As opposed to being a game where the ultimate goal is to somehow win or topple the oppressor, City Of Unity is a collaborative storytelling exploration into themes of defeat and loss, set in an industrial-mythological nightmare world near the end of time. Liberty and democracy have been crushed, and are nothing more than a dream of a golden era that could have been. Those loyal to the powers that be enjoy opportunity, fellowship, and security at the cost of personal freedom. For free thinkers and rebels who've rejected the Ministry regime and its plan for utopia, every night is a lethal gamble.
Here's a list of media that helped inspire City Of Unity, and may help to give you a better idea for what the game's setting is like. Note that many of these, while they have some similarities, also have a lot of big differences from CoU and should not be taken as direct comparisons, but nonetheless deserve mention.
Inspirational Listening:
VNV Nation - Industrial/EBM/Futurepop band. Instrumental and lyrical exploration of utopian and dystopian themes, particularly in the Advance & Follow, Praise The Fallen, and Empires albums.
Raison d'Etre, Sephiroth, and Lustmord - Dark ambient bands. Droning industrial soundscapes mixed with haunting echoes of distant Gregorian choirs. Captures the dark feel of Einheit City and its ancient secrets.
Front Line Assembly - Industrial band. Look for the songs Silent Ceremony and Synthetic Forms in particular. FLA's frontman, Bill Leeb, also has done several ambient side-projects such as Delerium, Synaesthesia, Pro-Tech and Noise Unit which have additional tracks which helped to inspire CoU.
In The Nursery - Neo-classical industrial group. In The Nursery covers a very wide range of genres, though more accurrately capture the quieter, more thoughtful side of City Of Unity. Namely these songs: Metropole, Holstenwall, After Great Pain, The Circling Sky, Underworld, Visit Glenn Street, Cedione, Moreau, Qui Mal, Displaced, I Ask For Grace, and Groundloop.
Vangelis: Blade Runner Soundtrack - Beautifully captures the mixture of futuristic Asian cultural influences, and moody neo-Noir settings for Einheit City.
KMFDM - Industrial/industrial-metal group. Has a very gritty high-tech yet trashy feel that serves as a nice soundtrack for the highly advanced yet extremely impoverished landscape of Einheit City. Rebellious, anarchic and nihilistic lyrical matter addressing political/social conflict also inspires the outer class side of things.
Inspirational Reading:
DUNE, by Frank Herbert - Famous operatic sci-fi novel which heavily inspired City Of Unity. Set in an immeasurably distant future where technology and society have advanced to the point of incorporating seemingly anachronistic neo-medieval weapons, societies and lifestyles alongside powerful futuristic technology. The Weirding Way was a heavy inspiration for the Ministry's secret combat arts. The ban on intelligent thinking machines and AI's in the Dune universe while the powers-that-be instead make use of incredibly advanced analog technology is also very similar to the Ministry's laws forbidding the creation and existence of AI's in Einheit City. Seeing the 1984 film adaptation by David Lynch is also highly recommended.
The Night Land, by William Hope Hodgson - Takes place in a distant nightmare future where the sun has gone black; epic sci-fi horror. Available online for free.
1984, by George Orwell - The classic dystopian novel; CoU borrows similar stylistic elements, such as telescreens, mass-surveillance, and an oppressive totalitarian government which frequently uses executions, torture and thought-policing as a means of controlling the population.
Animal Farm, by George Orwell - Idealistic revolutionaries seek to build a utopia for themselves, yet spirals into a bloody dictatorship.
The Red Star, by Christian Gosset, graphic novel series - Takes place in an alternate future with many technological and aesthetic similarities to CoU. The Sky Furnaces in CoU are a homage of sorts to The Red Star.
Inspirational Viewing:
Jin-Roh, movie - The Kerberos Panzer Corps / Wolf Brigade were a heavy inspiration for Ministry troops, bearing many similarities in both visual style, and both being terrifyingly efficient elite militaries. Also explores the psychological side of what it means to become an armed servant of the State, and the terrible cost it comes at..
Dark City, movie - A story about a city with no sun, and no escape; the Strangers have many similarities to the High Ministry.
Æon Flux, animated series - Inspired many of the futuristic minimalist clothing styles found in CoU's in-game societies, and strange technology.
Wolf's Rain, animated series - An apocalyptic tale set in the world's final days. Involves lots of snowy wastelands and huge, isolated walled cities, which served to inspire some of City Of Unity's imagery.
Akira, movie - Good for inspiration for bōsōzoku and other aspects of delinquent outer class youth..
Blade Runner, movie - The classic 1980s sci-fi thriller. Depicts a bleak, steam-hazed, Neo-Noir future cramped with advanced, yet run-down technology amidst towering black skyscrapers.
Alien 3, movie - Takes place in a giant, freezing cold prison facility. The run-down heavy machinery and industrial darkness are similar to the Midcity and Undercity.
Casshern, movie - Japanese film set in an operatic dystopian future; shares many technological and aesthetic similarities.
Avalon, movie - Telescreens, old and run down computer technology, all provide a feel for what the CoU feels like.
π, movie - Revolves around numerology and God codes. Provided some inspiration behind the more secretive side of Unity, and for some mad science plot ideas.
LOST, tv series - Takes place on a mysterious island full of secrets and grim omens. Many of the seemingly supernatural events in LOST are stylistically similar to the effects of The Voice in CoU. Like Einheit City, the Island in LOST is almost its own character, and may even be affecting the destinies of its inhabitants.
Inspirational Gaming:
Final Fantasy VII - Very similar technological style, with highly advanced futuristic computers and mad science next to swords and analog steam technology.
Xenogears - The Solaris areas in the game are in many ways similar to the clean high-technology of
Einhänder - An old PSX shooter. The first level takes place in a darkly futuristic, multilingual metropolis very closely similar to Einheit City.
Half-Life 2 - Dr. Wallace Breen holds many similarities to Einheit City's Chancellor Mara Kadesh. The Ministry also shares stylistic similarities to the Combine military, such as both using strange technology which sometimes has disturbing organic-seeming qualities. Orwellian mass-surveillance technology is also present.
Silent Hill - Has a few similarities to CoU's subtle psychological horror style, in how the lines between reality and nightmare are blurred.