E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy

E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy is a first-person shooter which is defined by its RPG elements and its openness in character development and level design. It is set in a cyberpunk scenario in which various factions, including the reigning federation, the punks on the street and rebellious E.Y.E. order (which is also split into two rivaling factions) fight for dominance. The player takes the role of a order fighter who lost his memory and finds himself between the power struggle.

The game features a complex character system with skills (e.g. accuracy or medicine), abilities and implants; all with different effects for different play styles. Upgrades are either bought with Brouzouf (the game's currency) or experience points which are rewarded for solving main or side quests. Upgrades can also be researched with briefcases dropped by enemies, but the research costs time and money and is restricted to one at a time. Similarly there are multiple bars to keep in mind: health, energy (used for certain abilities and running) and the mental state - if the player takes too much damage at once, he goes insane and loses the ability to use complex weapons. There are neither regenerating health or medipacks; the player needs to use his abilities to regain health.

Worth mentioning are the hacking mechanics because they are not restricted to reprogramming machines; the player can also hack enemies. The hacking itself is handled through a mini game in which the player has to bring the enemy's defenses to zero by using the correct viruses. The player can be physically wounded by other enemies in the process and a failed hacking attempt results in a counter hack or instant death.

The levels are designed so that they can be solved with different play styles, e.g. hacking, stealth, shooting or psionics. There are, however, a few passages where fighting skills are required to progress. In the temple, which acts as a save hub, the player can upgrade the character, take on side quests and chooses the equipment for the next mission (restricted by inventory space and weight). The weight is not just a cap like in most games, but influences the player's abilities dynamically.

Every solved level can be tackled again with randomly generated goals, either alone or with up to 32 participants in co-op. Earned experience and money is transferred to the single-player game. There is no free saving, instead the player gets instantly resurrected. This works only for a limited amount of resurrections, which can be increased via upgrades - after that the last checkpoint is loaded.