Neuromancer was first released in 1988 for the Commodore 64 and Apple2GS. The game really was extraordinary for it’s time. To this day it still has a great plot, interesting puzzles, and a lot of thinking to do. There aren’t too many places you can go to in the “real world”, but the game also included the ability to get into cyberspace, where you could hack into banks and mega corporations, stealing info or stealing money, allowing you to buy better cyber decks that had more options, and better software to hack into systems.
The ultimate goal was to take on “black ICE” (killer artificial intelligence) and survive, while unraveling the games plotline.
You start the game off as some poor schmuck who has a barebones craptastic cyber deck and no money to his name. You then start checking BBS postings asking for certain information. There is a free public cyber deck port in a bar you go to that allows you to log on. Obviously the first few “missions” you do aren’t exactly too hard, and little by little you will start amassing some credit, that at a certain point will let you upgrade your cyber deck. Doing this will allow you to take on harder jobs, making more money, and then being able to upgrade your
software as well. You can also go to the organ bank and sell your real organs for very good money, and getting cheap artificial replacements. You don’t die for doing it, but later on in the game, how much of you is real and how much is fake will affect certain outcomes. Also the more artificial organs you have, the harder the cyberspace missions will get as your “life energy” will be drastically diminished for having artificial organs. And this is important as well as some of the last Black ICE fights can be very challenging.
During this time, as you make money and learn how to battle cyberspace security measures better, there is a subplot that has you traveling all over Chiba City, and at one point, even going to a space station. You will eventually figure out who is behind all the weird occurrences you have been hearing about in the news, and as all good games, you’ll save the day and get the girl in the end.
All in all, Neuromancer is a very interesting game with good plot. Worth the downloading.
