[quote][b][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip]Warning: Asset Flip![/url][/b]
Cybernated is a Digital Homicide style asset flip, or what Valve calls a "Fake Game". The "developer" paid for/pirated a few Unreal Marketplace assets, dumped them all in a blender, and submitted it to Valve as if they're real game developers.[/quote]
Two notable criteria for what makes an asset flip instead of legitimate use of stock assets are whether those assets comprise the majority of the game, and whether the "developer" properly credited the people who created most of the assets in the game. This game fails both of those tests. The "developers" here didn't credit any of the artists and real, actual game developers who created the assets here, so this is plagiarism, as well as cash grab shovelware.
In this case, the asset flipper took a bunch of "cyberpunk" themed assets from the Unreal Marketplace and slapped them on a very poor quality third person adventure/brawler blueprint... this is another minimum effort cash grab as the Russian asset flipper once more tries to get your money for someone else's game assets. It's a scam. It has no value or merit as a real game.
Ghost_RUS Games have a known history of trying to scam people into paying them money for someone else's work, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. One example of Ghost_RUS Games doing this is [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/829750]Robots Attack On Vapeland[/url], which is really the "[url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/third-person-shooter-kit]Third Person Shooter Kit[/url]" asset, written by the actual developers, Epic Games.
Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, it doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
The game assets are fairly mediocre/low quality, in some places they appear mismatched... Ultimately the quality of these assets, and thus the overall visual quality is lower than average, and low quality always makes for a less than optimal gaming experience. Remember, we're looking for the best of the best of 110,000+ games on Steam.
The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers, left handed gamers or gamers using AZERTY or other international keyboard layouts.
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 2 players. This is a remarkably low number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 110,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected.
While game reviews must be about the game, as this review has been, it's sometimes important for gamers to be aware when there's problems with the developers. In this case, Nikita "Ghost_RUS", a Russian shovelware scam artist who routinely abuses Steam by polluting the marketplace with shovelware like this game. Nikita "Ghost_RUS" continually sends a message of racism, bigotry, homophobia and hate speech through his games, in direct violation of Valve's guidlines for acceptable game content. You can read more about it in [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/announcements/detail/1663386372399476871]this article by the Sentinels of the Store[/url] curator group.
This is something I feel potential customers should be aware of for two reasons. First, I understand completely that gamers may not want to buy games with such horrible, antihumanitarian messages of hate such as games from Nikita "Ghost_RUS". Secondly, gamers must be aware that if Valve decides to do the right thing and enforce their policy against hate speech and bigotry in games, games such as this will be banned. So, buying games from Nikita "Ghost_RUS" may be putting your money at risk.
This kind of asset flipping isn't harmless. It makes it harder for gamers to find genuinely made games from ethical developers. It makes it harder for genuine indie developers, who put hard work into trying to make real games, to find an audience for their products. It gives indie developers a bad name.
So, should you buy this asset flip? Is this better than any of the 110,000+ genuinely made games on Steam? Of course not!
Cybernated has the gamer gouging price of $6 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, and the questionable ethical nature of the developer and/or their associates (as outlined above), this is impossible to recommend.
For comparison, the $6 asking price for this game could get you games like "Dead by Daylight", "Bioshock Infinite" or "Mass Effect Andromeda". Quality, professionally made games like those are frequently on sale cheaper than this.
[quote][b][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/profile]Profile Features Limited![/url][/b]
Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.[/quote]
