City of Chains casts engineer Holt Allaway as a prisoner framed by a government that wanted him to build military machines. After corrupted machines attack the holding facility, a mysterious remote operator helps Holt escape. He joins scientist Chloe and assassin Lorelei, and the group must survive while pursued through a dystopian city. That escape premise gives the adventure a tense focus on navigating danger with limited resources.
Its encounters allow different approaches: confront enemies directly, use a grenade, or avoid them. Exploration also has room for problem-solving, with hacking, lockpicking, charisma, and wall smashing opening alternate routes. Rather than awarding experience for levelling up, the game grants skill points through progress, which players can spend on character skills and passive bonuses. Crafting grenades and medicinal pills, alongside managing companions’ morale, adds further tactical and resource considerations. Decisions are also described as affecting the surrounding world.
The game offers Casual, Hardy, and Dystopia difficulty modes, and its locations mix non-linear and semi-linear design. The combination of character-specific skills, route choices, and consequential decisions makes survival as much about planning as combat.
