Invasive Recall is another promising cyberpunk point-and-click

A young, idealistic cop. An older and more cynical partner. A debauched cyberpunk city filled with crime. This is the essence of the upcoming point-and-click adventure game, Invasive Recall, which immediately brings to mind the other Hideo Kojima masterpiece, Snatcher. It’s a close replica of the Kojima classic, with a city that’s drenched in perpetual neon and grey, a cautionary tale about the failures and abuse of technology, as well as a pixel art presentation reminiscent of early ‘90s era games. Even their protagonists sport the same brown overcoat. 

Admittedly, Invasive Recall isn’t too fussed about being groundbreaking; it just wants to tell a good, intriguing story—a feature its developer feels compliments the structure of classic point-and-click games. In stark contrast to Snatcher, however, is the ability to investigate and gather clues by switching perspectives between the game’s two protagonists, Rachel and Landon, which means that each character may be privy to details the other won’t know about.

Apart from these, Invasive Recall has all the hallmarks of a point-and-click game: the puzzles, an expanding map, and even their nine verb interface. You know, the one that says “Open”, “Close”, “Give”, “Pick Up”, “Look At”, and more. There’s honestly no lack of retro-tinged, cyberpunk adventure games these days–games like VirtuaVerse, Technobabylon, and Among Thorns are just among a few examples–but I’m always up for a good cyberpunk tale about the excesses of technology and greedy conglomerates. 

If this is something that’s exactly up your alley, Invasive Recall is now being crowdfunded over at Kickstarter, along with a full launch come 2022, if everything goes well.