiction game, Depression Quest, made. In that game, decisions beget decisions. Making small mentally healthy choices ensured that your character would be mentally well enough to make bigger healthy choices later on. Meanwhile, unhealthy choices snowballed, meaning that healthy choices later on would be unavailable. Neo Cab does something similar, monitoring your emotional state as you progress through conversations. A good, relaxed mood locks off the option to say something controversial. But, an angry mood all but guarantees that Lina will become combative. It🌳 isn’t always clear how much of a role the player has in affecting their mood, but the game isn’t difficult enough that this becomes a problem. Mostly, the FeelGrid introduces a feeling of exciting uncertainty.
Talk About A Good Ride
Neo Cab’s best feature is its ability to balance these conversations with her passengers with its gripping overarching story. Each passenger conversation is a gem of three-dimensional characterization and Neo Cab smartly brings its best characters back for second and th🌸ird rides, allowing the player to build convincing acquaintanceships over time. But, solving Savy’s disappearance is neverജ out of mind and the game brilliantly doles out narrative breadcrumbs as it speeds toward its twisty conclusion.
Neo Cab is yet another stellar launch title for the fledgling 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Apple Arcade.♌ It's final moments reverberated in my head for hours🌊 after the credits rolled.
4.5 Out Of 5 Stars
Neo Cab is available now on Apple devices featuring Apple Arca♓de, as well✃ as PC.
Neo Cab is a visual novel about emotional survival in an automated world.
You play as Lina, the last human cab driver. It’s your very first night driving the lonely streets of Los Ojos, and your best friend has just disappeared.
Is she in grave danger... or just the flakiest friend ever? Either way, now you need to find cash, a place to crash, and some answers.
Your only leads are the diverse cast of characters you pick up in your cab, but getting them to open up isn’t always easy. The anarchist punks don’t trust you, the corporate yuppies don’t see you, and the cops won’t leave you alone. But if you can balance honesty, empathy, and your own emotional health, you might just learn their secrets.
Can you survive late-stage capitalism long enough to save your friend?
STAY ON THE ROAD. STAY ON THEꦆ SEARCH. AND STAY HUMAN.
