C-Can you feel it? It’s the feeling that you’re excited for a game, disappointed for its countless delays, only to realise it should’ve been delayed longer.
That’s what I feel about Cyberpunk 2077 right now. CD Projekt Red used to be an up-and-coming publisher-developer with a heap ton of goodwill from past pro-consumer gestures, but with this game’s launch, you can see that they are now a game company with shareholders to answer to, which results in some questionable choices- like deliberately hiding the game’s performance on consoles.
From playing the much-anticipated open-world RPG for at least 30 hours, I can safely say that Cyberpunk 2077 would’ve been a great game for next-gen consoles and PC in 2021. Because as it is right now, there’s so many technical issues that will impact your full enjoyment of this title.
This Should Be Labelled Early Access
The bugs and glitches are countless in Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s not due to lack of foresight. I have seen many of the same bugs as shared by social media- sometimes beat-for-beat- suggesting that it’s probably something that is on the report by the QA department, but the team just didn’t have time to fix them.
Some are the ha-ha funny variety (NPCs popping up and phasing through things while an important scene is happening), some take you out of the world (characters menacingly doing a T-pose in front of a club entrance), some are brain-scratchingly annoying (control prompts for computers getting stuck on screen, can’t summon vehicles for no good reason).
There are also the few game-crashing ones too. The one’s I’ve encountered involved the game crashing after I’ve picked to drive or seat in a passenger seat in a scripted portion of a quest. The other crash was when a Porsche crashed and hit me.
You should expect Fallout 4 levels of bugs here- it can be so many and so apparent. If you can stomach those imperfections fine, then nothing I’ve said will put you off from this game, but do temper your expectations.
Good Morning Night City
The world of Cyberpunk 2077 is amazingly realised. But man, it’s a horrible place to live. Night City captures the hustle and bustle of a dark dystopia where capitalism reigns supreme and corporations rule us all, and it feels depressingly beautiful. The mishmash of huge and shiny megatowers with the dirty hodge-podged flats where the 90% reside is well-realised. And depressing.
That said, the world is so oppressive that I don’t think it’s welcoming to some folks, and may even off-putting. I can’t tell if it’s because this is an adaptation of a tabletop RPG first designed in the ’80s (which means it doesn’t cater to the modern social climate) or it’s designed to prove as a message that this is an awful, awful world we should be avoiding ourselves from being real. What I can definitely say is that from a story and setting standpoint, this is not a power fantasy trip. This world is bleak.
Not An Immersive Sim, But GTA With Immersive Sim-like Qualities
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world RPG. It’s really important that I stress this. Despite its insistence of being a fully first-person experience- even more than the recent Deus Ex games- this is no immersive sim.
It has the elements of one, sure. The cutscenes are all played in front of your view, like you’re watching a full mo-cap capture which is pretty cool. Dialogue choices are limited but there are skill checks and can change the mood of a conversation (not sure how it will matter in the end, however). And you can play the game either guns-blazing or stealthily. Hallmarks of an immersive sim are there.
What makes it not an immersive sim is the scale and the lack of permanence of the world. This is a full open-world where you get to steal and drive cars around so NPCs respawn and despawn (sometimes right in front of your eyes). Locations just reset with all the laying bodies gone the next time you visit it. It makes sense for the game to do so given the scale.
Just set your expectations right. There’s really not much of consequence to your open-world antics- only the story missions matter.
If you come in expecting Deus Ex it won’t really do it for you. But come in expecting GTA with a hint of Deus Ex and you will be pleasantly surprised.
Jacking In On All Trades
The one thing I have to add about Cyberpunk 2077 is that it does so many things in a AAA game, but nothing that’s mind-blowingly standing out.
Combat is good (it’s a shooter first RPG second, think Borderlands) but nothing to write home about. Customisation options are aplenty but the stat numbers go up too frequently that you probably just switching to the best gun/clothes you pick up every few minutes (also like Borderlands). Also, there’s limited customisation for your character (no body/face sliders, boo) and you can’t customise cars- you can own different variants instead.
Driving physics is both forgiving and frustrating at the same time. You don’t fall off bikes as much as say, GTA, but the bikes are so tail-happy that trail-braking (braking while turning) immediately kicks the back to an Akira-style powerslide. Every. Single. Time. That’s not as fun. The hacking mini-game thankfully is interesting and fresh.
Maybe the story is good- but from what I see so far it feels like it uses familiar beats from most cyberpunk fiction before without adding anything new or doing something clever- for now. And I have mixed feelings about Johnny Silverhand- and I can’t make my mind if the issue is with Keanu Reeves’ performance or the script he’s working with.
There are tons of side quests too. 30 hours is supposed the be around the time to reach the endgame but I’ve mostly spent time on side content. It can be overwhelming, however, thanks to the way it’s delivered. Just when you’re done with one job and want to move to the next on the backlog another one appears and sounds really, really urgent. And for the first time the open world opens up, you’ll be bombarded with text messages from the local fixers, which I don’t find to be pleasing.
Closing Thoughts
There’s fun to be had in Cyberpunk 2077, and for most folks it’s going to be a great time, just not right now.
CD Projekt Red clearly missed the mark on estimating when the game is properly ready for release, even with the previous delays it still needed more time.
Think of this release as an Early Access title- the game is fine, but you would be better off waiting for the updates and patches to come through first to fix the many technical issues. Especially on consoles. On PC, it’s playable enough, as long as you come not expecting a preem, polished AAA game.
Played on PC. Review copy purchased by reviewer.