Gear is only one part of it, for example, and you’ll unlock genetic modifications that can only be applied when you create a new clone. It’s not exactly exciting, but using loot found in missions and given as rewards to upgrade, outfit or completely remake your clones is built on some interesting systems. Outside of combat it’s all quite XCOM-esque, too, as you assign research projects, stow wounded clones in a regeneration tank, and manage the day-to-day running of your agency. Clone creation is pretty basic, as you can only name them and choose a colour to outline their portrait you can’t choose hair or features, or what colour pants they’re wearing or anything. Initially you can only grow three different archetypes, a standard fighter, mage, thief setup but with names like Soldier and Infiltrator instead. You begin by creating your squad of clones. Or hacking things, obviously, as this is a cyberpunk game after all.

Some stuff is happening and you’re going to do some other stuff to counter it, and you’re going to achieve most of your goals by shooting things. The story isn’t complicated, but it also isn’t presented in a compelling way. Four either military or criminal factions control Conglomerate City, and all have a particular interest in Sector 451, where you’ll deploy an army of cloned soldiers to restore balance. Well, I say “humanity” but this neon clusterbiff of a city is one of those places that you wonder why you’re bothering with. Similarly to XCOM, you don’t play the guy or gal with their boots in the dystopian mud, but rather the Director, the overlord controlling the fates of your emotionless grunts in the defence of humanity. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be a bit of a stretch, but I am fairly impressed with the core systems in Conglomerate 451 and how they gel together. It has been quite some time since I played a game in this particular sub-genre, the most recent being The Legend of Grimrock and the first being Eye of the Beholder way back when, and so I’ll be honest in saying that I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from RuneHead’s game. Having sampled the neon-drenched delights of Black Future ‘88 last year, I’ve recently delved into the murky underworld of Conglomerate 451, a grid-based, first person dungeon crawler from RuneHeads. What with a certain game by CDProjektRED looming large on the horizon, it’s understandable that the cyberpunk genre is getting a bit of interest recently.

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