Cantr II Discussion Forum

Having just bought the new Shadowrun game for the xbox 360, I was inspired to fire the snes emulator back up and play the old RPG version of shadowrun. It reminded me of how cool the whole cyberpunk theme is

Anybody know any good cyberpunk books and/or games? I used to know of some muds, but the one I tried was abandoned.

Thanks eh

I'm a pretty big fan of cyberpunk.... Guilty pleasure, I guess, but at least I take none of it seriously like some out there...

Anyways;
For books, read William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy - if you haven't already. There are others, but I haven't found them anywhere near as good, cyberpunk novels don't have a history of being much more than middlingsci-fi books, only Gibson stands out...

For games - play Introversion's Uplink

The definitive cyberpunk games are System Shock 1&2 - The first can be downloaded, get the 2nd from eBay. Never recieved the interest they deserved, but now recognised to be major influences to Deus Ex, as well as great game sin themselves...

Deus Ex (If you haven't played it that's one of the biggest milestones in recent gaming history you'd have missed, despite being one of the finest cyberpunk games)

The game of Blade Runner, the postmodern cyberpunk film, is one of the finest point-and-clicks ever. Again - eBay (you'd be lucky to get a download of it)

The glorious Bullfrog, in their heyday, produced the cyberpunk themed Syndicate (google & download - the first's better than the second)

The Metal Gear games could be considered cyberpunk-ish

I have no Mouth and I must Scream (Underdogs / Google - can be downloaded - but not all that good IMO)

Dystopia - a mod for Half-Life 2 if you have it...

Beneath a Steel Sky (SMUMM-based point and click - Google & Download)

Google also for:
DreamWeb
Quarantine
BioForge
Omikron (Played the demo, looking to get myself a copy - David Bowie is in it!)


There are more, but those are generally the best...

There are some Cyberpunk RPGs and MUDs out there - but generally not so good (bear in mind Cyberpunk's peak was in the 80s...)

As for books, look for a novella called "True Names" by Vernor Vinge. It can be hard to find, but it is well worth the effort!

For books, read William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy - if you haven't already. There are others, but I haven't found them anywhere near as good, cyberpunk novels don't have a history of being much more than middlingsci-fi books, only Gibson stands out...

True - though Bruce Sterling comes close at times and Richard Morgan's universe definitely has its roots in cyberpunk ... have a look at "Altered Carbon" for instance

Talapus wrote:As for books, look for a novella called "True Names" by Vernor Vinge. It can be hard to find, but it is well worth the effort!

I will look for that - I really like his other works I've read

Chris Johnson wrote: I really like his other works I've read

I also like.
I just have to find out what "True Names" is in Finnish or is it even translated.

Both the System Shocks are legendary games I remember well from my childhood

I'd go for Sterling... Neal Stephenson is a bit too awkard as writer for my taste, and Gibson... Neuromancer is cyberpunk written when almost there was no cyberpunk, so it's not a really really defined cyberpunk style I think.

Best cyberpunk ever is the Ghost in the Shell series, and the Shirow's manga they are based on.

There's an old paper and dice rpg called Cyberspace that I enjoyed in my younger days. I don't even know if they still print it. Took an hour to make a character though...

I Forgot about DEUS EX.

I have the original, AND the lesser (but still fun) sequal.
Wow.

Anyways, thanks guys. Sometimes you've just gotta delve into certain topics of games, you know? It's a phase thing.

Chris Johnson wrote:

For books, read William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy - if you haven't already. There are others, but I haven't found them anywhere near as good, cyberpunk novels don't have a history of being much more than middlingsci-fi books, only Gibson stands out...

True - though Bruce Sterling comes close at times and Richard Morgan's universe definitely has its roots in cyberpunk ... have a look at "Altered Carbon" for instance

Fair enough - I really quite enjoyed Bruce Sterlings books, and I'll check out Rishard Morgan.

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. I cannot stress this enough.

BioShock, the 'spiritual sequel' to System Shock, looks amazing, although it's *slightly* more steampunk than cyberpunk.

west wrote:Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. I cannot stress this enough.

..and don't miss his trilogy "The Baroque Cycle" , (The Books being "Quicksilver", "The Confusion" and "The System of the World")
Absolutely nothing to do with cyberpunk or even Sci-Fi but a wonderful epic spanning the mid 17th to early 18th centuries - Liebnitz, Newton, William & Mary, Louis XIV , Barbary priates , Sadistic French Dukes, Spanish Gold, secret Alchemy experiment, early economics and more

Also Cryptonomicon. Neal Stephenson ftw baby.