“Punk” is a pretty versatile word. In music, it became a term for rock music that was rough on talent but high on attitude. Then, in the 1980s, it became a suffix for a variety of esthetics. Twisted dystopias based on futuristic technology taking over humanity’s lives became “cyberpunk.” Replacing futuristic stuff with 19th-century machinery became “steampunk,” and using early 20th-century tech made it “dieselpunk.”

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So, what exactly is “biopunk”? It’s technically a subgenre of cyberpunk, only with more focus on biotechnology and genetic manipulation. In other words, it’s less about cyborgs and more about mutants and other kinds of flesh-twisting scenarios. Resident Evil has some of it with its viral abominations, as does Metal GearSolid with its Les Enfants Terrible Project. But these games put biopunk first and foremost.

8 Wrought Flesh

Deep Root Interactive’s Wrought Flesh is one of the newer games on the list despite (intentionally) looking like it comes straight from 1997. It’s a Turok-esque first-person shooter with a twist. Players control the Gajeshian Cultist, a near-mythological being on a temple-ordained mission on the partially terraformed planet of Chrisembourgh. What makes the Cultist special is that their body is made from different parts taken from saints.

They have to shoot all sorts of beasts and space bandits on Chrisembourgh, then upgrade themselves by taking their organs and using them for their own. He even has literal finger guns on top of 7 other types of arms. Shame it’s quite a short game, and it can be a little buggy. But there are few, if any, shooters like it, biopunk or otherwise. It's worth picking up on Steam during a sale.

7 Cruelty Squad

This one may be more familiar as it’s been covered by popular YouTubers like Markiplier, Zero Punctuation, and Super Bunnyhop. Cruelty Squad also goes for the low-poly shooter genre, with developer Consumer Softproducts calling it “an immersive power fantasy shooter with stealth elements,” as the player has to kill people for the CONTROL conglomerate that controls most of the world (hence the name).

Players pick their weaponry and items and explore open levels for their targets like a first-person Hitman. They can go non-lethal, but they’ll need to get into gore eventually, as they have to sell organs (or fish) on the black market to earn extra money on the side. Which can be used to buy new bio-implants like Zoom n’Go Eyes, Biojets, and an Ammunition Gland that lets ammo regenerate. It's as grisly as the visuals are harsh.

6 Prototype

People might remember this one back in the day, too. This open-world action game set in New York came out roughly around the same time as InFamous, a similar open-world action game set in fake New York. But unlike the latter’s Cole McGrath, Prototype’s Alex Mercer didn’t shoot lightning. Seeking to recover his memories, he uses his new shape-shifting powers to stop the Blacklight virus, which turns people into fleshy abominations.

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Alex can fight back by turning his limbs into blades, claws, whips, and more with his powers. He can also turn into other people, but only after absorbing them into himself, like The Blob. Originally released for the PS3/360, it received a PS4/Xbox One re-release in a package with its sequel. So, with its NYC setting and flesh powers, it might help prepare players for Venom in the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game.

5 Scorn

If players want something newer, Scorn is a survival horror game that came out for PC and Xbox Series X/S in October 2022. PS5 owners have to wait until October 2023 for their version. In it, the player controls a series of protagonists that explore a grisly postwar realm, fighting off parasites and other nasty sights as they uncover the mysteries behind enigmatic places like the Crater and the Facility.

Inspired by H.R Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, the visuals really capture the grotesque yet alluring darkness in those artists’ work. Players will have plenty of time to appreciate them, too, as it’s played from a first-person perspective. They have to use biomechanical tools to travel, fight, and solve puzzles, provided they pick their battles carefully. Ammo and health pickups are low, and beyond a refillable device, health doesn’t get replenished on death.

4 Niche: A Genetics Survival Game

Just because a game is biopunk doesn’t mean it has to look as nightmarish as Scorn or as harsh as Cruelty Squad. Niche: A Genetics Survival Game looks positively cute with its lush landscapes and cute, fuzzy creatures. But as the title suggests, it’s biopunk because the players literally have to alter their creatures’ genes to help them survive against predators, illnesses, and injury, then pass on those genes to the next generation.

Inspired by Spore and the actual science behind population genetics, players pick their creature (“nicheling”) and take turns (each turn representing one day) to help them adapt to their environment. They could roam the grasslands, swing through forests, bask by the riverbanks, or take to the water altogether. It’s all up to the player and which of the game’s 100 genes they apply to their nicheling.

3 System Shock 2

The original System Shock was an action RPG-survival horror combo that made immersive sims like Cruelty Squad possible. That’s not to mention it became one of the definitive cyberpunk games, as the player has to stop an evil AI called SHODAN from destroying cities across the world. The sequel, System Shock 2, brings the first-person gameplay back but alters things by putting SHODAN and the player on the same side.

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The AI reveals it bioengineered alien parasites called the Many to avenge herself on humanity. However, they evolved beyond her control, got aboard the spaceship Von Braun, and took over the entire crew except for one amnesiac soldier. The player has to control them as they resist the Many's influence and search for a way out, all while reluctantly trusting SHODAN as she's bound to have a trick up her digital sleeve.

2 Parasite Eve

Parasite Eve is interesting, as it’s technically the sequel to a Japanese horror novel of the same name. In the book, Eve was a lifeform that could manipulate people and other eukaryotes by manipulating the mitochondria in their cells. It ended with Eve’s death but teased that some of her cells survived. Cells, which somehow made it to New York and took over an actress called Melissa so she could resume her kill-all-humans plan.

With her mitochondrial manipulations, she can make some people spontaneously combust, melt others into an orange goo, or mutate them into beasts. It’s up to police officer Aya Brea to stop Eve as she discovers she’s more involved in her plot than she thought. The game became a cult classic, catching on in both Japan and North America, but it never got released in Europe or other territories. Even 20+ years later, they have to import or use emulators.

1 Bioshock

Some may shrink at the idea of the original Bioshock being at the top of the tree. It’s a great game with some nice diesel-punk visuals to go with the biopunk gameplay. Players have to use genetic materials called Plasmids alongside other weapons to fight off other gene-enhanced foes like the “Splicers.” It had a clever plot, too, with the supposed Objectivist utopia of Rapture becoming a nightmare. Still, some of its twists and moral dilemmas aren't exactly complex.

The game doesn’t get as grisly as Scorn or Parasite Eve either, and it’s only a spiritual successor to the System Shock series. However, it’s one of the most accessible biopunk games available on consoles past and present, and its gameplay is well-designed and intuitive, mixing thrills and chills in equal measure. As such, it’s the best game to introduce people to the subgenre without throwing them in the deep end.

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