Narrative taxi titles Night Call and Neo Cab go head-to-head

Two similar yet awfully different games were shown at GDC and we talked to the developers of both titles.

Sometimes great minds think alike, and it would appear that at least to some degree that's true of the developers of Neo Cab (Change Agency) and Night Call (Mokey Moon, BlackMuffin Studio). Both games see the player drive a cab and talking to passengers to try and solve a mystery. Both games are inspired by film noir, yet the resulting aesthetics are very different. There was a bit of a meeting of likeminded devs at GDC as the Neo Cab team tweeted about playing Night Call, and we're sure they had a lot to talk about.

Neo Cab is a game where you play as one of the last human cab drivers in an otherwise automated transport system in a near future scenario. The game offers a stylised graphic novel look with distinct colours. It's a game where you're trying to find your friend who is missing while meeting passengers who for one reason or another prefer a taxi with a human driver over the numerous automated ones. We talked to creative director Patrick Ewing and art director Vincent Perea at a very busy MIX event during GDC and you can check out the interview below:

Night Call, on the other hand, goes all in with the noir aesthetics with an almost entirely black and white look. It's set in Paris (exact replication) and you're a cab driver who gets forced by police to investigate one of three serial killer scenarios.

As for Night Call we were even more thorough, speaking to project writer Anthony Jauneaud and project lead Laurent Victorino at the GDC loft of publisher Raw Fury, and also having a conversation with artist Sandra Fesquet at PAX East.

Both these taxi-based titles seem very promising and while they share certain ideas, they also come across as very different. Which one are you most keen on or will you play both or neither? And where's our Crazy Taxi 4, Sega? Preferably with branching conversations...

Neo Cab (left) and Night Call (right).

Both titles are due out later this year, a tentative summer release for Night Call on PC and consoles, with Neo Cab confirmed for PC and Switch before the end of the year.