No Law Isn't Just A Cyberpunk FPS, It's An Incredibly Detailed Immersive Sim Too

What the report says

gamescom 2026 Platform PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC Publisher Krafton Developer Neon Giant Release 2027 I'm a mark for cyberpunk games, so Neon Giant didn't have to do much to sell me on No Law – you give me neon, corporate dystopia, and some inspired fashion choices, and I'm there. But I won't deny that my initial impression of No Law when it was revealed during The Game Awards 2025 last December was something along the lines of a tepid "Oh cool, another cyberpunk game I'll check out." That impression stuck through every trailer Neon Giant and publisher Krafton released, including the latest shown during Gamescom Opening Night Light 2026 last week.

However, I knew I had a preview of the game locked in for Gamescom and was looking forward to learning more. With that preview behind me, my impression has changed to something along the lines of, "Holy hell, this is so. much. more. than a cyberpunk FPS." Though I don't get to play it, the gameplay I watch, courtesy of Neon Giant co-founder and No Law co-creative director Tor Frick (with commentary from co-founder and co-creative director Arcade Berg), greatly impresses me – it might be my game of the show, and is certainly one of my most anticipated releases of 2027 now.No Law takes place in the dense, Mediterranean-inspired Port Desire, with protagonist Gardener brought out of retirement to get something taken from him back; it's very John Wick, and though Gardener is more of a 1980s action movie hero than Keanu Reeves' assassin, I imagine their personalities would mesh well.

Port Desire is a lawless city, as the game's name implies, completely unregulated by government, making it a great place for criminal activity (that also happens to benefit corporations and neighboring nations). As a result, it's the site of shady science experiments, black-market weapon development, and crime, though government-backed Peacekeepers stop too much chaos from occurring. "They don't want it to be perfect and safe; they want it to have a bit of chaos and violence," Berg said. "Port Desire is Las Vegas on steroids." He tells me people even travel to the city for leisure and vacation, as well, "because it can provide absolutely anything and there's nothing anyone can do about it." Our demo begins shortly after the game's intro, with Gardener searching for an informant.

Key details

As we head out of our apartment and into the city proper, we stop to talk to Rosco, an NPC friend of Gardener, first. Here, I see how speaking to characters can yield Gardener information he can use later, but these conversations are optional, Berg says. "The story of the game is very simple: it's a revenge story about retrieving your thing," he tells me. "That's all you need to know to shoot people in the face, but it's opt-in. If you want a simpler shooting experience, we've got you covered; if you want an immersive sim, that's there, too." My ears perk up when he says "immersive sim" because I had no idea Neon Giant was taking No Law in that direction.

It colors the conversations we have throughout the rest of this preview. Port Desire has a dynamic weather system, and if you need to enter a heavily guarded place, Frick says it might be smart to wait for it to rain – like real people, NPCs in this game don't want to be outside stuck in the rain, and entering a secure compound is much easier when all of its security is inside. Nighttime and daytime play into this experience as well, from simpler features, like shops closing at night (making it harder to stock up on goods) to NPCs crawling into bed for the night (making it easier to kill a target).

As we walk around Port Desire, it feels alive, and I know that's a blasé and cliché thing to say these days, but people have working habits, routes, and more. I see mechanics working on cars, sparks flying from their tools; I see a barista making coffee and serving it to patrons at tables; I see construction workers wearing VR headsets, controlling drones that repair a nearby storefront façade. Berg shows me that every street has an associated street sign, and that buildings have addresses, too; if you choose to turn on a special "immersive mode," you'll be required to use this information to get around.

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If you don't opt in to that mode, however, a standard video game waypoint will help you get where you need to go. "You can never play the game wrong – that's our core tenet," Berg says.