Review – Cyberpunk 2077 PLATFORM PLATFORM REVIEWED DEVELOPER PUBLISHER RELEASE DATE
IMPORTANT NOTE: The opinions expressed in this review correspond to the PS4 version being played on a PS5.
Amidst all the drama
Over eight years in development and counting, that's an unrealistic amount of time for any project within the entertainment industry. As much as there are examples of multiple video games that came dangerously close to being worked on for a whole decade, the reality is that models like this are unsustainable for any production company. Cyberpunk 2077 was one of those titles that simply couldn't be seen on the horizon, even though CD Projekt RED kept giving updates on its status and of course, constantly attacking with all kinds of publicity maneuvers so that the famous hype wouldn't go down. Finally, December 10 arrived and the highly anticipated game was released on the market. In a few hours, a real storm was formed around it due to the enormous amount of technical complications that it came up with, especially in its last generation console versions. Despite all this and in the midst of some real drama with all the reason in the world, the Polish developer has once again proven to be quite different and special from everything out there when it comes to creating interactive experiences.
My time with Cyberpunk 2077 has been one of the strangest I can remember. It is very difficult to talk about a game that was clearly not ready to hit the market, but that has undoubtedly made me spend many of the most special hours of this complicated 2020 when we are talking about video games. The way in which its narrative is built and how its world completely embraces you to immerse yourself is a very deep atmosphere from which you do not want to leave, it was severely marred by its constant bugs, glitches and total crashes that take you out of hit from the incredible universe built by CD Projekt RED. What I want to tell you with all this is that we are facing a game that shines like nobody else at times, but precisely because it has not been finished, in others it makes all that great illusion and achievements come crashing down.
2077
Science fiction, as a genre within entertainment, has endless ramifications, which go through all the issues that have been and will be in our existence as a species, this of course, always sharing Futuristic ideals and thoughts about how our behavior will be in a few years. Cyberpunk, being part of these subgenres, is one of the ones with the most personality and that during the eighties saw its flowering and conversion to what we know now, thanks mainly to great movie classics such as Bladerunner, RoboCop and even Akira. on the anime side. Now, the Poles from CD Projekt RED want to show us their version, a very ambitious one by the way, to the point that their game is carrying the name of this form of science fiction.
In Cyberpunk 2077 we take control of V, a protagonist with his own voice who we can physically customize at the beginning of our adventure by choosing things like his physical traits, racial traits and even his gender. In addition, we are given the option to choose between three different pasts, each one with its own introduction and shape that will open or close some options later on. As a Corpo you will start being part of the corporate machinery of Night City. As a Street Kid you will start your story trying to survive as part of the lower class of the city, while if you choose to be a Nomad, you will get to know a little about the tribes that live on the outskirts of the big city.
Once you pass the introduction depending on which past you have chosen, a section that by the way will take you around an hour and that is completely different from the other two, you start your life in shape inside Night City, where for certain event, you are forced to become a mercenary doing basically whatever job the bidders have at hand. As I was saying, our character has his own voice and throughout the adventure, you will have to choose among many dialogue options that will have an impact on how you solve this or that mission. Yes, for example, if you chose Corpo, you may at some point be able to resolve a conflict through diplomatic channels thanks to the fact that you have the dialogue option to do it that way, whereas if you went as Street Kid, it is most likely that you have to open your way with bullets.
Although we are given the illusion that our decisions are directly impacting the overall narrative of Cyberpunk 2077, the reality is that they are not. As I tell you, you can alter the way in which this or that quest is solved, but the outcome is always the same. The story that we are told is one that is given in a linear way, a matter that is not bad by any means, it is simply a decision that was made in the study to present a much clearer vision of what the author tries to present to us. Of course, it would have been great if we as players had more relevance to the path the story takes.
The way in which Cyberpunk 2077 tells you the facts surrounding Night City is quite traditional. We have main quests that are necessary to advance in the general narrative of the game, and a lot of secondary missions that complement and enrich the lore of this entire universe. But hey, how's the story? Truly cool. The approach that the Polish study had to the whole subject of this dystopian future seemed sensational to me. On the one hand, it takes how exaggerated the genre itself can be, and on the other, much more modern ideas are added to it and of our time that mainly have to do with the concept of what would happen if we became even more more dependent on technology.
Night City is inhabited by a mostly rotten society where it's very, very difficult to find goodness or any kind of values. Most of the very interesting characters you meet are only thinking about themselves and how to take advantage of you, so trusting strangers is usually not a good idea. Something that the game also works hard for is to make you feel that you are part of the base of the pyramid, that is, that you find yourself fighting from the bottom of the social ladder and as you go up, you realize that things are really bad. A strong social criticism of the excessive capitalism in which we currently see, is one of the central themes of all the stories that we are told in Cyberpunk 2077.
I mention stories because as in any good RPG, Cyberpunk 2077 is full of dozens of stories of all kinds. Things ranging from matters that become very philosophical, like two twins who mixed their minds to be the same person in two bodies, to something as banal as an artist from the city show business who asks you to find out if her partner is being unfaithful. Each of the corners of Night City has something to tell. Truly, even the simplest missions have their own narrative. What CD Projekt RED did at the script level is truly impressive.
Moving on to how the main story of the game develops, we have that after doing a job that didn't go as expected, V's life is against the wall and everything becomes a kind of race against watch to save us. This is where we meet Johnny Silverhand, a character played by Keanu Reeves who could well be considered the second protagonist of this story. Said being remains lodged in our mind and against its will, it has to adapt to us. Here begins a complicated relationship between the two characters, one that mutates over time in very interesting ways. Johnny is an idealist with a hard-to-consume personality. His taunts and constant rudeness give a rather special flavor to the story that is being told to us. It's about time someone took the chance to have a character this complicated and not just be “cool” and complacent.
I can tell you that in terms of how Cyberpunk 2077 tells its main story and in a parallel way, it tells you a lot of the events that are taking place in and around the city, I've had a really great time. I repeat, the way in which the game can go from a serious, deep and even philosophical narrative at times is very impressive, to much more playful and humorous stories that refer to many works, not only science fiction, but in general to current pop culture. The voice acting is also very outstanding, while plenty of text is also used to complement all this lore. It's extremely pleasing that no matter what kind of mission you're doing, you're being told something about the world you're visiting.
Magical Night City
Open world games have become a pillar for the industry to the point that many times, they are taken to validate which or such a project, that is, linear experiences are often seen as minor efforts, an issue that of course it is not true at all, but that is an undeniable perception of the current situation of the medium. The vast majority of major productions have to give players a certain "freedom" to "validate" themselves. Just five years ago, the folks at CD Projekt RED managed to successfully mix so-called open worlds with a Western action RPG vision, and now with Cyberpunk 2077, they seek to replicate the formula.
The first thing to say is that no, Cyberpunk 2077 is not going to revolutionize open world games at all, as they tried to sell us all this time before its launch. In fact, I can tell you that, like The Witcher 3, the new game from the Polish studio bets much more on its RPG form than on the way in which the scenario in which we find ourselves behaves. Night City is a very magical place full of things to do in the form of main quests, side quests and sub side quests, but the reality is that it is a very unspontaneous world. Be careful, it is not that there are not things to do, in fact there is a lot to complete in this futuristic city, the thing is that beyond crimes in progress or some confrontation between gangs, the game is totally governed by the quests that we ourselves go and we activate It's not like you're going to find a Korok out of nowhere like in Breath of the Wild, or a poor peasant in danger like in Red Red Redemption 2. Before being an open world game, Cyberpunk 2077 is an RPG, which is something that maybe it might disappoint some.
But hey, how fun are the quests that we can complete in Cyberpunk 2077? Truly cool. In addition to having the main missions that are used to progress within the story and, of course, contain the most elaborate scenes in the game, there are also dozens of very well-constructed sidequests that will help you forge friendships, make enemies and understand much more about how is that the world works within Night City and its surroundings. As with the larger quests, these subquests have several parts that complete a story arc, sometimes closely related to the main narrative, and other times taking their own course. Without a doubt, this part of the game was one of the ones I enjoyed the most.
In addition to the above, Cyberpunk 2077 has a huge number of activities known as GIGs, which we could well call sub sidequests. Each of the areas of the city is controlled by a criminal leader or even a member of the police department. As you progress, they will assign you activities, which range from rescuing a series of children who were being exploited in an organ trafficking network, to rushing to the hospital a poor devil whose new cybernetic implant failed. penis. Yes, these missions, as small as they may be, have their own narrative. Sometimes quite deep and interesting, and others that are just funny. The game always has a story to tell you.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about all of this is that normally these GIGs have their own level design and way of approaching the situation that is presented to us. For example, if there is a mission in which you have to infiltrate a certain gang's base to steal information from their servers, you may go in with all your firepower to kill everyone, or why not, use some of your technical ability to enter by an alternate route and not be detected. The way in which you shape your character with his abilities will dictate a lot about how you solve the missions that are placed in front of you.
The best way, and most likely the only way to get to know Night City well, is through its various quests. If you just drive or walk the streets, you won't find much to see. This, of course, makes the world feel a little more sterile than we were anticipating, but again, it's not that there's nothing to do, it's that we have to tell the game that we want to do this or that, and not that the game itself surprises us out of the blue with a certain event. In the same way, I believe that our impact on how the world is changing is almost nil. Yes, the icons that indicate quests are being removed from the mini map, but in reality there is no tangible change thanks to our actions. Added to the above, we have stores of weapons, clothing, cyberware, cars, food, medicines and other objects that will be necessary for our adventure. Something that I would have liked is that the interaction with NPCs would still be a little deeper than just the classic menus to buy within an RPG, or the exchange of a couple of dialogues and that's it.
In conclusion regarding this whole matter, I can tell you that Night City is an incredible place that hugs you and does not let go thanks to its deep atmosphere full of detail and that although its achievements as an open world game are truly poor, as RPGs they are truly terrific. You won't feel the passage of time and when you least expect it, you'll already have been doing all sorts of things for four or five hours. It is sensational that no matter how small the quest you started is, you feel that you are being told a story all the time to learn more about the world we are in and the characters that inhabit it.
From FPS and RPG
One of the biggest surprises we got when CD Projekt RED showed gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, is that we were facing a first-person game that mainly used of firearms for combat theme. Yes, third-person fantasy RPG specialists would not only bet on giving us their sci-fi interpretation for now, but would also risk entering a genre and perspective they had never worked with before. What was the end result? In my opinion, totally and completely satisfactory.
The variety of weapons and tools that you have at hand to make your way is overwhelming, but we could say that on the firearms side, everything is divided into large groups: Power weapons, technology weapons and intelligent weapons. The first category is the simplest. They are mostly conventional weapons that their bullets can bounce off certain surfaces to then do damage to an enemy that is in cover, for example. The latter have the ability to launch charged shots that can pierce certain parts of the stage. And the third ones are weapons with the power to fire intelligent bullets that automatically follow their target. Within these three great types, we have shotguns, revolvers, assault rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, and more. Thanks to this, you have a huge variety of combinations to always bring the weaponry that best suits your combat style. To top it off, there are melee weapons like knives, machetes, and katanas.
How does it feel to shoot or hit with melee weapons in Cyberpunk 2077? Very, very good. Surprisingly, CD Projekt RED managed to build a very well done first person shooter which uses a cover system that feels quite natural and easy to understand. Similarly, hand-to-hand combat, whether with a sword or with your own fists, feels extremely well handled, which is not always the case in first-person games. Despite the fact that artificial intelligence is not the best, we have confrontations that feel exciting and full of adrenaline in which it is important to know how to take advantage of the capabilities of each of our weapons depending on the category to which they belong.
As I told you a few paragraphs ago, in Cyberpunk 2077 we are given the freedom to approach the situations that are presented to us in different ways, so it is possible that on more than one occasion, you can complete your objectives without having used a single bullet. Yes, the stealth theme is important to the game. If you are going to go this way, then we recommend you invest your experience points in your technical and check skills, because only then can you open your way cleanly. Our protagonist has the power to take control of some objects on the stage, as well as even affect the cybernetic implants of the enemies. I repeat, depending on how much you invest in these skills, your chances will be already on the battlefield.
Taking control of security cameras, reprogramming an enemy turret to help you, defusing mines, opening doors, temporarily turning off eye implants in a lair, or simply activating a vending machine to cause a distraction are just a few examples of what you can do to get in and out of a place undetected. Approaching an enemy to knock him unconscious or even kill him without being detected works in a completely traditional way, plus it's also important to hide his body so as not to alert others. We could say that in terms of the pure mechanics of stealth beyond everything I told you about hacking, the Poles went down a very safe and well-known path.
Cyberpunk 2077 is an extremely fun game to play due to its core mechanics. It is a very well done FPS with quite fun confrontations. Each of its weapons feels like its own personality and invites you to be experimenting and trying new things all the time. In addition, giving a more peaceful approach to the different challenges is extremely pleasant thanks to its also well-achieved hacking mechanics, which make the scenarios feel highly interactive. If you mix all this with its RPG base, you have before you a title that, although it takes many elements from other greats such as Skyrim, Deus Ex, Dishonored and others, also has its own personality that is very easy to identify.
I am a Machine!
There is simply no going back in life. The idea of leaving aside the technology we use every day is simply unthinkable. The world would collapse if out of nowhere, our computers, telephones, internet, means of transportation and communication, among many other things, disappeared. The worrying thing about this whole issue is that with the passing of each year, we become more and more dependent on technology and, it seems, this somewhat exaggerated vision that we have seen portrayed in various cyberpunk works where we basically began to transform into machines, sounds like a very possible future.
The inhabitants of Night City are completely taken over by technology, to the point of carrying important implants in their bodies that, on more than one occasion, will make you wonder if you are talking to a real person, or rather a robot. Said concept is one of the most important for the world that was created for Cyberpunk 2077 and one that, of course, is portrayed in the mechanics of the title. As I told you, at the beginning of your adventure you will be able to choose your character's past, as well as its visual design, but at no time are you asked to choose something like a class. It is clear to me that this classic RPG element is seen as a kind of binding by the Polish studio, an issue that you see clearly portrayed in the progression system and in how you shape your powers.
V is divided into five different skill trees which, in turn, contain two or more sub-trees. These ramifications group all kinds of abilities, from the classic increase in your health bar, to things like being able to reload certain types of weapons faster, doing more damage with katanas or being much more efficient when you're hacking a device. These sections are improved with the experience points you are awarded when completing quests, for example. You decide which path to take and how to invest these points in order to forge the character that best suits your style. No classes or anything like that. This system makes customization feel extremely specific and above all, very flexible, since you can change course at any time you want.
It's worth mentioning that in addition to your character's overall level that dictates where their base stats are, you have a kind of secondary level that we could more like translate to street reputation. This element increases when you complete certain jobs such as the GIGs I was talking about, or you avoid illegal activities. The better reputation you have, the more items and different elements you can get. There are certain implants that require a certain reputation so that you can obtain them, for example.
Speaking of implants, I tell you that in addition to the classic stores of weapons, clothes, etc., we have street doctors, who will sell you and install all kinds of implants so that your body acquires more and better abilities, This of course, at the price of starting to become a Cyborg. Unlike the skill trees I told you about, these perks will give you powers like double jumping in the air thanks to new legs, having much greater resistance to bullets due to a skin implant, or being able to see in the distance more clearly thanks to the fact that you put on a new pair of eyes. Each of the sections of V's body has a finite number of slots, which you can change at will as you progress.
You may find all the customization options that Cyberpunk 2077 puts on the table really overwhelming at first, but the reality is that it is much simpler than it might seem, especially if you have experience with role-playing games, this is also clear , thanks to how well designed the game interfaces are. CD Projekt RED definitely made my character feel unique, because added to all the weapons and tools at hand is this robust progression system. I say this mainly because at the time of exchanging opinions and experiences with other friends, I discovered that in effect, I was playing very differently from someone who, for example, was concentrating completely on being a ninja hacker who nobody detected at the time of enter a hostile area.
Broken atmosphere
Talking about Cyberpunk 2077 has become extremely complicated, because on the one hand we have this great game that I have described embellished by a world that simply surrounds you and does not let go, completely tainted by a hurried launch riddled with technical complications that have, in effect, made our experience far more uncomfortable than it should have been. Before going on to tell much more about this whole matter, I remind you that for this review we were playing the PS4 version on a PS5, that is, our path had little to do with the disaster that, at least for this moment, continue to be the versions for last generation base consoles.
Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that until its 1.06 patch, is still full of bugs, glitches and the most annoying thing in my experience, constant crashes that completely closed the game. All the time is waiting for an NPC to get completely out of control or that a door simply does not want to open for us. It is completely inexcusable that the company has been encouraged to release a product that clearly lacked several months of quality control process to be able to hit the market. The only good news about it is that on all platforms, a clear improvement has been felt with each of the updates. Let's hope this continues for the next few weeks and before long we can talk about a mostly functional game.
But hey, how was my 50+ hours playing on PS5? Well, as I was saying, quite contracting. In addition to the bugs and continuous crashes, there is a strong graphical inconsistency. Cyberpunk 2077 can go from looking impressive to looking like a game from the previous generation. CD Projekt RED's RED Engine is a truly amazing piece of technology that does feel like the future of the medium, but also one that just isn't nearly meant for last generation consoles. This version of PS4 on a PS5 runs clean at a very stable 60 frames per second and in almost 4K according to the analysis of the last patch, but if you go to a standard PS4, things fall apart with framerates that do not exceed the 27 frames and resolutions sometimes less than 720p. Same case with the Xbox.
For now, we are still waiting for a date to be given to have the true Next Gen versions that take advantage of the technical capabilities of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but for now, I can tell you that playing on any of these next-generation consoles Yes, it is much better than on consoles of the last generation. On PS4 Pro and Xbox One X things are much more bearable in technical terms, but also far from ideal. Without a doubt, the PC version is currently the best path you can take if, of course, you have the necessary equipment to have a good experience. But I repeat, if you have already jumped to the new generation, you can also expect something very decent. If you're on standard PS4, PS4 Slim, standard Xbox One, or Xbox One S, I recommend holding on for now.
Leaving all of the above aside, I tell you that there is simply no game that has the level of detail and affection in art direction issues, like Cyberpunk 2077. The atmosphere is something very important for any video game, because one of the main objectives of these experiences is to take us to impossible worlds. The new CD Projekt RED achieves the above like few others, transporting us to this futuristic city that, as soon as you step on it, holds you inside it and every time you have to leave it to return to reality, a deep feeling of desolation invades you. Seeing each one of the advertisements that clutter the walls of these skyscrapers that, in turn, block your view of the sky, is only compared to visiting the hundreds of interiors and nooks that are hidden in the bowels of Night City, a space that you can almost smell when you visit the Afterlife or walk the aisles of the Cherry Blossom Market. Not to mention all its layers placed vertically.
Something super interesting about Cyberpunk 2077 is that each of Night City's districts is themed and has a strong personality. The decadence and at the same time freedom that a place like the Badlands transmits, has little to do with the strange vibe of an almost abandoned place like Pacifica, or with all the glamor of Japantown. What I want to tell you is that each zone of the gigantic open map of the game tells its own stories but at the same time, it feels like part of a whole. The title never loses sight of the fact that it is placing us in a totally cyberpunk dystopian future where society is going to hell in different ways.
I think Cyberpunk 2077 can be criticized for a lot of things, but in terms of art direction, it just doesn't come close to it. All this deep atmosphere that I'm telling you about, is perfectly sweetened with an equally sensational audio mix. The sounds of the city also embrace you in a strong way, while its multiple radio stations transport you to exactly this future that was thought in the eighties. My favorite station, 88.9 Pacific Dreams. I just couldn't stop listening to it. In the same way, I would love to highlight what was done with the cars, each having its own interior, sound and handling. There's nothing quite like pulling up to your favorite club in your Quadra Turbo-R to chat with a Fixer about your new job. Yeah, it makes you feel like a real Bladerunner.
Night City is the perfect reflection of much of our current ways of life. Despite being a fictional metropolis located in California, its construction multiple levels deep, and how it is tied to other real places within the game universe itself, is simply impressive. Listening to news about what is happening in other parts of the globe while surviving in this authentic concrete jungle populated by pure madmen, helps a lot to give cohesion and consistency to the theater that with so much work and love, CD Projekt RED built for all of us.
In the midst of a strong storm
As chaotic and unpredictable as 2020 was, I don't think anyone saw coming that Cyberpunk 2077 would have such a bumpy and scandalous launch, to the point of being pulled from the PSN precisely because of the failures in base consoles that I told you about. As is natural, this has generated an intense fog over the game that translates into a terrible image that a group of the community has not tired of highlighting, making speaking well of the game something unthinkable for many, even though we are dealing with the new game from those who gave us The Witcher 3 a few years ago.
No, Cyberpunk 2077 is not the revolution that perhaps many of us expected so much in terms of open world, or western RPG. Yes, it is a product that should not have been launched on December 10, much less on consoles of the last generation. I completely agree with all of this, but I also have to say that it's a fabulous role-playing game, an excellent FPS, and a game with some of the most interesting stories I've ever had to experience within the medium, not to mention that it's a one of the most immersive experiences you can currently have. Despite how uncomfortable it was to experience its constant bugs and other complications, I can tell you that I didn't even feel the more than 50 hours I already have in Night City, time with a video game that has been the most incredible thing I've had to enjoy in this 2020.
A huge and terrible shame that all this fabulous work by the CD Projekt Red developers has been so heavily tainted by clearly wrong management decisions that will have strong consequences in the future. But what hurts me the most is the negative image that Cyberpunk 2077 has received when in reality, it is an excellent video game in each of its sections. Image that will hardly be shaken.
