What’s the point of a futuristic, perhaps event straight-up science fiction setting, if you can replace your eye with a cool metal orb capable of seeing through walls? This is a question nobody can truly answer, which is why cybernetic augmentations are such a welcome topic across science fiction-adjacent media.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | Video | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Deus Ex Mankind Divided | 2000-06-23 | Adventure & Role-playing (RPG) | Eidos Interactive | |
 | Cyberpunk 2077 | 2020-12-10 | Adventure & Shooter | CD PROJEKT RED | |
 | Ghostrunner 2 | 2023-10-26 | Platform & Shooter | ONE MORE LEVEL | |
 | System Shock 2 | 1999-08-11 | Puzzle & Role-playing (RPG) | Irrational Games | |
 | EYE Divine Cybermancy | 2011-07-29 | Indie & Role-playing (RPG) | Streum On Studio | |
 | Mirrors Edge Catalyst | 2016-06-09 | Adventure & Platform | EA Digital Illusions CE | |
 | Metal Gear Rising Revengeance | 2014-01-09 | Shooter & Hack and slash/Beat 'em up | PlatinumGames | |
 | The Surge 2 | 2019-09-24 | RPG | Deck13 Interactive | |
 | Prey 2017 | 2017-05-04 | Adventure & Shooter | Arkane Studios | |
 | The Surge | 2017-05-15 | Role-playing (RPG) & Adventure | Deck13 | |
 | Binary Domain | 2012-04-26 | Shooter & Puzzle | Devil's Details | |
 | Ghostrunner | 2020-10-27 | Shooter & Puzzle | ONE MORE LEVEL |
Obviously, that includes video games as well, perhaps even more so than anywhere else, since augmentations are a fantastic way to design a compelling and convincing progression system. Below we’ve gathered a few games which use the topic of cybernetic enhancements in various ways.
5 games with cyber-augmentations
Deus Ex (series)
| Release date: | 2000-06-23 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Eidos Interactive |
While the Deus Ex games aren’t short on themes, one of the most persistent ones is the presence and relevance of human augmentation through prosthetics and nanotechnology. As a result, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that every DE game gives players a range of augments, upgrades and cyber-powers to unlock and use to solve problems or cause a little bit of cybermischief.
In the original Deus Ex, the augmentations were discovered through exploration, and required individual installation. On the other hand, DE: Human Revolution did something very different. The game proper started with all the augmentations already in place, but it took time and experience for the protagonist, Adam Jensen, to unlock them, as he started getting used to the new body.
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Cyberpunk 2077
| Release date: | 2020-12-10 |
| Genre: | Shooter & Role-playing (RPG) |
| Developer: | CD PROJEKT RED |
A good adaptation of the TTRPG classic wouldn’t be complete without cybernetic… everything. You can be more machine than V, decked out tip to toe in augmentations of all sorts, and, unlike the tabletop original, you’re not risking at that chrome is going to get to mess with your head thanks to circumstances related to the story.
The story in question is that your customizable up-and-coming merc called V, got a weird implant everybody wants. Said implant comes with a digital ghost of a long-dead rockerboy Johnny Silverhand hanging out in your head and optic nerve. It’s a weird situation which quickly gets even weirder, and the game gets packed densely with really interesting story beats and heavy themes.
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System Shock 2
| Release date: | 1999-08-11 |
| Genre: | Shooter & Puzzle & Role-playing (RPG) |
| Developer: | Irrational Games |
Of course an iconic SF role-playing game and the predecessor even to classics such as Deus Ex features cybernetics. Here., however, they are not like the discrete, distinct augs in DE or Cyberpunk. Instead, Cybernetic Modules are a currency spent on upgrading the player character’s traits and abilities. Not unlike Deus Ex’s augments, they require access to a specialized tool, a Cybernetic Upgrade Unit.
And you’ll need these upgrades, too, because System Shock 2 is not a walk in the park. It takes place on a space station taken over by a psychic, parasitic hivemind controlling the unlucky crew. And, as if it wasn’t enough, SHODAN, the freed AI, is still out there, meddling and planning. You, a freshly unfrozen soldier, are not having a great first day out of cryosleep.
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Shadowrun Dragonfall
| Release date: | 2014-09-18 |
| Genre: | Role-playing (RPG) & Strategy |
| Developer: | Harebrained Schemes |
Where Cyberpunk is a pretty straightforward science fiction, Shadowrun mixes cyberpunk themes with a healthy dose of fantasy elements to create a fascinating setting. And, lucky for us, it was explored in several video games, including the fantastic Shadowrun: Dragonfall, revolving around a crew of mercenaries trying to untangle a series of mysterious deaths around a futuristic Berlin.
As it’s properly futuristic, your character definitely can get some spicy augmentations, however they come at a cost. While the cybernetics are very useful, and not only for deckers, installing them permanently limits your ability to channel magic. It’s a weighty trade-off, especially for a game with a classless, point-buy progression allowing you to create interesting aptitude combinations.
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Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus
| Release date: | 2018-11-15 |
| Genre: | Role-playing (RPG) & Strategy & Turn-based strategy (TBS) & Tactical |
| Developer: | Bulwark Studios |
Techpriests of Warhammer 40.000 fame are a cult of humans who decided that machines are very cool, actually, and human flesh is inferior and it makes more sense to replace it. WH40k Mechanicus, a turn-based tactics game from Bulwark Studios is all in on that mentality, and you can augment your intrepid techpriest with a range of handy, and occasionally weird, implants.
The game itself revolves around exploring a Necron tomb: a source of outstanding, if rather heretical, technology… and a resting place of terrifying creatures of living metal. Each deployment into the depths risks waking up more than just minor maintenance drones, but promises knowledge and resources.. if you can survive the fights inevitably coming your way.
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Augment your existence
The list above features five of the best games featuring cybernetic enhancements and gameplay integration, but they are by no means the only examples, and we’ll certainly return to the topic at some point in the future.
For now, give these games a try, with the deals present on our marketplace it won’t cost you an arm and a leg!