Product Info

Platform

PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC

Publisher

CD Projekt

Developer

CD Projekt Red

Series

Cyberpunk

Genre

Action, RPG

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

59 - 102 GB

Release Date (NA)

Dec 10, 2020

Purchase From

Amazon

Best Buy

Walmart

Target

GameStop

PSN Store

Microsoft Store

Steam

Epic Games

Game was reviewed on a purchased copy, game version 1.06.

Finally! Cyberpunk 2077 is here, and it was probably one of the most (If not the most) anticipated games of 2020. With many quarantined in their homes, the excitement for this game was higher than normal. The previews and trailers all looked amazing, and Keanu Reeves was a voice actor for one of the main characters. There was nothing else you could ask for in a AAA game. Coupled with the aggressive marketing campaign and all the over-the-top promises from CD Projekt Red, that excitement was justified. Adding up all the promises and the multiple delays, what could possibly go wrong? The answer is, well, the actual release.

Night City, Here We Come

Cyberpunk 2077 is a pretty wild ride set in a dystopian world where greedy corporations basically write the rules. Taking place in Night City, you will play as a character named V in a Grand Theft Auto-style, open-world FPS with nods to Fallout 4. As you venture deeper into Night City, you will have your choice of being a quick hacking whisper that doesn’t fire a shot to a mantis blade wielding berserker jumping and slicing anything that stands in your way. You’re in Night City and what happens there is generally trying to get you zeroed.

How’s It Gonna V

The character creation options were one of the things that we were all looking forward to in this game. V could potentially be anyone you wanted or a digital avatar made in your own image. In truth, while you do have a wide range of customization options to make your V, even down to the type of genitals/combination of genitals, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before. That being said, I have never been the type to spend hours tweaking every aspect of my character down to the proper eyebrow placement. If you are, you’ll be happy; if not, you’ll also be pleased.

To V or Not To V

The story to me was the best part of the game. However, like with most of this game, it was not without its faults. There will be some early game spoilers in here, so if you want to avoid those, I suggest you go down to the next section. You start your adventure by selecting one of the three backstories for V: Nomad, Streetkid, and Corpo. Each of these will give you unique dialogue choices throughout the game and a different opening sequence for how you meet Jackie.

Once you meet Jackie, you will be shown a montage of events that will highlight some of the things you and him get into, which also serves as a showcase to your friendship. When the montage finishes, you and Jackie will go on a few missions together until you are tasked with stealing something called The Relic from Arasaka. In order to keep The Relic from being destroyed, you slot it into your system only to find out that it contains the personality engram (basically a copy) of Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves). His engram is now slowly overwriting your own personality with no knowledge on how to remove it. Driven by the notion to survive, you and Johnny set out to tear Night City apart, looking for any possible solutions to the predicament you are in.

This is the point where the game branches out and you can choose to continue on your journey to separate yourself from Johnny or see what else Night City has to offer. It is only fair to add that there is a ton of side content in the game and not all of it is just repeating carbon copy “go here, find/kill this thing.” Some of my favorite missions ended up being some of the side quest character missions that give you some insight into Johnny’s past or develop some of the other characters in-game.

Come Get Your Street Cred

The progression system is pretty simple. You have five attributes that you can spend points in, and each attribute is subdivided into three perks. You gain attributes and perks as you progress by way of leveling up, which is done by collecting experience from gigs, missions, side jobs, Quickhacks, and combat. Within each attribute, you have the ability to gain Skill Progression Rewards (Increased Crits %, Additional Skill Points, or Bonuses to Crafted items, etc.) as you level up your perks by simply using them. On top of your attributes and perks, your character also progresses by acquiring Street Cred, which is obtained by completing story missions, side missions, and gigs.

Perks are where you specialize V’s abilities based on how you want to play, giving you advantages in combat and hacking. Like with most skill progression systems, you will come across gear that will have level requirements in a certain attribute or minimum Street Cred level. The progression system overall was adequate, fitting nicely into the game and allowing you to pick a fighting style that aligns with your gameplay. That said, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. It would have been nice to see at least something interesting in the way your character levels up or your skills progress.

Punch/Slash/Shoot/Hack the Planet

Combat in Cyberpunk 2077 is enjoyable, but again, this is another category that the devs really failed to provide anything new. The combat is pretty much the same as we have seen in other games that fit in this category. Just like in other games, you have your choice of pistols, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, or melee, so if you are familiar with FPS-RPGs, then you aren’t going to find anything new here. One thing that did bother me, especially since there are dodge mechanics, is the lack of a target locking while fighting in melee, making it sometimes difficult to reacquire your target. Gunplay overall was engaging, but it ends up not being necessary if you choose to level your Quickhacks, especially the ones that are instant kill/disable. In addition to the instant kill Quickhacks, the game also allows you a tranquilizer launcher that can essentially take down any enemy without a gas mask in one shot (most hostiles don’t wear them).

There is a crafting system in the game, but unless you really want to use it, you really don’t have to since the guns you find or buy will generally be enough. Granted, crafting is how you get the unique weapons and armor, but even with high level crafting requirements, the material costs were kind of high and the weapons weren’t really different enough to merit the grind. Weapon mods are in the game, but this is another category where the higher end mods are hard to find and really not all that necessary, unless it is the Armadillo mod which makes your armor level go up for each one you slot. All in all, the weapons and combat system were essentially what I would have expected them to be in a game of this type. Nothing really raised the bar here.

Here Comes the Pretty

This is probably the only category that Cyberpunk 2077 got right. This game is beautiful. The backgrounds are rich, and the character models are on point. Overall, I loved the way this game looked and felt. Walking around town, you see tons of different NPCs, all with varying character designs. There are also televisions that are playing in the background that have commercials or news programs on all things you would expect to see and hear if you were actually in Night City. I enjoyed the graphics to the point that, on my first playthrough, I never used the fast travel points because I just enjoyed riding my motorcycle through the city. One of the first things I noticed during some of the cutscenes were the facial expressions on the characters as they talked or reacted to something that you were saying. If a character liked you, their faces would show that. Pair that with a good cast of voice actors, and it pushed the storytelling to the next level. The visuals in this game are just like Night City: if you have the hardware to push it, you are in for a good ride.

The Elephant in the Room: Glitches & Misses

You can’t write a review on this game without mentioning the elephant in the room, i.e., the glitches, misses, and things they just plain got wrong. This writeup is going to focus more on some of the misses or things that I felt were left out of the game, because outside of a few naked T-posing motorcycle rides, and a visual glitch here and there, I didn’t experience anything game breaking. Cyberpunk 2077 was hyped to be the game of all games, and coming from the folks that brought us The Witcher 3, the bar was set pretty high. Honestly, I didn’t find any of the visual glitches I experienced to be that big of a deal. What was a big deal was losing my ability to punch and shoot, or hitting something just the right way to get tossed off my bike only to get stuck in a wall. Now, most of these things were resolved by saving and then reloading the game, but who wants to do that?

Moreover, let’s focus on the inability to customize how literally anything looks in the game. Seriously, in Night City, people chrome their skin for fun, but god forbid you have the ability to get a new tattoo or haircut. Speaking of appearances, why are there not more outfits in the game? Why can’t I hide my helmet? Why can’t I add things to my apartment? How about a paint job on my car/bike? Maybe I want to look at acquiring a new apartment on the other side of town. This is an open-world, AAA title that is lacking very basic elements that help pull you into your character. How is it that there isn’t some sort of faction system with all the gangs that are in the game? Probably the most annoying thing is how limited you are with your romantic partners, especially given the options with your gender they made available. Ultimately, you end up only having a couple choices based on how you gendered your character. Moving on from the romance options, or lack thereof, we get to the end of the game.

All Good Things…

This section will have spoilers. You have been warned.

The only thing you can really impact is who helps you take on Arasaka, choosing between Panam and the Nomads, Rogue and her crew, or going it alone (haven’t done this one yet).

Take the easy way out – Yes, there is a point you can just say you have had enough and end it all. If you were playing this on a console, I wouldn’t blame you for taking this option.

Let Johnny have your body – Johnny takes over your body and essentially just disappears, leaving all the characters you built up relationships with wondering where you went.

V lives on (kind of) – This ending annoyed me the most. Johnny essentially gets to go into the matrix and you get your body back, but you are still dying and are left without knowing if you survive and eventually get fully cured or not.

Probably one of the most frustrating things about the endings is that none of them allow for you to remain in Night City. None of the endings actually present you with an opportunity to keep playing the game, so your game is just brought back to the point of no return with a few end game bonus items depending on how you chose to play the endgame. They could have done so much more if V staying in Night City would have been incorporated into the end story. The NPCs and Fixers could be aware of you taking down Arasaka, opening up harder gigs, better gear, or more dialogue. Now, I don’t know what the future holds for Cyberpunk 2077. Maybe the end story will be incorporated into the next DLC, but I am not hopeful, given how the rest of the game has been handled.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

Overall, Cyberpunk 2077 is enjoyable, but it is hard to look beyond the blatant misses and things they just plain got wrong. Who knows? Maybe after a DLC or two, we can do a second look to see how the game has progressed. If you are wondering if you should pick this game up, it is going to entirely depend on the rig you are running at home. If you have a high end PC, then you probably won’t have any issues and it would be worth the buy. If you are into rich environments and a decent story, then give it a whirl; you will be entertained. However, if you are looking for that champion among games we were all promised, then pass, at least until we see what their updates and DLC will look like.