Cyberpunk Dex RPG Launches “High Life” Update on Steam Early Access

Czech game development studio Dreadlocks introduces its first major content update since the game’s original launch on Steam Early Access in August 2014. The update introduces powerful corporations, new locations in the upscale districts of the city, loads of fresh content, and several new features. The Dexteam also releases a new trailer showcasing the additions.

Dex, a side-scrolling, open-world cyberpunk RPG with a focus on exploration and non-linear gameplay, has received a major content update today. The update focuses on the “high life” aspects of the city, as opposed to the punk areas and slums featured in the first Steam Early Access release. The player can now visit the HQs of several of the in-game corporations; enjoy some of the game’s many commercials, banners, and billboards; and dive deeply into the dystopic atmosphere of the futuristic city of Harbor Prime.

The complete changelog is as follows:

Four new major quests (with various branching points and outcomes based on player’s decisions).

Three new locations within Harbor Prime (Highrise, Docks, and Red Light District), one new location outside the city (Eclipse), and over ten new interior locations.

Over ten new NPCs, each with a unique back-story, art, and branching dialogues – and with each NPC somehow involved in the quests and events in the city.

Three new enemy types (Armagear Mercenary, Security Guard, Robot) and one unique boss-type enemy (no spoilers here, you’ll have to discover him/her on your own!)

New Skill: Charisma (Unlocks new Convince options at important points in dialogues, enabling added solutions to certain quests and situations. Each additional Charisma point gives a higher chance of succeeding with Convince; it also gives a discount for purchases and an increased sale price when selling items to traders.)

Skill-level cap increased to six (Each skill can now be leveled up to level 6. And you will really need that for some of the more advanced quests!)

Several new mini-games and puzzles (Optional. The puzzles and mini-games are not necessary to progress in the game and/or finish the side quests. They mostly contain some extra reward once discovered and solved.

Loads of in-game commercials (Billboards and commercials for in-game companies. These add spice to the dystopic feeling. Some of them are animated, some are really cheesy, and most are related to something in the real world.)

Quest log now gets progress updates (You now get Quest Updated notifications when reaching an important point in the quest. It is easier to keep track of where you stand and to get back into the quest after a break. Plus it just looks more complete and finished.)

Emails, PDAs, digital newspaper, and other data sources (Learn more of the back-story for the quests, locations, characters, and corporations through these additional in-game texts. Some of the emails are actually required in order to progress with the quests and find additional clues and leads, but most simply add depth to the story and the world.)

New Journal functionality (Similar to the way the Quest log keeps track of your quests, the Journal keeps track of all the PDAs, emails, and valuable data you have read, opened, or somehow acquired.)

Two new implants (Cannot be purchased, only received as unique quest rewards for one of the new quests.)

New Audio system and over a hundred new or improved sound assets (We moved all of our current sounds to a new audio system. While this may not be very recognizable from within the game itself, it gives our sound designer a lot of new ways to tweak the sounds and adjust their parameters, so this will result in better overall audio quality. Plus we added a lot of new sounds to the new locations, enemies, and events).

More elaborate level-up system (The XP and Level Up system is now more elaborate and should enhance the progressive aspect of the game. Originally, you simply got 2 skillpoints per 500 XP. In this more complete solution, the steps between the levels increase in size –500 XP, 1000 XP, 2000 XP – and the skillpoint rewards increase as well; levels 1-9 give you 2 skillpoints per level up, levels 10-14 give you three skillpoints per level up. etc.)

Over twenty new items to be found/bought/sold/received (including some new cool art pieces, valuables, quest items, postcards, collectibles, etc.)

And many minor tweaks, balances, improvements, and fixes all through the game.