Cyberpunk 2077 Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, for a change, I thought I would a new review with NEW content (yay!) and the review in question will be on the RPG action game, Cyberpunk 2077, which I recently finished at the Easter weekend there. The game itself has of course received much praise for its graphics and gameplay but also equally as much criticism for its numerous bugs and glitches on its initial release. 

So, what do I think of Cyberpunk 2077? Well, let's take a look and find out...

And as I will mention a little about the story, I will give the usual warning:

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!

STORY

And this section of the plot has been lifted from the Wikipedia page:

"In 2077, you play as a mercenary called V (voiced by Gavin Drea and Cherami Leigh) who becomes involved in Night City and befriends a local crook, Jackie Welles (Jason Hightower) and together they work numerous jobs. 

As time passes, V meets with a local fixer Dexter DeShawn (Michael-Leon Wooley) who hires V and Welles to steal a biochip known as "the Relic" from Arasaka Corporation. They acquire the Relic, but the plan goes awry when they witness the murder of the megacorp's leader Saburo Arasaka (Masane Tsukayama) at the hands of his treacherous son Yorinobu (Hideo Kimura). Yorinobu covers up the murder as a poisoning, and triggers a security sweep in which T-Bug is killed by Arasaka's netrunners. V and Welles escape, but Welles is fatally wounded in the process, and the Relic's protective case is damaged, forcing V to insert the biochip into the cyberware in their head."

"DeShawn, furious at the unwanted police attention, shoots V in the head and leaves V for dead in a landfill. Upon awakening, V is haunted by the digital ghost of war veteran turned iconic rock star Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves), believed to have died in 2023 during an attempted thermonuclear attack on Arasaka Tower. V learns from their ripperdoc Viktor Vector (Michael Gregory) that DeShawn's bullet triggered resurrection nanotech on the biochip. In a few weeks, Silverhand's memories will irreversibly overwrite V's. The biochip cannot be removed, so V must seek out a way to remove Silverhand and survive...".

THOUGHTS

As an RPG action game, Cyberpunk 2077 succeeds very well in creating an immersive and entertaining experience that is basically a futuristic GTA but its one that also features many interesting characters with multiple paths for them to go on that can lead to numerous endings. The game also has plenty of main missions but even more side missions for players to explore that will lead to different characters and other bonuses along the way, which I will mention more about in the gameplay section. 

The game itself as mentioned was notorious on release for having many different bugs in it and it was even withdrawn from the Playstation 4's online store due to the vast amount glitches in the game not to mention running at poor frame rates. Thankfully since then, the bugs have largely been patched out and I waited until a couple of weeks ago before buying (on PC) it to be sure that was the case, so I could enjoy it glitch free (well mostly!) and it did receive a big patch update during my playthrough time of the game, which also helped with other issues. So, overall I have managed to enjoy playing CP77 without any major problems at all.

GAMEPLAY 

As for the gameplay, well this is going to be a pretty expansive section as Cyberpunk 2077 is such a big game and offers so much variety for the player, so as usual it will be split into sub sections below.

MOVEMENT AND PERSPECTIVE

Starting with the game's movement and perspective, the game is in the first person perspective, so you will generally only see their hands when using fists or a weapon. In certain cutscenes you will see more of your character when picking up bodies, hacking into computer systems or climbing ladders and platforms. Move wise you can walk, run, jump, slide, crouch and climb and engage in melee combat with your fists when not using weapons. V can however occassionally be seen in the third person when he/she looks into a mirror or when they are riding a bike or driving a car.

CHARACTER CUSTOMISATION

Character wise for V, you can customise the look of your character and make them male or female (hence the two voice actors playing the part) change their face, hairstyles and body type and yep there is even an option to change penis size! Yep... nice one CD Projekt Red! You can also choose which type of background character to play as, which are a Nomad, Streetkid or Corpo.  

STATS

There are also several stats you can upgrade as you progress in the game that are: body, which determines your raw physical power and will allow you to force open doors and deal more melee damage with your fists. Then there is Cool, which determines your composure, resilience and effectiveness when in stealth mode. Then we have Intelligence, which will determine your proficency in your netrunning skills and increase your RAM capacity when hacking. Next are Reflexes, which determine your maneuvoring capabilities and your speed when moving. And last of all is your Technical Ability, which is to do with your technical abilities and allows you to unlock doors and use tech weapons. 

WEAPONS 

There are also a large variety of weapons in the game, which are split into different types for firearms, which are power weapons, tech weapons (which penetrate walls) and smart weapons that having homing bullets. Ranged weapons can be used to ricochet bullets off walls and even slow them down using bullet time mechanics, which are achieved through cyberware upgrades for your character. There are also a selection of melee weapons that can be found throughout the game that include baseball bats, crowbars, hammers, cleavers, knives and katanas. So, overall you won't be stuck for a weapon in the game as there are plenty to found!

CYBERWARE

One of the key aspects of the game is cyberware, which are implants that can be installed, exchanged and upgraded into V's body via NPC's known as ripperdocs. Cyberware available in the game are split into categories for different parts of V's anatomy. 

As a few examples of the cyberware available there are Cyberdecks, which can be used to hack into enemy networks and controll all the devices within them. Ocular system is another example of cyberware, which upgrades V's vision for scanning environments and items. Integumentary system is another cyberware, which increases V's resistance to shock and burns aswell upgarde his armour. And last one I will mention is the Operating System, which can determine different features such as increase in melee damage, armour resistance and weapon recol and sway reduction. 

NIGHT CITY AREAS

As for the game's environment, Night City is a pretty big metropolis with much to explore and it is split into six different regions, which are City Centre (corporate area), Watson (an immigrant area), Westbrook (luxury), Heywood (suburban), Pacific (gang lands) and Santa Domingo (industrial area). There is also another area in the game called Badlands, which can be explored also and features playable missions too. 

NPCs (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

The game also features numerous NPCs, which V can do main and side missions for and the main NPCs in the game include for starters, Johnny Silverhand, who was once the leader of the band, Samurai but also waged a war against the Arasaka crime family, which cost him his life. Johnny's memory would later appear in a chip V stolen from the Arasaka's and it would be fused to V, so he would often see and interact with Johnny throughout the game and there are even moments where you can play as Johnny.

Other NPCs in the game also include Jackie Welles, a small time crook, who V befriends and they do some jobs together, which come to an unfortunate end further down the line. Goro Takemura is another NPC, formerly a loyal Arasaka soldier, who works with V after he saves his life from a job that goes badly wrong. 

Then there is Judy Alvarez (who is pretty cute!) who works with V and is a braindance technician who can also become a possible romantic partner for V (regardless of you being male or female, now that's hot lo!). Then we have Panam, who is a mercenary and former member of the Aldecados nomad clan, who V also works with and can also be a romantic partner for the male version of V only. And lastly there is River Ward, a Night City police officer, who V helps out with different missions and he can also be a romantic opportunity for the female version of V. 

VEHICLES 

V can also have access to a wide variety of vehicles in the game that V can obtain by carjacking on the streets or by purchasing them from vendors. V can also quick access vehicles from the HUD menu and they will appear on screen after a short time. V can also perform side missions where he/she will steal specific ones but they can also be rewarded with vehicles also.

BRAINDANCES

Another important aspect of the gameplay are braindances, which are devices that allow V to undergo other peoples experiences and are essentially like the tapes that Ralph Fiennes character in the sci-fi film, Strange Days, used to relive people's experiences also. V however can manipulate and scan the data within the braindances to look for clues that can help obtain leads during main and side missions in the game. During the braindances, V scan replay through the entire video clip, fast forward or rewind it and change layers (audio, visual and thermal) that will give further clues. 

STREET CRED

And last of all is street cred, which is basically V's reputation on the streets of Night City, which can be upgraded simply by completing missions or performing other activities all of which will accumulate in V's street cred increasing. This will also result in V getting calls for new jobs and opportunities from fixers (who are well connected smugglers and info brokers) and other contacts throughout Night City.

GRAPHICS 

As for the game's graphics...well depending on what version you play you will get mixed results with the PS4 and Xbox One base console versions being disastrous on release and Sony even had to withdraw the game from its Playstation store. 

However, I will the review graphics based on the PC version, which is what I played myself on my system and the game frankly looks absolutely stunning as it is rich with vibrant colours and richly detailed environments that have superb lighting and shadow detail. Character model wise, the graphics also look terrific as the character models all look excellent and while not quite lifelike, they look more than good enough from the rockstar figure in Johnny Silverhand to the sultry Evelyn, the sexy Judy and the feisty Panam, they all are well designed.

And regarding the game's graphics, if you have a ray tracing compatible graphics card then you can enjoy this game looking its best that way as the shadows and reflections are far more realistic with this feature. The only downside to ray tracing is that it is very demanding technique for graphics cards and CP77 is already a pretty demanding game, so you need a really well specced PC to play the game on and get good solid frame rates as well as the ray tracing feature enabled. I think the ray tracing support will be added (or maybe already has been) for the next gen consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series X, so that would be a cheaper way to run the game this way, only if you could get a console! 

VOICE ACTING

As for the voice acting, the game's cast are all excellent and give solid performances all round.

Starting with Keanu Reeves, who is excellent in his role as Johnny Silverhand, the charismatic rockstar and former war veteran, who also wages war against the Arasaka clan in his former life but in 2077, his memories end up inside V when V steals an experimental chip containing Johnny's engram (imprint I guess). Keanu isn't the world's best actor for sure but overall this is definitely one of his best performances in recent years. 

As for the dual role of V, Gavin Drea and Cherami Leigh are both excellent in the role as the male and female versions of the character respectively and they are given plenty of dialogue to work with here and plenty of emotion also. 

Jason Hightower is also really good in his role as Jackie Welles, a merc who befriends and works with V at the start of the game and then on several missions after that before things go a bit sour and end on a rather emotional note (won't say more than that!). 

Emily Woo Zeller is excellent too in her role as Panam, a merc who V works with and was a former member of Aldecado clan and she can also engage in a romantic relationship with the male version of V in the game. 

Carla Tassara is very good too as Judy Alvarez, a braindance technician who works with V and they do several missions together. Judy can also have a romance with V in either male or female form in the story and based on dialogue choices, their relationship can take on different outcomes.

And last of all is Rome Kanda as Takemura, a former Arasaka foot solider, who rescues V from being killed and later works with V, who knows the truth behind the death of Saburo Arasaka and wants the truth to come to light. 

FLAWS 

As for flaws...yeah Cyberpunk 2077 isn't quite perfect.

For starters, I think while the game offers plenty of variety and that is ultimately a good thing, it is also a bit too overwhelming at times and you are left with so much to do and choose from that it can be hard to make a decisive choice on your next mission. This is especially the case as the game's map is so big and spread out, you have so much ground to cover and it would easily take hundreds and maybe even thousands of hours to platinum this game! 

Another issue is to do with certain gameplay aspects such as e.g. stealth, which can be a problem when you are trying to evade detection in certain missions, I often found I got caught out too easily by enemies, so stealth felt like a redundant option at times, especially when you try to stay crouched by the alert meter maxes out! However, there are times where stealth is necessary and in one mission it is almost totally essential to its completion.

I also feel at times the first person perspective can make the gameplay a bit awkward, particularly when it comes to melee combat as it doesn't feel that natural fighting enemies with your fists or even using a knife of sorts, it just looks out of place. I mean for using firearm weapons, the first person mode is fine but not so much for melee combat.

The game's main storyline I also have to admit drags on WAY TOO LONG similar as to how The Last of Us Part II's story did. I mean the final missions must have taken me about an hour and a half at least to finish alone with a hugely protracted finale! There are of course different endings but the one I had chosen just went on forever and in the end it dragged the pacing way down.

It also has to be said that some of the missions that involve braindances can be pretty obscure to work out fully as it is very easy to miss out just one clue and if you do then you will be left stumped as to how to complete it! And that is where I needed to consult a few Youtube videos in order to make sure I got all the clues I needed, which can make for an annoying experience if you are stuck forever on the same mission.

The hacking processes in the game can also take a while to work and I know this depends on how sophisticated your cyberware and cyberdecks are (which hack into enemy networks) but the wait to hack certain devices such as gun turrets can take a tediously long amount of time. So, this can slow down the gameplay quite a bit and make for some frustrating moments when you want to just to get on with things. 

Another problem I had was to do with the sheer amount of calls V get's after completing a mission where he is offered more jobs to do. I mean there are times where the game really is bombarding with new missions and content just a bit too much and would be better if they tried to tone it down rather than overload gamers with their choices.

And last of all, I have to say while the game's bugs have mainly been ironed with recent updated patches, I still did encounter one or two annoying bugs here and there. And one such example is during a mission in Badlands where V is supposed to get on a bike and drive out with Panam to take down an enemy gang, however at the time, I couldn't get on one of the bikes to drive and Panam herself was glitched out in the scene! So, yeah in the end I had to reload the mission in order to get V to mount the bike and drive off. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Cyberpunk 2077 is a very good RPG with the plenty of variety in its gameplay with a ton of missions and other activities for players to check out. The game also features an excellent voice cast featuring Keanu Reeves, Gavin Drea, Cherami Leigh in the main roles of Johnny Silverhand and V. The game's graphics are also definitely worthy of note as they are utterly stunning in their detail and look even better if you have ray tracing enabled graphics card to play them on for enhanced lighting and reflections. 

There are some gameplay issues of course and it has been hampered with loads of bugs and glitches on its release that have hindered the game and has even seen CD Projekt Red been subjected to various lawsuits for releasing the game in such a subpar format. However if you can forgive the game's faults then there is still much to enjoy here in Cyberpunk 2077 and its definitely worth a look, especially if you have a decent PC to play it on.

So, I will finish and give Cyberpunk 2077 a rating of:

8 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back some time soon with another post.

Till then its bye for now!