I am a mark for cyberpunk video games, so Neon Large did not should do a lot to promote me on No Law – you give me neon, company dystopia, and a few impressed style decisions, and I am there. However I will not deny that my preliminary impression of No Law when it was revealed during The Game Awards 2025 final December was one thing alongside the traces of a tepid “Oh cool, one other cyberpunk sport I will take a look at.” That impression caught by each trailer Neon Large and writer Krafton launched, together with the most recent proven throughout Gamescom Opening Night Light 2026 final week. Nevertheless, I knew I had a preview of the sport locked in for Gamescom and was trying ahead to studying extra.
With that preview behind me, my impression has modified to one thing alongside the traces of, “Holy hell, that is so. a lot. extra. than a cyberpunk FPS.” Although I do not get to play it, the gameplay I watch, courtesy of Neon Large co-founder and No Legislation co-creative director Tor Frick (with commentary from co-founder and co-creative director Arcade Berg), drastically impresses me – it may be my sport of the present, and is definitely certainly one of my most anticipated releases of 2027 now.
No Legislation takes place within the dense, Mediterranean-inspired Port Need, with protagonist Gardener introduced out of retirement to get one thing taken from him again; it’s totally John Wick, and although Gardener is extra of a Nineteen Eighties motion film hero than Keanu Reeves’ murderer, I think about their personalities would mesh nicely. Port Need is a lawless metropolis, as the sport’s title implies, utterly unregulated by authorities, making it a fantastic place for prison exercise (that additionally occurs to profit firms and neighboring nations). Consequently, it is the positioning of shady science experiments, black-market weapon growth, and crime, although government-backed Peacekeepers cease too a lot chaos from occurring.
“They do not need it to be excellent and protected; they need it to have a little bit of chaos and violence,” Berg mentioned. “Port Need is Las Vegas on steroids.” He tells me individuals even journey to the town for leisure and trip, as nicely, “as a result of it could possibly present completely something and there is nothing anybody can do about it.”
Our demo begins shortly after the sport’s intro, with Gardener looking for an informant. As we head out of our condominium and into the town correct, we cease to speak to Rosco, an NPC buddy of Gardener, first. Right here, I see how chatting with characters can yield Gardener info he can use later, however these conversations are elective, Berg says. “The story of the sport may be very easy: it is a revenge story about retrieving your factor,” he tells me. “That is all you have to know to shoot individuals within the face, but it surely’s opt-in. If you’d like an easier taking pictures expertise, we have you lined; in order for you an immersive sim, that is there, too.”
My ears perk up when he says “immersive sim” as a result of I had no concept Neon Large was taking No Legislation in that path. It colours the conversations we’ve all through the remainder of this preview. Port Need has a dynamic climate system, and if you have to enter a closely guarded place, Frick says it may be good to attend for it to rain – like actual individuals, NPCs on this sport do not wish to be outdoors caught within the rain, and coming into a safe compound is way simpler when all of its safety is inside. Nighttime and daytime play into this expertise as nicely, from less complicated options, like outlets closing at evening (making it tougher to fill up on items) to NPCs crawling into mattress for the evening (making it simpler to kill a goal).
As we stroll round Port Need, it feels alive, and I do know that is a blasé and cliché factor to say lately, however individuals have working habits, routes, and extra. I see mechanics engaged on automobiles, sparks flying from their instruments; I see a barista making espresso and serving it to patrons at tables; I see building staff sporting VR headsets, controlling drones that restore a close-by storefront façade. Berg exhibits me that each road has an related road signal, and that buildings have addresses, too; if you happen to select to activate a particular “immersive mode,” you may be required to make use of this info to get round. Should you do not choose in to that mode, nonetheless, an ordinary online game waypoint will assist you to get the place you have to go.
“You may by no means play the sport improper – that is our core tenet,” Berg says. “It is all as much as you ways you expertise stuff.”
Earlier than heading to the informant’s location, we cease into a store. Frick and Berg are delighted to point out me that each merchandise on the shop’s cabinets is hand-crafted, from the packaging to the emblem to the on-item textual content and even the substances. We fill up on some therapeutic gadgets and produce them to the clerk to take a look at; if we walked out with these items as a substitute, we might be committing theft, and the clerk (and possibly Peacekeepers) would possible be out to kill us. As we exit the shop, Frick factors out the anti-theft machine close to the store’s doorways. We later return to this retailer and steal the machine to mix it with a grenade, making a proximity grenade. They inform me there are all types of combo interactions like this to create new weapons, gadgets, and extra.
As we make our solution to the informant’s location, we head by an space overtaken by nature. Berg says nature is making an attempt to take the town again and is extra aggressive on this sunny-than-most-cyberpunk-games local weather. Employees within the metropolis might be noticed utilizing chemical substances to struggle again in opposition to the greenery’s development.
We head underground, and the brilliant solar of Port Need disappears, surrounding us in shadows. It is clear issues are a lot shadier, actually and figuratively, down right here, and the NPCs right here match the vibe. We head into an condominium constructing on the behest of Tenna, the voice in our ear. Aspect observe: I believe Tenna’s VO is a placeholder; in any other case, Neon Large ought to take into account some modifications, as a result of the efficiency stands out like a sore thumb.
We might simply barge in and kill everybody right here. We might additionally climb the fence and sneak in, and Frick exhibits how one can stack close by crates in an effort to truly achieve this earlier than joking that QA has stacked sufficient crates to climb three tales into an open window. “If it appears to be like attainable, it in all probability is,” Berg provides. The 2 clarify that No Legislation is Neon Large’s first immersive sim however that The Ascent had parts of the style, too. It is solely pure for this crew, he provides, with expertise on video games like Far Cry, Crysis, Chronicles of Riddick, and extra of their workers’ tenures.
As soon as contained in the condominium constructing, the owner Renn, impressed by organized crime in Nineteen Sixties NYC and related movie noirs (with the angle and accent making that clear), stops us from coming into. We might kill him, however as a substitute, we search a close-by room to discover a doc with a secret password that will get us in.
One thing fascinating I study right here is that you just solely earn XP in No Legislation from finishing goals. You get XP for reaching the informant’s room, no matter the way you do it. “We all the time reward the ‘what,’ however by no means the ‘how,'” Berg says. “If I gave you XP for lockpicking [which we do to enter the room with the password], you may begin lockpicking all over the place. The identical with headshots – we do not even offer you XP for taking pictures enemies since you might sneak round them as a substitute.”
We finally attain the informant’s room, however no one’s there, so we search round like a detective. We search his laptop and uncover he is en path to a secret assembly. Nevertheless, his e-mail particulars three attainable assembly spots in dialog with whomever he is linking up with, every with totally different ranges of safety.
We head to the least safe location, presumably that means fewer watchful eyes, which is an underground tunnel. Sadly, my preview ends earlier than we truly attain the informant, and I take advantage of the remainder of the preview time to study extra concerning the sport.
Berg tells me Neon Large has doubled its worker rely, up from 12 in 2021’s The Ascent to 24 at the moment; the quantity blows my thoughts, contemplating what I simply watched looks as if a undertaking made by 300 individuals. He additionally tells me the story is totally nonlinear, and you might theoretically full it virtually passively, although you’ll have to kill a number of individuals by necessity as a result of “it is a revenge story, in any case.” You’ll get totally different endings primarily based on the way you affect the world along with your actions and the alternatives you make, and Berg and co. are excited to see the place gamers land.
Crucially, they are saying it is unimaginable to unlock each talent and have each dialog in a single playthrough. “We’re a small crew and making content material takes time and prices cash, however we’re okay with gamers not experiencing content material,” Berg says. “We simply need gamers to roll credit and say, ‘Rattling, what a great sport,’ however know that there is extra within the sport left for them.”
That mentioned, Berg stresses the crew is emphasizing the “first playthrough” expertise and never essentially asking gamers to replay the sport and uncover all the pieces. “It is not about replayability, although that is there,” he tells me. “It is about making that first playthrough really feel vital and know it is yours whereas understanding the town and the story are greater than what you noticed.”
All the things I’ve seen about No Legislation previous to this preview informed me it will be a high-quality cyberpunk sport I will take a look at; this preview has drastically elevated my expectations and pleasure. Neon Large clearly loves this sci-fi style, and so they love immersive sims (and FPS video games, too). I stay up for seeing the remainder of it on full show subsequent 12 months.
No Legislation is due out someday in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X/S, and PC by way of Steam and the Epic Video games Retailer.
For extra, check out our interview with Neon Giant about No Law from earlier this 12 months. After that, learn Game Informer’s review of The Ascent.