3/5 ★ – PhatBaby's review of Cyber Manhunt 2: New World.

Better than the first one, largely because it feels like it takes a few more risks creatively and they really pay off. One section specifically does some wacky shit on your desktop that's actually a bit of a technical masterstroke considering how well it's implemented, and I couldn't help but sit back and be like, damn, who cooked here? But overall, it does feel like a sequel that's admittedly much shinier but is just polishing the same issues that plagued the first one. Once again, the small stories amongst each case are really what you're here for, and that stuff is brilliant. A lot of shocking reveals, compelling mysteries that are satisfying to solve and characters that are surprisingly easy to invest in considering you're just stalking their cringey Facebook feeds. One section gets a bit uncomfortable in ways where you're like, boys, maybe we shouldn't be probing this well considering the game is, at its core, a goofy hacker boy 5,000 simulator where the main villain strokes a cat and speaks like Starscream from Transformers. When you decide to put together a thinly veiled allusion to Epstein's Island and talk about young victims of the atrocities going on there, It's a bit of a no-go zone unless the game you're making is tonally able to handle such a heavy topic. But it definitely isn't handled disrespectfully, and the rest of the cases are very well written, even if the main overarching plot is still a bit cliche. The issue is still that the game, by and large, plays itself. It's still just a case of scrolling down until the red text lights up, you pick it and then whichever handholding NPC is aggressively blowing up your video calls says, okay, you can keep going now. And that's a bitter pill to swallow, because what's here has the legs to be much more engaging at what it's trying to do. Having Google only show search results when you type in the exact keywords it's randomly defined or information that needs to be precisely sourced from one location sucks. I'd honestly be down for the next game just being one long case if it meant they could make it an actual puzzle that tests your ability to pull together data and identify information. But it's still well worth a bit of time for some really clever storytelling and an idea that's absolutely crammed with potential.