- Humanity has always yearned for the stars. Their cold beauty beckoned many generations of poets and dreamers... Ha! Stupid delusions, that's what they are! You want stars? I'll give you them wholesale and retail. Tell me, is there a place in the whole Universe where people live in good conscience? Is there a place where you can take a deep breath, not fearing that someone would slash your throat in a dozen of ways?
Neuro is a cyberpunk First-Person Shooter action game developed by Revolt Games and published by Russobit-M (the same guys behind Kreed), and is yet another foray into the sci-fi genre. Although instead of pitting the players against aliens, this time Russobit-M takes a stab in the superhero genre.
James Gravesen is a law enforcement officer enhanced with an assortment of bio-technology-based weapons, where thanks to a powerful microchip implanted in his medulla oblongata he can move objects with his minds, hurl enemies and obstacles aside with ease and incinerate his targets by willpower alone. On the trail of an elusive criminal, Ramone, who's dealing an illicit substance called the "Lilac Death", James' trail of Ramone leads him to Clouto, a top-secret space station facility.
Contains similarities to DUSK-12, another psychic powers-themed game.
Get ready, we're approaching Clouto.
- Assist Character: Some stages have federation officers, like Lieutenant Kate and Commander Basil, grabbing guns and helping you to kick ass.
- Awesome, but Impractical:
- Most of the laser-based firearms James can use, given the game's sci-fi setting (including his default one, a laser blaster called the Centaur) lets out a powerful energy bolt that kills lesser mooks instantly, and contains penetrating powers allowing him to perform a One-Hit Polykill. Unforunately, laser weapons are limited to firing in a straight line, is horribly inaccurate, and painfully slow to the point where he can fire one shot every three seconds. At any rate, it's better to use old-fashion bullets or James' psychic powers.
- Using pyrokinesis, the last obtainable power for James. Sure, incinerating enemies in an instant looks hella cool (or hot?), but he can only use it on mooks which are facing him, thereby ditching whatever stealth he have. It also consumes far more energy from his psi-powers gauge compared to psychic healing and flinging enemies aside, when throwing mooks by way of mind would be much easier.
- Bullet Dodges You: The final cutscene. As James and Basil are making their last stand against enemy forces, a gunship appears and launches 2 missiles at them. Craig, whose psychic powers have been amplified by an experimental procedure, appears and catches the missiles with his mind, throwing them back at the gunship. BOOM.
- By-the-Book Cop: Psychic powers aside, James is a rather standard cop who runs by the rulebook, stopping his partner Chris from executing Ramon, a known drug dealer because it's required by law to "leave him to justice".
- Deconstruction: In his video on the game
(just about the only comprehensive overview of the game that exists in English), Tehsnaker argues the story is a deconstruction of the typical Cowboy Cop revenge story. James' Roaring Rampage of Revenge just ends up making things worse, and while he does eventually get Ramon, he ends up killing a few hundred people in the process. Craig, who was secretly undercover in the Lilac Death operation, was actually working on a more by-the-book way to get Ramon, but James' rampage threw a monkey wrench in that. - Enemy Mine: In the latter half of the game, James goes rogue while hunting Ramon; without government support, in order to get Ramon he's eventually forced to team up with one of Ramon's enemies, a deranged cult leader named Warden-Avatar. However, Warden-Avatar and his followers are psychos almost as bad as Ramon's gang, and James and Warden-Avatar eventually end up turning on each other.
- Healing Hands: James can use his mental energy to restore his health, though it's more of an emergency move and drains his psi-powers level.
- Mind over Matter: James can hurl enemies a mile away with his mind just by looking at them, and move objects without touching thanks to his mental abilities. It's in fact one of the game's main selling point.
- Neural Implanting: James has a microchip implanted into his neural system right before the game's events.
- Playing with Fire: James' last, and most costly - but also most effective - psychic attack; pyrokinesis, which is using his mind to incinerate his opponents.
- Post-Climax Confrontation: The game's entire plot revolves around James and Craig attempting to bring down Ramon. James finally executes Ramon at the end of the second-to-last level. The final level has nothing to do with the Ramon/Lilac Death incident, but instead shows James and Craig's next mission which involves them being caught in an attack on an allied planet by a hostile army.
- Psi Blast: James can release a blast of mental energy if he doesn't want to rely on firearms. It's hit-range is far wider than even rocket projectiles.
- Ragdoll Physics: Finishing off a mook with James' psychic force will result in their bodies flying through the air while contorting and twisting like a rubber mannequin.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: The game's first mission ends with Craig about to execute Ramon, a drug dealer and terrorist, because he's above the law due to his connections. James intervenes and prevents Craig from doing so. Ramon is cleared of all charges and released from custody in just a couple of weeks, even shaking hands with the Secretary of State on television. James is shocked to learn how corrupt his government is, and James and Craig spend the rest of the game attempting to bring down Ramon.
- Sniper Rifle: One of James' weapons, a rather futuristic sniper rifle which allows him to snipe enemies from half a mile away. It even has a "Target Distance" indicator.
- Space Station: The game takes place in one of these, called the Clouto, which contains it's own miniature indoor forest in the center and artificial skies.
- X-Ray Vision: James can use his powers to spot enemies behind barricades or navigate dim areas, with onscreen mooks depicted as if they're on an Infrared X-Ray Camera.
