Minds Beneath Us is a sci-fi thriller set in a dystopian city
Play as a normal guy with a potentially killer AI in his head
Given how many cyberpunky games are around these days, it takes something particularly interesting in that style to stand out to me now. But Minds Beneath Us has really caught my eye. It's an upcoming sci-fi thriller set in a futuristic world where humans have been integrated with AI. It has cool skylines, excellent use of neon signs, and you play as a character who might occasionally turn into a murderous zombie-thing.
"Minds Beneath Us is an adventure about a guy and a data ghost who lives in his head and controls his body," developers BearBone Studio say. "After society has become fully automated with AI, a new industry has emerged that replaces the hardware needed to operate the internet with linked human brains."
From the sounds of things, you play as this data ghost, helping your human make choices, and investigate some sort of conspiracy with all this scary tech. Your dialogue choices will affect the story, and paying attention to the world around you will unlock more options too.
I'm really into the design. The 2D characters walking around this 3D space looks brilliant. The city (which is based on Taipei - the devs are Taiwanese) and backgrounds seem more detailed than the characters, and I can already picture myself wandering around for too long taking in the views.
The dangers of AI is an interesting one to explore too. In the trailer, it looks as though the AI in the main character's head briefly turns him feral, making him attack a doctor. The next shot is the same room with blood on the windows and what could be silhouettes of soldiers coming in to deal with him. Spooky.
Minds Beneath Us doesn't have a release date yet, but you can check out the Steam page for more info.
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