Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt.The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Cyberpunk 2077 takes a while to get going, but once it does, it’s hugely enjoyable. Summary: Reminiscent of the bonus books from old games, this title helps to flesh out the world of Cyberpunk 2077 in a way that feels almost like a travel/historical guide for the games world. At one point in the main story, you can ask a Voodoo Boys member what the name is about, given they don't actually do anything associated with "voodoo"; he tells you to ask the people that call them that and refuses to tell you what they call themselves. That's mostly because the main story puts you on a clock. By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's Not only do we get to see some fantastic art from and inspired by the game, but we get to learn about how it fits into the distinctive landscape that CD Projekt Red have developed. Let’s check out the Cyberpunk 2077 review in detail. It's one of the best minor questlines in the game, an intriguing and surprisingly human substory that rewards you with lots of much-needed cash. Like the rogue taxi one I mentioned at the beginning of this review, there are quite a few clever, interesting, goofy, and sad side quests that I really enjoyed. I knew from the outset that I wanted to play as a hacker, so I sped through the character creator, gave my V points in intellect and cool for hacking and stealth, respectively, and started the game. Terms of Use and Characters in one side quest use the word "ofrenda" as if it means "funeral" when it's actually a particular kind of altar primarily for Day of the Dead--it's unclear to me if this is a translation issue or an overall misunderstanding of Mexican customs, since you do put together an altar during the event that's being called "the ofrenda." That Johnny could affect my decision-making, as well as how I interpreted each interaction, is a clever way to convey that. This was the one instance where I felt my Nomad lifepath actually enhanced the experience--by choosing the Nomad-related responses, I actually felt like I was bonding with Panam over our similar backgrounds. You have more freedom to play the character you really want to during side activities, but main-story V has clearly defined priorities. Even if that next-generation you’re talking about is actually the next-generation in graphics cards that you can put in a high-end PC. The original PC review, published on December 7, 2020, continues below. He treated his friends badly and women worse. Some of us may even remember the quality of some of those documents that weren't just the basic instructions for the. There's plenty of flexibility in the RPG mechanics to build a character to suit your desired playstyle, Quickhacking combat is satisfying to execute and turns combat scenarios into elaborate puzzles, Side quests and characters provide the most interesting and human moments in the game, Keanu Reeves' Johnny Silverhand adds dimension to nearly every quest, forcing you to rethink your decision-making instincts, There's so much to do that isn't meaningful, so a lot of it ends up feeling superfluous, Superficial and often "edgy" aesthetic choices often have no real purpose, which makes them grating rather than adding anything relevant to the world, The incorporation of different cultures and backgrounds is wildly inconsistent, from good to inaccurate to downright offensive, The main story doesn't cohere with the rest of the game, with an urgency that's at odds with everything else, Technical issues, from visual bugs to full-on crashes, are so pervasive that it's impossible to ignore. The real RPG core is in your five main stats, which are further split into two or three different skill trees, each providing various benefits to combat, stealth, hacking, and so on. It's a quiet respite from the lights and sounds of the city, an intimate look into the soul of her character, and provided you meet the requirements, contains the only sex scene I saw that didn't make me want to die on the spot. If I had to describe what it's like to play Cyberpunk 2077, I'd say "Grand Theft Auto, but in the future." The main story doesn't even gel with itself. Review of: Cyberpunk 2077. It's a tough world and a hard one to exist in, by design; with no apparent purpose and context to that experience, all you're left with is the unpleasantness. Impulse Gamer is your source for the latest Reviews and News on Video Games, Entertainment, Pop Culture, Technology & More! I often felt like I was role-playing two different characters: one V for the side quests and one more limited V for the main story. When I found my rhythm and found the cash, I really enjoyed quickhacking as an alternative approach to combat, and it was always satisfying to get in, steal a bunch of money off some computers, and get out without being spotted. She's a rough-around-the-edges type of girl trying to make her own way in Night City and leaving her Nomad family behind in the process. I started to compare prices from one ripperdoc to the next--they're how you upgrade your oh-so expensive cyberware--but stopped after the third because I didn't want to drag myself across the city all day. Even on the tight review deadline, I kept finding myself seeking out just one more side quest before bed just because I was eager to see what I would find. It's Reeves' delivery of these lines, which often involve Johnny chastising you for something or other, that really sells the "lovable jerk" vibe that I would normally find overplayed. Some of us may even remember the quality of some of those documents that weren’t just the basic instructions for the game but actually took steps to further expand that game world. It doesn’t delve into the preproduction brainstorming of characters or landscape imagery it fleshes out the world that has been developed. And while the "purpose" of it may be to show what a sex-obsessed, superficial, exploitative place Night City is, there's nothing in the main story or any of the side quests I did that gives it even that much context--I found just one message on one of the many computers I logged into that commented on how low-brow Night City culture is. Cyberpunk 2077 Review. This is a really great dive into the concept art behind the world of Cyberpunk 2077. The list is extensive. As mentioned earlier, this book brings me back to the old days of having a swag of supplemental material provided with a game purchase. He took it like a champ. You’ll learn about various elements of the locations you’ll visit, the factions you’ll deal with and even the advertisements that … For example, I'd bank points until I found myself in front of a door that required X points in body to force open, and then I'd level up right there and then so I could see what was behind the door. Her quests are often fun, poorly thought-out heists, and by the end, I really did feel like I'd made V a lifelong friend who would drop everything to help her out. Writer: Marcin Batylda I didn't notice much of an improvement after the update, either. For me this book was a bit of Future Nostalgia… reminding me of past gaming experiences while learning about a game set in the future. Aside from character highlights, side quests are far and away the best part of the game. Cyberware in general is not cheap. On top of that, an early story mission is gated by a significant sum of money, so I had to do a lot of grinding before I could afford a proper cyberdeck that made my quickhacks truly effective. Cyberpunk 2077 goes beyond the streets of Night City too, with several missions taking place in the “badlands” – basically the deserts outside the city, and reminiscent of the landscape of Fallout: New Vegas, except in this case there hasn’t been an atomic war in the area. So much of it is superficial set dressing, and there's so much happening all around you--ads going off at all times, gunfights breaking out in the streets, texts coming in about cars you'll never buy--that a lot of the game feels superfluous. One especially intriguing side quest had me playing detective, investigating a mysterious break-in at the apartment of a Night City mayoral candidate. © 2021 GAMESPOT, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. You meet a lot of people in Night City, many of whom die in your wake like you're some sort of curse, while others just call from time to time with a job for you to do. For such a distinct world that has grabbed many of our interests from the striking visuals alone, The World Of Cyberpunk 2077 gives life to those visuals, it imbues them with the vitality that adds to the escapism of imagining this world really exists and that you could feasibly visit (though it also paints a picture of a place that you may not actually want to visit when you take into account the … Mechanically, it's a simple open-world "use your ability to highlight clues" gimmick, but what follows is a fascinating and kind of creepy look at Night City corruption, gaslighting, and whether it's better to tell someone the truth if it means it could get them killed. Amid reports of performance issues, we played Cyberpunk 2077 on multiple platforms. She edits braindances, which are kind of like VR movies where you can acutely feel the recorder's emotions (and they're often used for porn). Worst of all, I have no idea what Cyberpunk 2077 is even trying to say. For the most part, Johnny is a well-written character in that I was always curious to hear what he had to say and how he interpreted the situations we were in--I was never quite sure if his advice was any good or if his opinions had any merit, but I wanted to hear him out every time. Gaming: David Morgan. With dismal visuals, a hell of a lot of bugs and an atrocious frame-rate, we can’t in good conscience recommend you play the game on those … Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. The technical problems not only took me out of the game literally but also led me to question whether certain things throughout the game were intentional. It feels weird to do throwaway fun stuff when you have a serious, ever-present threat to attend to, and in V's case, it just doesn't make sense to dally. I got a lot out of the side quests and some of the characters, but I got very little out of the overall story. Cyberpunk 2077 is a RPG set in the corrupt and tech-advanced world of the year 2077. It also provides a lot of context for the game without really giving any spoilers, it will prime the reader for experiences they may have playing the game but it doesn’t give away anything critical. It’s pretty interesting and gives you a good idea of what to expect when you step foot into Night City, although parts of this book are a bit dry, and I found myself becoming bored by the end. Falling in love didn't even give my V what she wanted. After its work on The Witcher series, particularly the third entry, many were excited to see what CD Projekt RED could do with the sci-fi Cyberpunk franchise. Reviewed by: David Morgan. “Cyberpunk 2077″ is an impressive realization of a futuristic world, but it comes at a great cost. Your mileage may vary, but in our experience, the bugs are obtrusive and substantial across the board, often forcing us to reload saves or exit the game entirely. Format: 192pgs, FC, HC The World Of Cyberpunk 2077 Review Some of us may remember the early days of PC gaming, I'm thinking Sierra, Lucasarts era when you actually got a box with a disk/s and documentation. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/cyberpunk-2077-review/1900-6417622 Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. It has a solid story, amazing graphics, side quests, different characters, gameplay modes, weapons, vehicles. It's also an excuse to send you to every corner of Night City, a clever introduction to all the areas you haven't yet been. The World of Cyberpunk 2077 certainly confirms that social life on the Net and the importance of fashion and media entertainment remained as important as ever in the year of 2077. It’s hard to recommend playing Cyberpunk on anything but the latest and greatest of PC hardware. The dynamic is compelling and left me on my toes, always wondering if I should listen to Johnny or follow my initial instincts. I ended up taking a break out of frustration before attempting, and finally succeeding, the third time. Sorry, but you can't access this content! Editor’s Note: We initially decided against running a review of Cyberpunk 2077 upon initial release, due to the severity of the technical issues that have forced digital storefronts to remove the game from stock. Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none. I went clothing shopping only once for the same reason, and I'd managed to loot more than one cute outfit off of corpses anyway. The World Of Cyberpunk 2077 is available as a standalone hardcover version or a limited deluxe edition. The World of Cyberpunk 2077 is an introduction and overview of the setting included in the upcoming game Cyberpunk 2077. Night City is beautiful and vile. It also bears a mention: Cyberpunk 2077 is phenomenally buggy. Review code was provided by CD Projekt Red. In fact, most nice things in Night City are prohibitively expensive, and I found that money was often the only obstacle when it came to progression. There's a seed of an interesting idea here--the labels given to the "other," diaspora, the trauma of losing your home--but none of this is ever explored again in the main story as I played it, nor in any of the many side quests I played, either. But there is a ridiculous amount of stuff to buy and seemingly endless moneymaking jobs to take on. There is a significant disparity in performance on PS4 and Xbox One compared to the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 (as well as the console version running on PS5 and Xbox Series X). Because the subskills have their own leveling and points system, I found I could freely invest overall skill points without sacrificing my hacking goals--at least when it came to the traditional RPG progression. Romance doesn't play a major role in Cyberpunk, at least in what I saw and played, but you can sleep with sex workers and the occasional random NPC--although I wouldn't recommend it. It often took me a moment or two to determine whether a visual glitch was supposed to be happening due to V's cyberware, which is a major part of the story, or if I needed to reload the game. One was so awful that I actually rolled back my save and told the guy I'd rather be friends instead. Cyberpunk 2077 is excellent, a masterclass in the world of RPGs and I urge anyone to play the game if possible – it is gorgeous, plays incredibly well, and with an intriguing story touting 6 endings. But now, after finishing the main story, I can't see how most of those activities fit into the overall narrative or the character I was playing. Reeves is somehow able to make all of this interesting and kind of charming rather than extremely off-putting. From what I can tell, that lifepath choice didn't affect more than the way the game starts and some dialogue options throughout (and possibly some minor side quests). On the other hand, quickhacking, which allows you to manipulate cameras, turrets, enemies, and more in hostile scenarios, requires a lot of cyberware investment. In a way this falls between the categories of Art Book and supplementary story. I spent a lot of my playtime following side-quest threads like this one, excited about the premise and hoping to find something as interesting or fun or rewarding at the end and, in many cases, I did. Cyberpunk 2077 was undoubtedly one of this year’s most anticipated titles. Cyberpunk 2077, however, revels in the lurid details of its world, specifically in the weird, first-person sex scenes. It's a testament to Keanu Reeves' performance that I actually liked him. I played a pre-release build that was updated during the review period, and there's a day-one patch planned as well, but the scale of technical issues is too large to reasonably expect immediate fixes. And while she commends the combat, RPG elements and side characters, the world of Cyberpunk 2077 is a different story. This intricately assembled tome contains everything you need to know about the history, characters, and world of the long-awaited RPG from CD Projekt Red the creators of The Witcher video game series. Then I'd get out of the car and hear one of the oft-repeated advertisements blaring out onto the street and quickly snap out of the reverie of driving. Using these subskills will passively level them up and give you additional benefits, ensuring you grow according to how you play in addition to how you actively invest points as you level up. There's even a whole section in your quest journal dedicated to all the cars people have offered to sell you--though you start the game with a car, and I got multiple free vehicles for completing side quests, so I never bought a car and couldn't find a real reason to. Once I got a good cyberdeck and equipped better quickhacks, combat really picked up for me. The first is Panam Palmer, who wins the award for the best name in the game. By David Morgan 2 months ago. Cyberpunk 2077 draws heavily from its source material, with everything from the world itself to the life and death of Johnny Silverhand coming from its pen-and-paper inspiration. I also found some exploration sequences frustrating because it was incredibly hard to tell if I was just missing the clue I was supposed to find or if it hadn't popped up at all, and I ended up leaving areas and coming back later on multiple occasions out of confusion and frustration. Review for Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 and Xbox One. First things first, the current state of Cyberpunk 2077 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox One S is frankly unacceptable. I didn't mind the guns overall, though; while it's not on par with dedicated first-person shooters, the gunplay is decent. I'm not sure if there were necessarily any completely right or wrong choices in a lot of those missions, but Johnny's presence, and the ambiguity it brings, is supposed to have an effect on V's psyche, for better or for worse--it's a factor of the circumstances that put him in V's head in the first place. You can watch our base PS4 vs. PS5 comparison video to get a feel for how Cyberpunk 2077 plays on different hardware, but as it stands, GameSpot cannot recommend you play Cyberpunk 2077 on last-gen consoles; the frame rate is wildly inconsistent to the point of severe interference with gameplay, and frequent texture pop-in and poor visual quality overall make Night City muddy and ugly to look at. As another example, you can go to a clothing store in Japantown and buy "yukata" that are just wrap shirts bearing only the slightest resemblance to real yukata. His relationship with V is often antagonistic, sometimes playfully so, and other times outright hostile. There's so much to cover that I can't possibly touch on everything, but my experience is that there are aspects of the game that feel lost in translation, invoking cultures that aren't adequately explored or contextualized. I had picked the Nomad lifepath out of the three total options because it was the only one that positioned V as an outsider to Night City; I figured that I didn't know Night City yet as a newcomer to the game, so why should V? The few that don't die and have proper arcs make up V's friends and love interests, and these are the characters that rightfully stand out. The sex scenes are all POV-style to fit with the game's first-person perspective, and they are awkward. Because I was so focused on this aspect of my character (and saving money to invest in it), I didn't end up spending much time on other approaches; I got the mantis blades, which are cyberware swords that spring out of your arms, so late in the game that I barely used them. Making friends in a lonely, sad city doesn't affect the urgency of V's main quest, and it doesn't seem to affect her priorities related to it. It is everywhere. I was playing on a gaming laptop well above the minimum specs announced for Cyberpunk 2077, while another GameSpot player experienced the same severity and frequency of bugs (though no hard crashes) on an even higher-end desktop PC. I was able to shut off entire camera systems easily and set turrets to "friendly mode" so they wouldn't shoot me on sight. Cyberpunk 2077 is also an impressive next-gen showcase when it comes to visuals. That's emblematic of the world of Cyberpunk 2077. STRANGER THINGS AND DUNGEONS & DRAGONS #4 (2020) Review, EXPLORE A WORLD OF MARIO FUN TOGETHER IN SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD + BOWSER’S FURY, LAUNCHING ON NINTENDO SWITCH TODAY, Temporary Tattoos- show your alignment with any of Night City’s varied, colorful gangs, Johnny Silverhand Poster- a memorial to the gone-but-not-forgotten superstar, Johnny Silverhand, Vehicle Postcards- Four postcards that each showcase a vehicle from one of Night City’s diverse and unique lifestyles, An insightful, captivatingly designed, full-color hardcover that transports readers to the futuristic megalopolis of Night City–the epicenter of the vibrant new action-RPG from CD PROJECT RED, Step into a dark future where violence, oppression, and cyberware implants aren’t just common–they’re necessary tools to get ahead. It's not literally on a timer, but it is very urgent in the way that RPG stories often are, and it has the same pitfalls as a result. There's an overall theme of identity that is dashed by the dissonance between the V you actually play and the V you get in the end; otherwise, I couldn't tell you what Cyberpunk is trying to do with its beautifully grotesque world. Learn all there is to know about the technology of tomorrow and research the cybernetics, weapons, and vehicles of Cyberpunk 2077. The architecture is often stunning, and some of my favorite sections of the game were when I drove from one district to the next, radio turned up, taking in all the neon lights and monolithic megabuildings piercing the sky. The push-and-pull of Johnny's opinions and your own adds a lot of color to even run-of-the-mill missions. This “artbook” released months before the official 10 Dec 2020 release of Cyberpunk 2077 did a good job hyping up the game. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. on December 15, 2020 at 3:59PM PST. Specifically, you need a good cyberdeck--which determines how many different quickhacks you can equip--that has enough RAM so you can use ones that demand more memory. Cyberpunk 2077 Review; Cyberpunk 2077 Review December 20, 2020 Ryan Hartmann — No Comments . Rating: 3.5. Cyberpunk 2077 review: Gameplay. Here's our review after mainly playing it on Xbox Series X and S. These are what carried me through an otherwise disappointing experience. Editor's note (December 15, 2020): The following review of Cyberpunk 2077 is based on the PC version of the game, as GameSpot did not receive console codes for the game until its release on December 10. x. Cyberpunk 2077 is a future extrapolated from Mike Pondsmith’s future of 2020, not our time so some people may be confused by this. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The World of Cyberpunk 2077 at Amazon.com. For such a distinct world that has grabbed many of our interests from the striking visuals alone, The World Of Cyberpunk 2077 gives life to those visuals, it imbues them with the vitality that adds to the escapism of imagining this world really exists and that you could feasibly visit (though it also paints a picture of a place that you may not actually want to visit when you take into account the struggles it’s residents face). Developer CD Projekt Red has acknowledged the last-gen console version's poor performance, even offering refunds to disappointed players--though there is no specific arrangement to guarantee said refunds--and promising patches in early 2021. The side quests and the characters they showcase are the shining beacon through the neon-soaked bleakness of Night City, and they give you room to explore the best the core RPG mechanics have to offer. It’s a shame it lacks the activity it needs to make Night City really shine, but despite that and its technical shortfall, here lies a phenomenal experience. There's one ad in particular that was the topic of much discussion pre-release; it features a feminine person with a giant, exaggerated, veiny erection in their leotard and advertises a drink called Chromanticore with the tagline "mix it up." Players assume the first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary known as V, who can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat. "It's hard to get into Cyberpunk 2077 's world in general," Plagge writes. Judy's story unfolds thanks to her fierce and endless desire to fight for her friends, which leads to some of the most interesting quests in the game--and some of the only ones that give you the ability to properly fight back against such a bleak, exploitative world. These include Judy's story arc and the taxi excursion as well as a much shorter story about a depressed man who lives in V's apartment building. The artwork is excellent, as you might expect given that the book is able to draw on seven years' worth of concept art, finalised design work and renders. Book Review: The World of Cyberpunk 2077. As if the ad both gives an insight into the products available in that world but also how those products are marketed to the people and that in itself can give a subtle insight into the world as a whole. Thought Contagion. Kallie played Cyberpunk 2077 for 50 hours, completing a variety of side quests and character arcs as well as one ending for the main story. For example, in the pen-and-paper game, the Voodoo Boys were a group of mostly white men who used "voodoo" stereotypes to scare people. Discovering a police-sponsored murder coverup or the depths of corporate control of Night City life doesn't seem to change V's ambitions to be remembered as a legendary Night City merc. There's even an entire crafting and item upgrade menu that I never actually needed to use, given that I was regularly looting better gear and items off my numerous enemies; at least in my playthrough, I had no reason to engage with these systems at all. The final section of Judy's arc was my favorite in the entire game. Now that I've finished the story, I'm much more curious about the Corpo lifepath, in which V used to work at antagonist corporation Arasaka, and how that fits into what I played, but it doesn't feel like a majorly important decision in my experience. The world of Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most authentic, fleshed out worlds I have visited in my life.