Glitchpunk

51%
Game Brain Score Based on 103 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Glitchpunk Game Cover
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"Glitchpunk" is a single-player open-world science fiction game with a good story and sensational mechanics, offering top-down action inspired by classic genre games. Experience frantic police chases and intense shootouts while exploring a dystopian world filled with transhumanism, xenophobia, and religion themes. However, the game is currently poorly optimized and buggy, but remains a visual and audio feast for cyberpunk enthusiasts.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

51%
Audience ScoreBased on 103 reviews
story9 positive mentions
optimization7 negative mentions
  • Glitchpunk offers a vibrant and immersive cyberpunk aesthetic, reminiscent of classic GTA games, with a dynamic open world filled with unique districts and engaging visuals.
  • The gameplay features satisfying combat mechanics, allowing for a mix of shooting, melee attacks, and character customization, which enhances the overall experience.
  • The narrative is intriguing, with moral choices that impact the story, alongside well-developed side missions that add depth to the game world.
  • The game suffers from significant technical issues, including poor optimization, frequent bugs, and frustrating driving mechanics that detract from the overall enjoyment.
  • Many players have reported problems with mission-related dialogue being spoiled or out of context, leading to confusion and a lack of immersion.
  • The user interface and navigation are poorly designed, making it difficult to manage missions and access menus, especially when using a controller.
  • story100 mentions

    The game's story is centered around themes of corporate corruption and personal struggle, featuring a protagonist who navigates moral dilemmas while seeking answers about their origins. Players face impactful choices that shape the narrative, supported by well-developed side missions that enrich the world and introduce new characters. However, technical issues, such as buggy dialogue and mission design, detract from the overall storytelling experience, leading to frustration and confusion during gameplay.

    • “As the story unfolds, players are faced with moral choices that impact the direction of the plot, a feature typical of the genre but executed with depth.”
    • “While the story revolves around themes of corporate corruption and the individual’s struggle against an oppressive system, it’s also enriched by well-written dialogue and intriguing characters.”
    • “The way the game handles choices and their consequences helps make the narrative feel dynamic, with different possible outcomes for how the story plays out.”
    • “I bought it, tried playing the intro mission, and found that the NPC gang leader that talks to you throughout the mission ends up babbling bits of dialogue from much further into the game, talking about things and situations I haven't even encountered.”
    • “The introduction to the game could be much improved and there is almost no backstory.”
    • “However, Glitchpunk is still an early access game, and I was met with a lot of bugs and glitches, which prevented me from going through gameplay and made it relatively hard to advance the story.”
  • gameplay42 mentions

    The gameplay of "Glitchpunk" is characterized by a blend of intense action, responsive controls, and a cyberpunk aesthetic, offering a mix of shooting, close combat, and exploration. However, players have reported significant technical issues, including bugs, glitches, and frustrating driving mechanics, which detract from the overall experience. While the game has potential with its customization options and immersive narrative, many reviewers suggest waiting for updates to address the current gameplay imbalances and technical shortcomings.

    • “Glitchpunk is an engaging and stylish title that combines intense action gameplay, an immersive narrative, and a fascinating cyberpunk aesthetic.”
    • “The gameplay offers a mix of frantic shooting, close combat, and the ability to use a wide range of weapons and vehicles to cause destruction throughout the city.”
    • “The combat in Glitchpunk is highly satisfying, with responsive controls and well-polished shooting mechanics that provide a sense of impact and intensity.”
    • “However, the driving mechanics need serious attention.”
    • “I don't mind the old-school mechanics like losing all items on death, but when you die due to bugs and overbearing police response, it does start to add up to a frustrating experience.”
    • “In addition to the aforementioned technical issues, the gameplay mechanics are janky and unpolished.”
  • graphics38 mentions

    The graphics of "Glitchpunk" are widely praised for their vibrant and immersive cyberpunk aesthetic, successfully capturing the gritty, neon-lit atmosphere reminiscent of classic top-down shooters. While many players appreciate the art style and overall visual appeal, some have reported performance issues, including lag and blurred graphics, particularly during extended play sessions. Overall, the game showcases a strong artistic vision, though it still requires further optimization and polish to fully realize its potential.

    • “One of the most striking features of 'glitchpunk' is its vibrant and immersive cyberpunk visual aesthetic.”
    • “Technically, 'glitchpunk' shines with excellent performance, featuring well-optimized graphics and smooth gameplay, even in areas dense with details.”
    • “The graphics look great.”
    • “Additionally, there was quite a bit of lag and bad graphics when running the game for a longer period of time.”
    • “On top of that, the graphics are horrible, even on ultra.”
    • “Graphics by default is set up to ultra, but all I can see is blurred stuff all over.”
  • optimization35 mentions

    The optimization of "Glitchpunk" has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its solid performance and smooth gameplay on various hardware setups, while others report significant issues such as stuttering, lag, and crashes, particularly on high-end systems. Although some improvements have been noted since early access, persistent performance problems and technical glitches remain a concern for many users, leading to frustration and calls for further optimization. Overall, while the game shows potential, its current state may deter players seeking a polished experience.

    • “Technically, 'Glitchpunk' shines with excellent performance, featuring well-optimized graphics and smooth gameplay, even in areas dense with details.”
    • “The game maintains a stable frame rate with no significant drops in performance, which is essential for an intense action and exploration experience.”
    • “The optimization is also impressive across different hardware setups, making the game accessible to a wide range of players.”
    • “One final minor complaint I have is optimization. I get that this is an early access game, and the dev has done some optimization a few months back, but it still needs to be worked on.”
    • “The game also currently has some performance issues (as of August 2021). It will randomly drop FPS as you travel through the city regardless of what your graphics settings are or how much power you throw at it.”
    • “Performance is so poor I couldn't control anything - basic movements make the character stuck in one direction, and the ESC key to open the main menu can't do it consistently.”
  • stability20 mentions

    The stability of the game is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and game-breaking issues that hinder gameplay and progression. Many players experience frequent frame drops, freezes, and a lack of optimization, making the game nearly unplayable in its current early access state. While there is hope for improvements in the future, the current technical problems significantly detract from the overall experience.

    • “Short take on this is to avoid as it is still a buggy mess with outright game-breaking bugs with a list of official workarounds posted in the forum.”
    • “Unplayable due to constant freezes and game-breaking bugs.”
    • “However, the bugs and glitches right now would make it hard for me to introduce and recommend this game currently to less enthused players that might have not already played through a game like this in the same genre.”
  • music13 mentions

    The music in "Glitchpunk" is widely praised for its captivating blend of synthwave and futuristic electronic sounds, which effectively enhances the game's cyberpunk atmosphere. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a major strength, contributing to an immersive experience alongside the game's visuals and gameplay elements. Overall, the music is described as fun, fitting the game's dark tone and adding to its memorable qualities.

    • “Composed of a blend of synthwave and futuristic electronic music, the soundtrack perfectly captures the essence of the cyberpunk genre, creating an immersive and intense atmosphere.”
    • “I absolutely love it, can't wait for future updates; the ambient of the game and the soundtrack are absolutely brilliant.”
    • “The soundtrack of 'Glitchpunk' is another major strength of the game.”
    • “As I started 'Glitchpunk', a 2021 Steam early access release by developer Dark Lord and publisher Daedalic Entertainment, I immediately noticed the cryptic, dark tone of the game with its music, dark backgrounds, and gritty graphics.”
    • “The aesthetics are pretty good; I love the character portrait art and the music composition.”
  • atmosphere7 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is a striking blend of claustrophobic neon hues and dark shadows, characteristic of the cyberpunk genre, enhanced by a synthwave soundtrack that immerses players in its vibrant yet oppressive world. The eclectic mix of art styles and the constant gray, rainy environment contribute to a memorable experience, though some players find the darkness disorienting. Overall, the atmosphere is praised for its intensity and nostalgic ties to classic gaming, despite suggestions for a lighter tone.

    • “Composed of a blend of synthwave and futuristic electronic music, the soundtrack perfectly captures the essence of the cyberpunk genre, creating an immersive and intense atmosphere.”
    • “The weird mish-mash design of art deco, brutalism, and futurism, the sick soundtrack, the wacky missions, and dark atmosphere all made it really memorable for me.”
    • “The game's color palette, mixing neon hues with dark shadows and metallic tones, helps create an atmosphere that is both claustrophobic and electrically vibrant, typical of a cyberpunk setting.”
    • “A game with great potential; you can feel the cyberpunk atmosphere combined with nostalgia based on the first two parts of GTA.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    "Glitchpunk" offers high replayability thanks to its diverse side missions and multiple approaches to objectives, allowing players to experience the game in various ways. However, some users rate its overall replayability as average, with a score of 5/10.

    • “Glitchpunk gives you a lot of options on how to approach every aspect of the game, which makes it highly replayable.”
    • “Challenges and replayability.”
    • “The replayability of 'Glitchpunk' is high, mainly due to the various side missions and different approaches to completing objectives.”
    • “Replayability: 5/10”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is highlighted through its engaging radio stations, funny ads, and nostalgic references to older GTA titles, creating a comedic atmosphere that resonates well with players. While some feel the humor may lack in length, the overall comedic elements, including quirky songs and entertaining radio shows, are consistently praised as a standout feature.

    • “Maybe lacks in length, but the songs, radio shows, and funny ads are just as great as in GTA II, I swear.”
    • “+ really does feel inspired by old GTA's a lot: radio (humor and songs), gang-respect system, tank-controls in car, saves at home, burping, Gouranga, and other small things - pretty cool!”
    • “Hilarious radio stations (seriously - listen to all of them)”
  • monetization2 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game is characterized by a repetitive cycle of missions that, while entertaining with engaging content like songs and ads, may feel short in length. Players earn rewards through completing tasks for various factions, but the humor in the ads adds a unique charm to the experience.

    • “Get a mission from one of the three factions you're raising standings with, hop into your hovercar that keeps playing ads, arrive at the destination, pop a few androids/criminals/dredd-esque police, get paid, repeat.”
  • grinding2 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, as it quickly becomes repetitive and challenging due to outdated mechanics. While there are opportunities to earn money, such as killing citizens, the overall experience can feel overly grindy and difficult.

    • “You can also kill citizens for money, but it gets very grindy very fast.”
    • “Along with the fluffy vibes of nostalgia comes the infuriating difficulty, tediousness, and a steep learning curve of 20-year-old mechanics.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    Players express that the game evokes a strong sense of emotional engagement by allowing them to explore the district as a personal playground, offering diverse approaches to missions that foster a feeling of freedom and creativity in gameplay.

    • “This really made me feel like the district is my playground and gave me the freedom to approach a mission in various ways: you can cause anarchy to distract attention, go in guns blazing, or take a stealthy approach like Solid Snake to reach your objectives.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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