Neo Cab is one of the most unique titles that I have played this year and when I say unique, I mean it in a really good way. Developed by Chance Agency and published by Fellow Traveller, Neo Cab is a heavily narrative-focused video game in which you literally have nothing to do except choose some voice dialogues. With such little input from players, it is still a pretty solid experience. This is our review of Neo Cab in which we will tell you why this minimalistic title is such a great experience for you to try out.
As the name suggests, Neo Cab is indeed a video game that is focused on driving a cab in the future. You step in the shoes of Lina who leaves her old quit town and arrives in Los Ojos to move in with her childhood friend Savy. Upon her arrival, she meets her friend and finds out that she is in the middle of a corporate war between the Capra and an underground resistance group called Radix. To cut the story short, she has to go underground and now you have to help her figure out how to solve the problem while making sure that both of you stay alive at the end.
Chance Agency calls this game an Emotional Survival game and we will explain to you exactly why so. The gameplay is pretty minimalistic however the strongest suit of Neo Cab is providing a really good balance between the narrative and the side activities in Los Ojos. Los Ojos is not your normal futuristic city. It has been under the control of Capra which is a corporation hell-bent of automating everything and this includes cars.
Lina works as a driver-for-hire for Neo Cab which is a company nearly dead because of Capra’s own self-driving automatic cabs which now rule the streets. Capra has taken oven everything in Los Ojos and naturally, a specific group of people is not happy and they are resisting the global automation planned by Capra. You simply wanted to move in with your friend but it turns out that you are stuck in the very middle of this war.
Most of the game is played by a mouse simply as you choose different dialogue options. The cab is driven by Lina automatically and despite being set in a pretty decent sized city, you cannot drive your car around. You must simply choose a location and after a loading screen, you arrive there and pick up your ride which is called ‘Pax’ in the game. Throughout your journey, you can interact with the riders and in the end, depending on how well your ride went, you will earn a rating and money which will help you keep your car and your own self running.
Your main goal is to find your friend and ensure her safety but since everything is new for you in Los Ojos, you have to find out leads and get to know both sides of the story before figuring out what needs to be done. One of the best aspects of Neo Cab comes into play here because you will need to continue working as a cab driver and look for clues for your best friend at the same time as well. The balance is excellent and despite not having any real control over the cab and where to drive, you can still use the map and choose your rides, charge stations and other places to meet different people in the game.
The characters in Neo Cab are extremely well-designed and every Pax you pick comes with their own problems, story, and challenges. As their cab driver, you have to do everything to ensure that your ride rating is good at the end because if your ride rating drops below a certain point, you are fired from your company and it is pretty much game over for you. This gives you an added set of challenges because you cannot simply disagree with everyone and have to keep a good balance and try to build healthy relationships with your riders. Here, another important mechanic comes into play which is the Feelgrid. Feelgrid is a mechanic which keeps track of Lina’s emotional state and all choices that you make while conversing with someone, depending on her mental state.
You will need to ensure that Lina stays mentally healthy most of the time because it is also one of major factors that will allow you to choose certain dialogue options. For example, if Lina is extremely happy, you cannot choose to say depressing things and if Lina is extremely angry, you cannot choose to say things that are happy or involves joy in the game. The Feelgrid plays an important role as you drive people around to their destinations.
Sometimes the riders will say something that Lina does not like and she will become upset enough that might make the ride uncomfortable for the rider which will lead you getting a poor rating at the end. I once picked a cult member who was obsessed with finding giant worms in the Subway and upon disagreeing with his beliefs, I ended up getting a 1 Star rating which dropped my rating from a perfect 5 to 2.5 and to survive in Neo Cab, you have to maintain a rating of at least 4.
For me, one of the best mechanics in Neo Cab is the interaction with all the Pax that you pick up during your rides. There are no people walking on the roads or cars driving around but still, as you drive around more people around Los Ojos, the city starts to feel more alive and you feel like you are driving through a familiar neighborhood. Some of the riders also become your friend and you can visit them in your free time to chat with them or get up to speed with that is happening on their part of the town. Every one you pick feels like a real person with problems of their own and you try to help them as much as you can.
The narrative is extremely immersive and really keeps you on your toes and the balance between the narrative and side rides is simply amazing. You would never say that a game with such minimalistic mechanics would be so immersive. The game is not too long however and depending on your playthrough, you will be able to unlock the ending of your choice in around 8 or 10 hours. However, there are multiple endings to the game and all depend on your own choices. You can replay the game to unlock all of them.
The two main forces in Los Ojos are Capra which is the evil corporation of Neo Cab and wants to eliminate all real human drivers from the world. They are already implemented their own automated Capra automated vehicles around the world which are quickly eliminating the need for human drivers. On the other hand, Radix is an underground organization that is trying to take control away from Capra and is trying to finish the company altogether.
To survive in Neo Cab, you will need to sleep after your shifts and also make sure that your car always has enough Charge to run. You will earn money from completing fares and then you will be required to spend from the earned money on Charges and a place for the night. Each trip will deplete your Charge so you will need to keep an eye out on your charge as well. A map shows you where to go whereas Lina also maintains a Journal where you can see all your past encounters with your riders and also catch up on your progress on your best friend’s case.
You will often encounter some random events in the game as well such as you will be stopped by Capra Police often and they will ask you for different things. You will also get some fines if you break some rules such as picking up Pax from spaces designated for Capra’s own service. You will be often put in a situation where you will be required to choose between a possible police ticket or a star from your rider. The ultimate result will depend on your own choices. Sometimes you will also need to make some moral calls such as to return a customer’s lost item or keep it for your own self.
All this makes up for an amazing experience and the added narrative really makes Neo Cab a solid title. With its minimalistic input and UI, it is an excellent game if you simply want to lay back and just point at a few things and click. The visuals are amazing and the game design is really unique. The strongest point of Neo Cab is how it balances the story and the rides making it a really good title with memorable characters, decent locations, and a powerful narrative.
Final Verdict
Neo Cab is a very unique title and a very good one as well. It has excellent visual design; the gameplay is solid whereas the narrative is really good. These all combine together to form a really good experience which keeps you glued to the screen until you’ve reached the end of the title. With multiple endings, you can revisit the game and try out different choices to gain a completely different ending the second time. The characters are so real that you sometimes feel that you are speaking with them in real life. I will highly recommend that you give Neo Cab a shot.
Final Score: 9/10
