This is Niche Spotlight. In this column, we regularly introduce new games to our fans, so please leave feedback and let us know if there’s a game you want us to cover!
Today’s Spotlight is State of Mind, a sci-fi adventure thriller by Daedalic Entertainment that came out back in August.
The game is set in the increasingly dystopian world of 2048, where drones and robots are replacing unskilled labor, everyone’s privacy continues to be undermined by corporations and government surveillance, and the dispossessed have become obsessed with modern technological wonders to ease the hardships of the real world. In other words, its pretty much 2019 with more sleek androids and holograms.
You play as Richard Nolan, a journalist in Berlin that is openly critical of the increasing automation of society. After a mysterious explosion, Richard wakes up in the hospital, and his family has gone missing. He quickly realizes that someone wants him silenced, and on his quest to find his family, he inadvertently uncovers a conspiracy by those in power to change humanity forever. You can check out the trailer above.
State of Mind is available on Windows PC, Mac, Linux (all via Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store), PS4, Switch, and Xbox One for $29.99.
Here’s a rundown of the game:
When mind and machine become one – what will remain of humanity?
Berlin, 2048 – The world is on the brink. Lack of resources, illnesses caused by polluted air and water, crime on the rise, war. Governments and companies promise remedies through technological progress. Drones and humanoid robots replace humans in the public sector, everything is interconnected, surveillance has become omnipresent.
Richard Nolan is one of the few journalists openly criticizing this development. When he wakes up in hospital after an explosion and finds that his wife and son have mysteriously vanished, Richard realizes: he and his family have become more than just bystanders in a storm of rivaling ideas pertaining humankind’s salvation between dystopian reality and digital utopia. Instead, they find themselves right at the center of it.
This domestic drama evolves into a thriller about a worldwide conspiracy, which at its core aims to determine the fate of humanity: Could a perfect digital utopia be the answer? A virtual paradise not affected by material needs and quarrels? Could a super-AI be our savior – or would it simply declare us as dispensable since it could not be taught the value of philanthropy?
What will the world look like after this storm, what will remain of humanity?
Key Features:
- Experience an alarmingly realistic vision of the near future
- Dive into a multi-layered Sci-Fi thriller, where dystopian reality and digital utopia are intertwined
- Unravel a global conspiracy in a society of ubiquitous digitalism, surveillance and transhumanism
- Explore a world with a rich and unique visual style, combining realistic environments with low-poly characters
- Take on the role of journalist Richard Nolan, as well as five additional playable characters
- Use dexterity, deductional skill and research to reconstruct Richard’s past
- Supports Tobii Eye Tracking: Delve even deeper into the augmented reality dominated world of State of Mind with expanded eye tracking features
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