E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy is set in a dystopian future, where you’re an elite agent in a dark and mysterious universe where factions struggle for power and an unknown force threatens all humanity.
You receive missions from your handler but really you have little idea of what’s going on at first. To say this indie game is bizarre would be an understatement, but I mean that in a totally cool way. It’s an FPS/RPG hybrid from Streum On Studio with a cyberpunk theme inspired by the likes of the movie Blade Runner.
As a warrior monk you have your physical attributes, cybernetic implants and even psionic powers to call upon. With the number of melee weapons and guns available, this leads to a wide variety of choices. It’s best to concentrate on what style of play you prefer. I’ve played four complete games of E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy and there are still options I’ve hardly touched. It is pretty sweet having other choices than run and gun, such as using a psionic shock wave or summoning some tech bots to flank the enemy. You can also try hacking into enemy machines, even the NPCs if they have enough cybertech in their bodies, tuning them into your slave. But usually I used the cloaked assassin/sniper technique. Call me classic.
Character development is very deep. There’s the typical killing things gives you XP and when you level up you get points to add to your stats, and then there’s money (called brouzouf) you can spend to upgrade your cybernetic implants and research any mysterious items you find. The research can reveal some advanced tech or something to reveal the story line. That’s good, because even after finishing the game you’ll probably still have questions about the involved plot, and that’s not such a bad thing if a game makes you really think. E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy leaves enough unsaid that players can debate what it all means.
Eventually you’ll come across the outside threat, which could either be aliens or creatures from another dimension, but they’re suddenly everywhere. They have different strengths and powers you haven’t seen yet, so you’ll figure out different ways to fight them. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on what’s going on with the human factions, this new entity throws another mystery your way. The developers give few clues on where they come from or what they want, and when they do it’s handed out sparsely. You get to figure things out on your own. It’s kind of rare when a game doesn’t hold you by the hand while dishing out the back story. I liked that.
E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy is an ambitious game with lots of potential for fans across many genres. It supports multiplayer co-op as well as pvp, AND you use the character you developed in the single player campaign mode, which is definitely different from most pvp games. Although the FPS part of the game is easy to pick up, the tutorial is bare and so the learning curve can be a bit steep for the more advanced stuff. If you brave it out, you just may find yourself having a kick ass time.