Cyber Manhunt 2: New World

I was a HUGE fan of the first Cyber Manhunt. I have always loved hacking detective sim type games, like this, Simulacra or Greyhat. So I played the first three chapters when this came out in early access - and was very pleased. The final 2 completing the story just released and are good too, but at times I felt they drug the pacing down… but maybe I just got a little burnt out on it after replaying the first few.

It’s still got some very good writing, with twisting plot lines, tons of reading material, and just a very addictive gameplay loop. Find clues, dig deeper, explore, etc. And 80% of the game nails it… but there’s a lot of fluff here too, which I don’t recall being in the original.

The good parts are good though. Some really gnarly gritty writing, unafraid to broach darkkkk subjects in graphic detail. Some cool mini games and meta stuff. And some nice flow states of uncovering secrets, digging in deeper, and figuring out the unexpected twists.

It’s totally worth playing and I love to see new entries in this extremely niche genre that I adore. I just wish it was edited down a bit- some of the writing gets tedious, the art and cut scenes are just not that entertaining to always justify their length. But otherwise a pretty fun detective hacking sim.