Published in 2020 by Polish Studio CD Projekt Red, the cyberpunk, open-world RPG “Cyberpunk 2077” is a testament to how far the gaming industry has evolved. Based on the 1988 tabletop RPG Cyberpunk by Mike Pondsmith, its story, gameplay, soundtrack, and worldbuilding are all individually fantastic, but together they make a game that has been unmatched by any games created since. While its shaky start—filled with performance issues and bugs— dissuaded many gamers from trying it out, four years of updates and bug fixes have made it a game that everyone should try.
You play as V: a mercenary looking to make it big in Night City, a megalopolis filled with the classic cyberpunk tropes of sadism, consumerism, and most importantly, cutting-edge technology. The story starts with you being tasked by Dexter Deshawn, a well-known fixer (a sort of middleman connecting clients with mercenaries), to steal an experimental biochip from Yorinobu Arasaka, heir to the Arasaka Corporation, a Japanese mega-corporation specializing in weapons manufacturing, with a dark reputation and a strong grip over Night City. The risks are immense, but your hunger to rise in Night City’s criminal world pushes you to take the job.
Along with your friend and partner Jackie Wells, you manage to steal the chip but during the heist you witness Yorinobu kill his father, the current chairman of the corporation, revered as a “Corporate God” by all those around him. Through the confusion and chaos that follows, you’re forced to insert the biochip into your head, unknowingly downloading the digital consciousness of Johnny Silverhand, a legendary rockstar and anti-corporate terrorist who bombed Arasaka 50 years earlier. The game follows your struggle to remove the chip, which is slowly overwriting your mind and killing you.
The first thing that caught my eye as I entered the city was the vast expansiveness and completeness of the setting. Unlike many open-world games released in the past decade, in which much of the map is barren and included only to make the world seem bigger, and NPCs are lifeless and aimless (a well-known example being Bethesda Softworks’ Starfield), “Cyberpunk” is the complete opposite. The city is bustling with all sorts of people, all dressed in their own unique outfits and going about believable routines; the buildings are all uniquely designed, with details in the most remote places where most players would probably never look; the plethora of cars and bikes are carefully designed to look both futuristic and believable enough to exist in the next half-century; and the advertisements, graffiti, and other imagery plastered on every flat surface showcase a society where consumerism reigns supreme. The advertisements are the most memorable part of this world. In a city where morals and values have been thrown to the side, the ads are exploitative, predatory, gory, and hedonistic, showcasing what a future dominated by consumerism could look like.
Throughout my journey through the game, exploring the city, completing side missions, and slowly making my way through the main story, the multitude of characters continued to be a highlight. Characters like Goro Takemura, former bodyguard of Saburo Arasaka who begrudgingly works with you to prove Yorinobu’s guilt; Ozob Bozo, a clown-themed street-fighter and mercenary with a grenade for a nose and a nihilistic worldview to match; or Delamain, an artificial intelligence running a taxi service in the city, showcase the wide variety of personalities throughout Night City. Unlike many other games where characters exist solely to support the player, the characters of “Cyberpunk 2077” often seem indifferent to your goals, giving the game a sense of believability and making you feel like just another cog in the machine of Night City.
While story and worldbuilding are important aspects of a game, gameplay is where it all comes together, and Cyberpunk continues to ace this. Although the game focuses heavily on combat, the sheer variety of choices in how you can play is a welcome strength. Players can choose classic weapons like rifles and melee weapons, or dive into more cyberpunk-styled approaches like smart weapons (self-aiming guns), cybernetic body modifications (blades, projectiles, etc.), and netrunning, an ability that lets you hack into enemies’ bodies and the environment. The expansive skill tree and countless body modifications offer a nearly infinite number of playstyles, from becoming an invisible stealth assassin scaling buildings, to a heavily armored juggernaut smashing enemies with brute force. Overall, the combat of “Cyberpunk 2077” is thrilling, versatile, and responsive, adapting to whatever approach you prefer.
Featuring a variety of both mainstream artists like rap duo Run the Jewels, singer Grimes, and rapper A$AP Rocky, as well as indie artists like Aligns, Converge, and HEALTH, “Cyberpunk 2077” has a soundtrack that is both fresh and immersive, further convincing players that the world of Cyberpunk truly exists. The artists encapsulate the feelings of Night City’s inhabitants, tackling themes like drug abuse, corporate oppression, crime, consumerism, and the hopelessness of living in a dystopian society. This soundtrack is a refreshing break from the typical orchestral scores of many Western games, offering instead an intense, multi-genre soundscape that fits the tone of the game perfectly.
Although “Cyberpunk 2077” is an absolutely amazing game filled with high-quality worldbuilding, gameplay, and audio, it is not without its flaws. While the many bugs and glitches that plagued its launch have been largely addressed, I still experienced some visual and technical hiccups throughout my playthrough. Issues like NPCs randomly walking on air, sudden frame rate drops in non-intensive scenes, and occasional crashes are still present. However, in my 50+ hours with the game, these problems were infrequent and more of a mild annoyance than a game-breaking frustration.
Overall, “Cyberpunk 2077” has greatly improved with the updates over the past few years. The release of its first and only DLC, “Phantom Liberty,” provides even more high-quality content, and I’m definitely looking forward to trying it out. While “Cyberpunk 2077” may not be for everyone, especially with its graphic violence and exploration of sensitive topics, for gamers scared away by its rocky launch, now is the perfect time to give it a shot. It’s not just a game about beating gangsters and stealing cars, it’s a bold vision of a future that feels disturbingly close, told through one of the most immersive and daring experiences gaming has to offer.
