Cloud Stranding?
Your name is Rania. This is your first night working for Cloudpunk, the semi-legal delivery company based in the sprawling city of Nivalis. You go everywhere, from the Marrow below to the spires that pierce the grey clouds high above before scraping the edge of the troposphere. No delivery job is too dangerous, and no one is faster than a Cloudpunk driver.
Cloudpunk is set in a voxel art world that is reminiscent of something from Minecraft, but with a cyberpunk theme to it. And no, this is not Cyberpunk 2077 or anything resembling that. It has your character Rania drive around the city of Nivalis making deliveries in a flying car called a HOVA.
She can also get around the city on foot to advance the story, access side quests and optional collectibles. She can also upgrade the HOVA to increase the speed and damage control, while also allowing you to buy items to decorate her apartment. The story is told mostly over comms and while it can take a while to get going, it has a decent plot and impressive voice acting.
The gameplay itself is a bit limited compared to other games out there and I love the city of Nivalis but I wish there was more to do in it, but it’s still an enjoyable experience for the most part. There are a few issues such as the framerate dropping way below 30fps at times, even on Xbox One X which is bewildering for a game that has the voxel pixel look. I mean it looks nice with its art style, but it is simplistic and confusing as to why it struggles on a powerful console like the Xbox One X.
The Verdict
Cloudpunk is a nice looking game that has some good ideas and are shown off well for the most part, but performance issues and a lack of variety of gameplay holds it from soaring higher than it anticipated.