You don't have to worry about doing anything but answering questions and making decisions in Neo Cab, though I wish you could have had the option to actually drive people around instead of just talking to them. So all you have to do is make conversation and try to accommodate each pax to the best of your ability. You’ll need to pick up some passengers multiple times to get the end of their stories, which mean you can finish the game without resolving any plot thread but the main one about Savy – which you have far less control over than is first implied. One accused me of having puke in the backseat of my cab, and then insisted he wasn't responsible. The rest have been replaced by automated cars controlled by an organization named Capra, which is the monolithic corporation most of the public seems to rally against at every opportunity. These faults may prevent Neo Cab from obtaining any kind of classic status but it’s still one of the most interesting narrative-based games of the year, not only in terms of its setting and dialogue but the subjects it tackles. You’re just stirring the pot every time you open your mouth, for instance. Well, here’s one approach we took on Neo Cab. But since Lina is new in town you’ve still got an anchor in the game, who’s never heard about any of this before either, and as weird as some of your passengers are the problems they’re dealing with are always very relatable. I mean, come on. I wanted to like the game a lot more than I did. Neo Cab takes place in a somewhat dystopian, somewhat cyberpunk world – and no, I don’t want to get into a debate on whether it’s pre-, post-, or just regular cyberpunk. Despite what is initially implied, the task of tracking down Savy is a pretty low-level priority for most of the game, in terms of both gameplay and storytelling. Neo Cab is a muddled mixture of themes that work together well at first blush – that is, until you spend any significant amount of time with it. It clearly wasn’t happening for the benefit of ordinary people in something like Futurama but at least there you had the side benefit of other staple sci-fi dreams like jetpacks and flying cars. Character is key. Dismiss any thoughts you might have that this is some sort of cyberpunk Crazy Taxi (as immediately appealing as that idea sounds) because Neo Cab is nothing like that. Which is a shame because it’s an intriguing set-up and there are too few detective-themed video games as it is, but the actual focus is still interesting as the game sets about critiquing the power of corporations, the plight of modern working practices, and why knowing how to talk to people will always be the most important skill you can have. Neo Cab is set in the cyberpunk future city of Los Ojos, where you play as Lina – one of the few human cab drivers still working. Lina came all that way to live with Savy and instead of the pair immediately going to their home together and getting Lina settled in, Savy begs for a ride and ditches Lina. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to drive a cab? It's your choice when it comes to figuring out how to manage her time. Lina’s mood bracelet is an interesting gameplay mechanic that deserves further development. So if you take too many rides and Lina’s on edge, you might be stuck with a red Feelgrid, and you can’t say anything nice. Signup for a Free Account. I enjoyed the demo I had played at PAX West 2018 far more than the final product presented to me in this package, and often during my time with the Switch edition, I found myself longing to play "that" version again because I had come away so pleased with the experience. How to use cabal in a sentence. Formats: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PC, and Apple ArcadePrice: £17.99Publisher: Fellow TravellerDeveloper: Chance AgencyRelease Date: 3rd October 2019Age Rating: 12, Email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter, MORE : VA-11 Hall-A Switch review – cyberpunk cocktail, MORE : Sony, Sega, and Warner took £110 million in tax breaks meant for indie developers, MORE : Cyberpunk 2077 Gamescom 2019 interview – ‘we paint a picture and we let the player interpret it’, Xbox Series X smoking videos are fake warn fans, Xbox Series X and S in stock now in UK at John Lewis, Asda, Very, and more, Codemasters sold to Rockstar owner Take-Two for $1 billion, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition PS5 review – next gen style, Bright Memory Xbox Series X review – never a dull moment, VA-11 Hall-A Switch review – cyberpunk cocktail, Sony, Sega, and Warner took £110 million in tax breaks meant for indie developers, Cyberpunk 2077 Gamescom 2019 interview – ‘we paint a picture and we let the player interpret it’. While there are some nice, pleasant passengers who share poignant stories about their lives (I particularly enjoyed an ex-convict's tale about wanting to start up a cookie business), there are others who are just as annoying (or more) as Savy. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched! The Switch’s latest indie hit features a cyberpunk future of corporate control and forced automation but does Neo Cab offer a journey worth taking? For instance, I couldn’t tell someone off when I was in a great mood, and I wasn’t really able to patch things up as well as I wanted to once Lina had gone off the red deep end. Alone as Lina, you're stuck working shifts as a human cab driver picking up passengers ("pax") and taking them where they want to go, all the while waiting for your "friend" (who really seems more like a vapid waste of space instead) to let you know where she's gone. Neo Cab is a muddled mixture of themes that work together well at first blush – that is, until you spend any significant amount of time with it. Exploring Los Ojos at night is a treat, and the aesthetic is soothing as well as oddly oppressive, as you can practically feel how alienated Lina is by being a human driver at all times, even though you never really see anyone on the streets or anything other than stills of most buildings you roll up to. Or maybe the writers don't really understand how decent friends treat each other. Think a more interactive version of VA-11 Hall-A, but where your main skill is knowing shortcuts not mixing drinks. After a falling-out before Savy left home (and Lina) behind, Savy hopes to rekindle their friendship by moving in and rebuilding their relationship. Straight away after meeting Savy I was practically begging Lina in my head to abandon this plan of staying in Los Ojos with her and urged her to go back home to find a friend who didn't think she was disposable. Instead, it’s a narrative driven game about the importance of human interaction and the dangers of unchecked capitalism. Occasionally, Lina must make a pit stop to charge up her car, or get some sleep for the night at a capsule hotel. Low-tech visuals fail to match the text descriptions. I refused to help Azul, but they pressed on until it appeared my only action was to accept that they “needed help.” But after climbing into my cab, the whole time Azul complained about cars being death machines, and how anti-car they were. Our review. Rather than the fairly grounded near future setting it first appears to be it not only has the technology cults and cyborgs of Cyberpunk 2077 but there’s a lot of more fantastical talk about alternate timelines and other more sci-fi concepts. That makes being a cabbie even more important, as you must not only ensure you keep the money coming in but try and turn up any clues as to Savy’s whereabouts. Because there are several pivotal situations that require the utmost of care when replying to some of your pax, this system really should offer more freedom and leniency, trusting that players know how to steer their conversations. I was particularly irritated by one pax named Azul, who literally opened my cab door and helped themselves in. It’s Paula Rogers, Writing Lead and Story Editor for the game. Brittany Vincent posted a new article, Neo Cab review: Stuck in second gear, Shacknews Mercury subscription service relaunches, Super Smash Bros. Wholly unlikeable side character derails the main plot almost immediately. Cabal definition is - the contrived schemes of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government); also : a group engaged in such schemes. This is true for Lina in terms of not only her job but her own emotional state.