Socially Engineering Your Life with Cyber Manhunt 2 New World

Amongst the absolute avalanche of Indiepocalypse of May 2024, there were plenty of new games that flew under the radar for many. I didn't see many people talking about Cyber Manhunt 2: New World, but for those that enjoy mysteries and cyberpunk dystopias, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Released into early access with 3 of 5 chapters already available, the follow up to the 2021 hit has already laid the groundwork to improve just about everything from the original. Time will tell if it can pull it off with panache, but colour me intrigued.

Using classic PC interface driven gameplay, you play the part of a nascent AI tasked with uncovering juicy information about people with an array of tools at your disposal. Cross referencing publicly available data found through Google and Facebook analogs with a relatively straightforward hacking toolset such as a profile database and social engineering password hacking, you follow your nose to discover damning information on your targets at the behests of corporate interests.

Though the dialogue is a little stilted at times, leading to some slight friction in understanding what information the game is asking you to look for, the ideas behind this style of gameplay is certainly potent. In this digital era, the first thing many of us do when meeting a new work hire or connecting with a potential romantic partner is Google them. We form an idea of someone in our head before even meeting. Our first impressions are no longer up to us, they are instead determined by what's in the public record.

This then extends out to not just the public - the more our private lives become digitized, the more information can not only be gained by outside actors, the more we are susceptible to manipulation by malicious interests. This goes for the individual, as well as the collective. Cyber Manhunt 2 hopes to expose these ideas to you in an easily digestible way - showing what's (already) possible with a handful of simple tools and a will to use them.

With only a couple more chapters coming soon, Cyber Manhunt 2: New World not only already has some deep hooks filled with intrigue for a fantastical cyberpunk story, but lays the groundwork for a story designed to make you consider just how much of your life is already out there, accessible for anyone with the will to find it.