SlavicPunk: Oldtimer will be a shooter that moves cyberpunk to Central Europe. The game aims to combine action, sneaking and momentous decisions.
Throw on the neon alarm: Exciting new addition for cyberpunk fans spotted! Most of the time, games (and films!) from the genre are set in the USA or East Asia. But with SlavicPunk: Oldtimer, a shooter with a rare setting is coming soon: cyberpunk yes, but in a central European city.
The game was only recently revealed, but already shows gameplay in the first trailer. The chic environments remind us a little of the great Gamedec, which is also set in a European metropolis, and of the not-so-great The Ascent. We”ll explain how fights, sneaking and decisions work in a moment, but you”re welcome to get an impression in the Reveal Trailer first:
What do we already know about SlavicPunk: Oldtimers?
Dark Detective Story
The story of SlavicPunk: Oldtimer is based on the work of Polish novelist Michał Gołkowski. Among other things, he has already published books set in the Stalker universe. He particularly enjoys writing dark stories in which the protagonists are anything but shining heroes – so that”s exactly what we expect from SlavicPunk!
We play private detective Yanus, who is looking for stolen data and also has to deal with his own horrible past. And of course, a cyberpunk story can”t be without a ruthless, power-hungry conglomerate! More details are not yet known, but the setting sounds promising. Just like what can be seen of the gameplay so far.
Sneaking, shooting and the big questions of life
The shooter is played from the iso-perspective. We either shoot our way through the enemies head-on or sneak up on them to take them out quietly. Alternatively, we master hacks that literally make heads explode – each player is supposed to develop his or her own path.
We upgrade our weapons using the modular system so that our guns are exactly what we need. It is not yet known how many different weapons or types of weapons there are, but submachine guns, shotguns and knives can already be seen in the trailer.
In addition, our character seems quite mobile: the protagonist rolls out of the line of fire, sprints for cover and even teleports a short distance – surely with the help of futuristic technology!
The levels shown mix neon elements as we know them from Blade Runner and Cyberpunk 2077 with brutalistic concrete buildings. A very cool mix of styles, which should set SlavicPunk: Oldtimer apart from other genre colleagues.
What”s left open?
- How much do our decisions affect the game? According to the developers, we are supposed to make difficult moral decisions (without moral issues, it wouldn”t be cyberpunk in any way). But it is still completely unclear how exciting they are or how they influence the story.
- How well does it play? On paper, the individual systems (sneaking, shooting, hacking, decisions) sound great. But of course we can”t yet judge whether the big picture will also feel rounded.
Hopefully not too much time will pass before we find answers to these questions: The Steam release of SlavicPunk: Oldtimer is currently scheduled for the second quarter of 2023, so it should be out between early April and late June. We”ll definitely keep a close eye on it!
Summary: Unusual perspective: New cyberpunk shooter goes straight onto my wish list
I”m easily won over by cyberpunk (and almost everything ending in -punk). If there is also an unusual setting at the start, in this case a strongly Slavic-inspired world – my mouse finger virtually pushes the game onto the wish list by itself.
Of course, as always, I hope for a strong story. I”m not familiar with the works of Michał Gołkowski, but if we go in the direction of Stalker or Metro here, this could be really strong.
By the way, there is also a tabletop RPG being developed and set in the same world as SlavicPunk. It”s called SibirPunk and is currently being crowdfunded. If you buy the video game (currently not possible on Steam), you can optionally add one euro to support the tabletop version.
