Neon lights, droning digital voices in the distance, rain-soaked alleyways laced with cable, and a distinct sense of everything being wrong in the world. Familiar feelings, but foreign sights. A technologically progressive world with socially regressive circumstances. That’s the hallmark of the Cyberpunk genre–which, thanks to the massive success of the aptly named Cyberpunk 2077–has exploded in popularity in recent years in the gaming landscape. Real life does bear a close but lamer resemblance to the many worlds of Cyberpunk, especially now, but that hasn’t stopped a torrent of titles from exploring the starkly contrasting visuals of tech dystopias, from the crazy, like Ghostrunner and Mad Mullet Jack, to the cozy, like Cloudpunk and Stray. And yet another one has popped up, but it brings with it an interesting gameplay perspective that hasn’t been covered by many games. It’s called Arbiter 131, and it fuses tactical RTS gameplay with S.W.A.T. door-kicking action.
IGN released a trailer for the game on their Youtube channel earlier today officially announcing the debut title developed by Ikon, and though it didn’t give us a release date to look forward to, it did show off what it’s all about. Maybe you want to be the (arguable) bad guy. Maybe when you played Cyberpunk 2077 you looked at the futuristic tacti-cool outfits of Trauma Team and MaxTac and thought; “Wouldn’t it be awesome to play as them?” Well, luckily, Arbiter 131 looks like it might fulfill that fantasy. You assume the control of the commander of a special forces team whose sole purpose is to “enforce corporate rule with an iron fist,” and are tasked with coming up with elaborate battle plans to raid dissidents’ hidey holes across the city of Arkadia and bring them to justice. And apparently, unlike most RTS games, the camera through which you view the action is from a diegetic set of drones, which can and will be shot down if spotted. This forces even the camera of the game to become a part of the set of tactical decisions you must make when tackling missions. Back in the realm of familiarity, similar to XCOM, you can gear out your squad with different guns, equipment, and armor to your liking. Swinging immediately back into what’s unique about Arbiter 131, the campaign is not a straightforward endeavor. It will be up to you whether you decide to follow the orders you are given, and every decision you make will change the way the story shakes out. Even the mission briefings lie to you, Ikon asserts, so you’ll likely need to keep your moral compass as accurate as your squad’s shooting if you want to feel good about yourself in the end.