''NeoTokyo'' (stylized as ''NEOTOKYO°'') is a

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

tactical

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

total conversion

modification Modification may refer to: * Modifications of school work for students with special educational needs * Modifications (genetics), changes in appearance arising from changes in the environment * Posttranslational modifications, changes to prote ...

of ''

Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was published for Windows on Valve's digital distribution service, Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' is played ent ...

'' in a futuristic

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

setting, created by American developer Studio Radi-8. Initially released on 3 July 2009, and later re-released for Steam on 4 July 2014, it was voted to be released through

Steam Greenlight Steam is a digital distribution service and storefront developed by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide video game updates automatically for Valve's games and expanded to distributing third-party titles in l ...

on 16 October 2012. The game presents itself in a

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

n setting, with inspiration drawn from '' Akira'', ''

Deus Ex ''Deus Ex'' is a series of cyberpunk role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technol ...

'' and ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

'' for its art-style, music and aesthetics.

Gameplay

''NeoTokyo'' uses a round-based structure similar to ''

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games, in which opposing teams attempt to complete various objectives. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counte ...

'', with players only

respawn Spawning in video games refers to the process by which entities, such as player characters, non-player characters, enemies or items, are generated and placed into the game world. Closely related concepts include respawning, which involves reint ...

ing between rounds. Three

character class In tabletop games and video games, a character class is an occupation, profession, or role assigned to a game character to highlight and differentiate their capabilities and specializations. In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes ag ...

es are available, differing from each other in speed, health and available weaponry. Each class has a different auxiliary vision mode ( light amplification,

motion detection In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an obser ...

and thermal vision) with the two lightest classes possessing thermal and optical

cloaking Cloaking is a search engine optimization (SEO) technique in which the content presented to the search engine spider is different from that presented to the user's browser. This is done by delivering content based on the IP addresses or the ...

. The

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game. The term applies to both video games and Tabletop game, tabletop games. Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges, and t ...

of ''NeoTokyo'' is slow-paced and balanced towards the tactical approach, with players generally being able to dispose of each other with a single burst of concentrated fire. The

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

design reflects this, with most maps giving numerous opportunities for ambushes and flanking. ''NeoTokyo'' has two game-types:

Team Deathmatch Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill (or "frag") the other players' characters as ...

(TDM), and Capture The Ghost (CTG), with the majority of maps designed for the latter. Capture The Ghost is similar to one-flag CTF, with two teams competing to pick up the Ghost (a dismembered

gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction films and arts. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like an ...

torso) and carry it to a designated 'retrieval zone' on the other side of the map. Unlike regular CTF, a team can also win the round by eliminating the other team. The Ghost is useful for this as it allows the player carrying it (and only that player) to see the position of the still remaining enemy team members, even through walls. In-game

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...

communication and a compass allows a Ghost carrier to communicate this information to their own team. While carrying the Ghost brings great benefits to a team, there are severe downsides to picking up the Ghost. With the Ghost's exact location visible to everyone at all times, a carrier's position is instantly revealed to the enemy team. Being required to drop their primary weapon before being able to pick it up and being unable to sprint are just some of the severe disadvantages of picking up the Ghost.

Plot

''NeoTokyo'' is set in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, approximately 30 years in the future. After the failure of a proposal to alter the

Japanese constitution The Constitution of Japan is the supreme law of Japan. Written primarily by American civilian officials during the occupation of Japan after World War II, it was adopted on 3 November 1946 and came into effect on 3 May 1947, succeeding the Mei ...

to allow foreign deployment of Japanese soldiers, a military coup d'état is attempted by extreme

Japanese nationalist Japanese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas and sentiments. It is useful ...

factions in the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense ...

. In response, the Prime Minister of Japan pools former military intelligence operatives and police officers into a sub-group of the Interior Ministry's National Security Force (NSF), called Group Six, to seek out subsequent coup plotters and uphold the law in both domestic and international soil. Immediately, rumours surface that an unknown faction in the

JGSDF The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct t ...

's special forces unit "Jinrai" is preparing for another coup attempt against the government. According to the information, the said members of this group are from Special Operations Group 43, fierce ultranationalists determined to succeed with the coup once more. The ensuing strife between these two factions sets the backdrop for the game.

Development

''NeoTokyo'' has been in development since October 2004. Originally designed as a

mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

for ''

Unreal Tournament 2004 ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. Part of the ''Unreal'' franchise, it is the third game in the '' Unreal Tournament'' series and an updated rerelease of '' Unre ...

'' as a deathmatch game with capture points, NeoTokyo's development was later switched to

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

's 2006

Source engine Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve. It debuted as the successor to GoldSrc in 2004 with the releases of '' Half-Life: Source'', '' Counter-Strike: Source'', and ''Half-Life 2''. Valve used Source in many of their games in the followin ...

, where the game was remade from scratch and released in 2009. ''

'' and '' Akira'' were cited as main sources of inspiration behind the game's art style and

aesthetic. The Radi-8 team ceased development of the game soon after its release on the Steam platform, however, remaining fans have attempted multiple times to revive the game with community content. Many are full rewrites or reworks of the game, such as rewriting the game in a newer branch of the Source Engine.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of ''NeoTokyo'' was composed by Ed Harrison, and was described as "haunting" by Jeff Fleming of ''Game Set Watch''. After being recruited from a

forum Forum or The Forum may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example * Internet forum, discussion board ...

, he also contributed to early sound design before focusing entirely on music. A soundtrack CD was released through

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon based online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. It was established in 1998 and offered distribution fo ...

. He has since self-released the album as a free digital download.

Reception

''NeoTokyo'' was featured in the "Mod World" section of the September 2009 issue of ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

''. The game has also been featured on gaming website

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

, where it was stated that the game "looks completely amazing." '' Bitmob'' called it a great mod and one of the best tactical shooters of 2009. ''

Rock Paper Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' is a British video game journalism website. It was launched in July 2007 to focus on PC game, PC games and was acquired by Gamer Network, a network of sites led by ''Eurogamer'', in May 2017. History ''Rock Paper S ...

'' wrote: "For all its loveliness, it still another

-ish mod. It's competently CS-ish, sure, but I'm not much of a CS fan and its additions tended to confuse rather than enhance the experience." It won second place for the 2008 Upcoming Mod of the Year Award. In February 2010, ''NeoTokyo'' placed third in

Mod DB Mod DB is a website that focuses on general video game modding. It was founded in 2002 by Scott "INtense!" Reismanis. As of September 2015, the Mod DB site has received over 604 million views, has more than 12,500 modifications registered, and ...

's competition for mod of the year. In August 2012, Glasseater, the lead tester for ''NeoTokyo'', placed an entry for the game in the

. The game quickly became popular, ranking among the top 15 games on Greenlight. The following October, the game was approved, eventually seeing release on the Steam platform on 4 July 2014. Since its Steam release, ''NeoTokyo'''s player count declined drastically due to a lack of servers to support the influx of players. Besides during semi-organized events on Friday each week, the

game server A game server (also sometimes referred to as a host) is a server which is the authoritative source of events in a multiplayer video game. The server transmits enough data about its internal state to allow its connected clients to maintain thei ...

s are generally empty. From 2020 onwards, the community has hosted biannual tournaments: "Winter Warzone" - The five vs five format at the start of the year, and "Summer Skirmish" - the three vs three format in the middle of the year. These events are broadcast on the community's twitch.tv channel, recordings of which are archived on the community's youtube channel.

Reimplementation

In July 2019, Neotokyo community leader Rain began work on an open-source reimplementation of Neotokyo in the Source 2013 engine funded via

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a monetization platform operated by Patreon, Inc., that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service and sell digital products. It helps artists and other creators earn a recurring income by provid ...

. The project aimed to create a version of the game which could be independently maintained and expanded by the community in absence of the original development team, as opposed to creating a full sequel. The project was put on hold by Rain indefinitely. As of January 16, 2025, development has restarted as ''Neotokyo;Rebuild'', as a

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

of the previous reimplementation. The current goal of the project is to achieve parity with the vanilla version of the game while resolving its major issues. The project is no longer funded via Patreon.

References

External links

*
Neotokyo GSDF
(soundtrack pt. 1) on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Neotokyo NSF
(soundtrack pt. 2) on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neotokyo (Video Game) 2009 video games Cyberpunk video games First-person shooters Multiplayer online games Source (game engine) games Source (game engine) mods Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Tokyo Windows games Windows-only games