No Law: A Gritty Cyberpunk Shooter Making Waves in the Genre

At first glance, No Law might seem like just another gritty sci-fi cyberpunk first-person RPG, but this upcoming single-player FPS comes from a small team at Neon Giant, the Swedish studio known for The Ascent. With around 24 developers on board, they’re crafting an open-world experience.

No Law offers a unique spin on the cyberpunk genre, which the creators refer to as “cyber-noire.” It leans heavily into immersive storytelling and player choice. Players will step into the shoes of Grey Harker, a former military veteran seeking a peaceful life. When that dream crumbles, Harker taps into his black ops training and cybernetic enhancements to exact revenge in Port Desire, a lawless port city (well, there are a few laws, but murder is still frowned upon).

The game’s setting is described as “a world built on neon sleaze instead of regulation.” Neon Giant emphasizes the importance of player choices, allowing for impactful decisions and various problem-solving approaches. Whether players opt for stealth or go in guns blazing, their choices will significantly affect Harker’s journey.

“No Law represents the next step for us as a studio,” said Claës af Burén, managing director at Neon Giant. “With The Ascent, we established a solid foundation for worldbuilding, systems, and storytelling. This new project takes everything we’ve learned and applies it to a completely different kind of experience — one that’s bigger, more reactive, and more personal than anything we’ve done before.”

Neon Giant promises a rich narrative that players can explore multiple times, making different choices to uncover alternate paths to Harker’s objectives. Creative directors Arcade Berg and Tor Frick acknowledged that their game draws comparisons to titles like the original Deus Ex and Cyberpunk 2077, which also emphasize player choice.

“We definitely wanted to create something unique in that space,” Berg noted. “We’re huge fans of Deus Ex, especially the original. While we love the immersive sim genre, our goal is to innovate and offer something fresh. That’s where the nonlinear narrative and the world’s responsiveness to player actions come into play.”

Frick added, “Fans of those games should find a lot to enjoy in ours. That’s definitely one of our target audiences, but we’re also aiming for a broader appeal. If you prefer a more linear single-player shooter experience, you can certainly enjoy the main narrative that way. However, if you want to engage with the game’s mechanics, abilities, and tactical choices, that option is there too. We’re also mindful of players who may not want to be overwhelmed by too much story.”

Beyond the expected influences, the creative directors have drawn from some surprising sources for their take on the cyberpunk genre.

“We don’t want to create something overly grim,” Berg explained. “Sure, it’s a dark world, but we want to make violence feel like a spectacle. We lean into a ‘comfort food’ vibe reminiscent of films like RoboCop, The Running Man, and Judge Dredd. At the same time, we aim for a broad emotional range. We don’t want to be limited to just ‘cyberpunk neon.’ We also want to incorporate more human elements, often referencing Studio Ghibli for that lush, calm, human touch, allowing those extremes to coexist in the game.”

No Law is set to transport players to Port Desire in the future. The game is currently in development for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, though a release date has yet to be announced.