Chain smoke, mix cocktails, and solve problems with pottery in cyberpunk adventure The Red Strings Club

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Cyberpunk tales aren't all about amoral antiheroes running around dark dystopias in sweet coats (though those elements do make for pretty good movies). Sometimes in these neon-tined universes, you're just a hapless bartender, and the best you can do is use mixed drinks to take down a corporate conspiracy. At least that's the case in The Red Strings Club, a story-driven adventure from Devolver Digital and Deconstructeam coming January 2018.

In The Red Strings Club, a supposedly good-natured megacorporation called Supercontinent Ltd is preparing to release a software program that will erase all negative emotions and thoughts from the populace. No more fear, anger, or sadness. Sounds good in theory, but your character thinks of it as akin to brainwashing. You play as the bartender of the titular club, and along with a freelance hacker, seek to stop Supercontinent's plans.

The emphasis will be not on how well you can shoot a gun, but how well you can handle tough situations with a calm and calculated approach. By listening to each customer and reading their mood, you'll be able to mix the perfect drink to coax more information about Supercontinent's plans out of them. You'll also craft genetic implants with a high-tech lathe like you were constructing pottery, and turn conspirators against each other by impersonating them over the phone.

If you're thinking this sounds similar to Deconstructeam's previous game Gods Will Be Watching, you're not wrong. That game was also about making hard decisions under high emotional pressure, as you fought to survive hunger, torture, and hostage negotiations (often with horribly depressing results). If you want to get a taste for just how intense Deconstructeam's approach to narrative games can be, you can still play a short, free version of Gods Will Be Watching in your browser right now.

Sam Prell
Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.