Cloudpunk Sequel-Sized DLC City of Ghosts Announced

It's nearly been a full year since developer Ion Lands launched its first game, Cloudpunk. Cloudpunk's cyberpunk aesthetic combined with its unique voxel art helped Cloudpunk stand out among indie games, leading to its release on PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in addition to PC. Now, Ion Lands is ready to build on the foundation it laid with Cloudpunk's original release. Today Cloudpunk's developer announced City of Ghosts, an upcoming DLC expansion, said to be so big it could be considered a sequel.

Cloudpunk players will recall that the base game started with protagonist Rania taking up a grey market delivery driver job after DebtCorps took her home, belongings, and even mother. In City of Ghosts, Dania will apparently be back in deep trouble, this time earning the ire of courier corporation Curzona. However, players will also experience the DLC through the eyes of Hayse, who is tasked with repaying a massive debt in a single night, and other characters, too.

City of Ghosts is described as a story campaign equal in size to that of the base Cloudpunk game. And while the game still takes place in the Cloudpunk city of Nivalis, there will still be new areas, as well as new characters and other mysteries to discover. Additionally, City of Ghosts will allow players to customize their HOVA vehicles and unlock multiple endings as they progress.

For the time being, City of Ghosts doesn't have an official launch date, though it will be coming "soon." To make up for it Ion Lands is discounting Cloudpunk 40%, down the just $12, for the next week. That way new players can catch up in preparation for the darker and more complex cyberpunk offerings of City of Ghosts.

The latest release from the studio that brought the world The Witcher is a colorful open-world game called Cyberpunk 2077. There are gang wars, corporation wars, and robotics have merged with every aspect of daily life. But this game was, by no means, the first to show off this kind of setting. In fact, a few franchises might already be coming to mind for fans of the cyberpunk genre as a whole.

From Deus Ex to Shadowrun, there are plenty of games out there that trade in futurism, neurotechnology, and capitalist intrigue. Other cyberpunk games include titles like E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy, which Warhammer 40K fans are sure to love thanks to its great ambiance and character.

Then there are cyberpunk adjacent games like Metal Gear Solid or Killzone. While these titles include elements of cyberpunk, they don't give gamers the full experience. They don't call into question how corporations treat human life as commodities or if a person becomes company property if they get eye implants to better edit financial spreadsheets.

Despite a lukewarm response to recent Far Cry games, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon broke the mold in terms of visuals. The game offers a simple plot: "get the girl, kill the baddies, and save the world." And the game delivers frenzied combat action and pretty-to-look-at lasers to boot.

Though it doesn't pose questions about corporations or robotics, it does make players feel like a hero out of a cheesy '80s flick. The game is a bit on the short side which might be a nice refresher after Cyberpunk 2077 and its 40+ hours of gameplay.