G-String (Steam)

In a year seemingly dominated by the genre and word Cyberpunk not all titles were given equal treatment. One such title slipped onto Steam after spending years as a mod for Half Life 2. Ready to stand on its own feet, will it fair better than its kin or is it another CyberFlump?.

G-String puts you in the role of Myo Hyori a Korean teenage girl who is testing out a bio suit before as luck would have it, all hell breaks loose. Using your wit, a few guns and a rather tasty Pyrokinetic power you find yourself trying to survive in a futuristic world under siege from Aliens. 

The narrative is a fascinating one full of glorious technobabble and more world building than you can shake a stick at. Environmental storytelling is key here as you work your way around the streets of Greater Chinatown and other areas. G-String also manages to weave in other genres at times, coming off as a bit horror in places, despite some iffy pacing at the start when it truly hits its stride the story is one of those that will stick with you long after you’re playthrough is done.

It feels at times like a greatest hits of Sci-Fi conventions and I mean this with the greatest respect, titles like Blade Runner and Dune are greats for a reason and G-String honours them with care and respect.

The voice acting and soundtrack have been carefully created for G-String with some brilliantly arranged songs. While nothing in terms of voice acting jumped out at me at no point was I left with my face in my hand wondering what I had heard. The sound effects and presentation are all gloriously 80s cyberpunk/sci-fi conventions in line with the feel of the game and lend greatly to it.

As mentioned in the introduction, G-String started life 13 years ago as a Half Life 2 mod and as such its roots still remain there for better and worse. The game opens with a brief introduction to your suit and the Pyro powers you have, soon after your jumping and climbing around a crumbling building before making your escape into the streets of Greater Chinatown.

This opening section is a real killer in terms of pacing, much like where it came from G-String does the initial chase sequence but it is more platforming and enviromental puzzles with splatterings of world building thrown in for good measure. 

When you reach the bottom of the Observation Platform and gain your first firearm in the form of a pistol you can see the gunplay isn’t going to be one of the stronger factors in the title, something inherited from Half Life 2, much like that game though it isn’t an issue when the world is this enticing to explore. 

What follows is another 12 or so hours of world building, platforming and enviromental puzzles. On occasion you’ll be reminded of your Pyrokinetic powers which while extremely fun, don’t get used half as much as they should and at times often feels forgotten. 

It looks fantastic visually and shows off what the Source engine can really do, the stark contrast of the bustling Neon streets to dilapidated buildings have never looked so good. The game did take a little tweaking on my end to get the stronger visuals and an acceptable framerate but this was more my set up using Nvidia than the game. 

G-String will leave you with alot more questions than answers and fortunately the developer anticipated this and included a PDF with the game, exploring the lore a little more and touching on some more of the spoilery stuff.

G-String isn’t a game that is here to reinvent the wheel, nor does it ever claim to, what it does is offer you an alternative. In a year dominated by the term “Cyberpunk” it is always good to see such impassioned projects release and be a good playthrough. I enjoyed my time in the world presented to me, the gameplay did show off some weakness of the engine it was created for and some of its more unique aspects felt a little undercooked but the narrative and environments alone drove me through the campaign and kept me thinking back on it once the credits have rolled.