Cyberpunk 2077 Review — Is It Worth Playing in 2026?

Cyberpunk 2077 at launch six years ago and Cyberpunk 2077 today are games on entirely different levels of quality. Many will no doubt remember — or at least have heard — just how unfinished the game was when it came out. There is also no denying that, despite its numerous technical issues and missing features, it still found an audience, particularly among owners of powerful PCs, who at least did not have to endure optimization as dreadful as it was on consoles. Nevertheless, the game has far more fans today, and many players even consider it the defining title of its generation. What has it done to deserve such acclaim? That is what we will explore in this review, along with why now is the best time to experience Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, give it another chance if it disappointed you years ago, or storm the virtual streets of Night City for the tenth time.

There is no shortage of compelling dark science fiction games — just take a look at our list of the best cyberpunk games. But Cyberpunk 2077 undoubtedly stands apart even among other masterpieces as a definitive example of the genre, capturing its central ideas with exceptional precision.

Although the term cyberpunk is often applied to any noir story set in a dystopian neon metropolis, the genre actually has a clear set of characteristics that distinguish its authentic representatives. Proper cyberpunk strikes a careful balance between the “cyber” and the “punk.” On one side, it explores remarkable technological advances and how they have transformed society. On the other, it focuses on life at the bottom — on outcasts and people living beyond the system.

Cyberpunk 2077 tells the story of V, a mercenary forced to claw their way up from the bottom by taking part in Night City's criminal underworld. Through the protagonist's eyes, we see the so-called “high tech, low life” — the defining principle of cyberpunk. It is essentially a futuristic GTA with underworld conflicts at the heart of its story. Later, when a chip that is slowly killing V ends up inside the protagonist's head, the plot develops into a more personal tragedy about survival. Crucially for authentic cyberpunk, however, it never turns into a conventional tale about selflessly saving the world.

In the base game, the balance between cyber and punk arguably leans slightly toward the latter, but the Phantom Liberty expansion dives headfirst into fascinating questions surrounding AI and secret government experiments, bringing the two thematic halves of the game into equilibrium. The result is nothing less than cyberpunk in its purest form — something that cannot be said, for example, about the Deus Ex franchise.

Even if the genre itself leaves you cold, Cyberpunk 2077 has a dramatic story about friendship, hope, and the price of fame that is compelling enough to make you want to see it through to the end. As with The Witcher series, CD Projekt RED's writers quickly win players over with natural dialogue and complex characters who are easy to care about.

That said, the pacing of the main quest is uneven in places, there are a few dull stretches, and unlike in many of the best RPGs, the player's choices have little effect on the central storyline. Truly consequential decisions only appear shortly before the finale. Unfortunately, many of the side quests also fall short of the gold standard set by the Polish studio itself. One example is the “Cyberpsycho Sighting: Bloody Ritual” quest, in which members of Maelstrom attempt to summon a mysterious AI named Lilith from the depths of the Net as if it were an actual demon. The premise is incredibly intriguing, yet the quest itself amounts to investigating the site of a massacre and fighting a cyberpsycho — the story never develops any further, leaving its potential untapped.

Phantom Liberty, however, more than makes up for all these shortcomings. The expansion's espionage storyline never gives you a moment to catch your breath, constantly introducing new and exciting situations, while one of the player's decisions fundamentally alters the final 25% of the plot, much like in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Moreover, every Phantom Liberty side quest tells a distinct story with several possible conclusions and no obviously good or bad outcomes. In other words, if you are playing Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, which includes the expansion, you are unlikely to have many complaints about the game's narrative.

Just as Cyberpunk 2077's narrative balances several different themes, its gameplay combines disparate ideas in a way no other game quite does.

At first glance, its structure resembles GTA. There is a vast open world, most of which is occupied by a meticulously detailed metropolis divided into several districts. Points of interest and quests are scattered across the map, and the fastest way to travel between them is by car or motorcycle. The phone also plays an important role, allowing V to exchange messages and make calls with various contacts.

Like GTA, Cyberpunk 2077 features a five-level wanted system: the more aggressively the player resists the police, the greater the forces sent to neutralize them. This aspect was extremely superficial when the game first launched, but following Update 2.0, the system is every bit as sophisticated as what you would find in a Rockstar title, further strengthening the comparison with GTA. The same applies to full-fledged vehicle pursuits, which were also introduced in that patch. This important mechanic adds more variety and entertaining chaos to the gameplay.

Once the player reaches a mission area, however, Cyberpunk 2077 transforms into an immersive sim in the vein of Deus Ex, offering countless ways to complete an objective. In these moments, the game can feel even more advanced than Rockstar's titles, where missions are heavily scripted and almost always boil down to cover-based shootouts. In Cyberpunk 2077, combat encounters can be approached as a firearms specialist, a melee fighter, a hacker, or even a silent assassin if you have a soft spot for great stealth games.

Cyberpunk 2077's closest relative, however, is Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines. Even before release, CD Projekt RED openly cited Troika's game as one of its main sources of inspiration and an exemplary first-person RPG. The parallels are indeed impossible to ignore: like the protagonist of Bloodlines, V begins at the bottom of the urban hierarchy, carries out assignments for influential figures, and gradually becomes embroiled in a struggle between powerful factions over a mysterious artifact. The similarities extend beyond the narrative to the overall design: both games allow players to negotiate, search for alternative routes, hack systems, act covertly, or simply massacre everyone in sight.

The ambitious concept of creating an unusual “GTA + VtM: Bloodlines” hybrid is fully realized — especially after all the patches — and the two halves fit together surprisingly well. The result is a game that should appeal equally to fans of the best open-world games and enthusiasts of the finest RPGs.

The short answer is yes. In fact, this may be the best time yet to experience Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time or return to it after a long break.

The game is frequently available at a substantial discount, can be played on every major platform, and has almost no serious technical issues left after its many updates. Cyberpunk 2077 arrived on Nintendo Switch 2 last year and proved to be an impressive port with solid performance and excellent image quality. I completed most of the game on Switch 2, although I also spent plenty of time with the PC version on a mid-range laptop. Once again, I was impressed by both the visuals and the optimization.

The developers have focused not only on performance but also on implementing increasingly advanced graphics technologies such as path tracing. If you own a powerful PC or a PlayStation 5 Pro, Cyberpunk 2077 remains one of the most beautiful games with ray tracing — perhaps even the most beautiful. Yes, despite the fact that it is technically almost six years old.

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are arguably the only ones that should be avoided. While patches have improved them somewhat, the last-generation editions remain objectively the worst way to experience the game. They still suffer from severe frame rate drops and lack numerous features, as support for these versions ended before the release of Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty.

It is now difficult to imagine Cyberpunk 2077 without Update 2.0, given the sheer scale of the overhaul. For instance, the developers completely redesigned character progression: dozens of minor perks that provided small stat boosts were replaced with abilities that genuinely change the way the game is played, including air dashes, bullet deflection with blades, Overclock mode for netrunners, and special attacks for Tech weapons. CD Projekt RED also reworked cyberware, improved enemy AI, adjusted weapon and boss balance, and overhauled the loot and crafting systems. The update introduced shooting and hacking while driving, vehicle pursuits, a proper police system, new finishers, and numerous other welcome details.

Even so, parts of the base game reveal that Cyberpunk 2077 was originally developed without the systems added later in mind. Police chases, for example, are highly entertaining, but the player has to provoke them deliberately: there are no missions built around this mechanic. That applies specifically to the base game, however. Phantom Liberty does not have this problem, since the expansion was designed with Update 2.0 in mind. Among other things, it introduces vehicle theft contracts that can appear not only in the new DLC district of Night City but also in older locations.

In other words, if you played Cyberpunk 2077 before the release of its most important patch, the game absolutely deserves a second chance. Even if you completed it a couple of years ago after Update 2.0, bear in mind that Cyberpunk 2077 has since received several more major updates, the latest of which arrived last year. They were not as transformative, but they still introduced interesting mechanics and systems that deepen immersion in the virtual world. These include the ability to ride the city's metro system in real time, visual vehicle customization, and a taxi service.

Cyberpunk 2077 is therefore in the best shape it has ever been. As noted above, it also has no direct competitors, especially none with a comparable level of quality. Starfield and The Outer Worlds 2 are both decent first-person RPGs, yet they fall short of CD Projekt RED's game not only in ambition but also in how successfully they execute their original concepts.

It is also worth noting that 2026 is shaping up to be an ideal year for cyberpunk fans in general. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, the second season of the franchise's official anime series, is scheduled to arrive this fall. Blade Runner 2099 is also expected to premiere in November, while next winter will finally bring a TV adaptation of the cult novel Neuromancer. A Cyberpunk 2077 playthrough fits perfectly into this wider celebration of cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk 2077 has undergone a remarkable transformation since its release, while CD Projekt RED has rebuilt its reputation. Does that make it the best game of the modern era? Everyone will ultimately have their own answer, but it is easy to understand why so many players are obsessed with Cyberpunk 2077. Its themes, narrative, atmosphere, and gameplay combine to create a truly unforgettable adventure, especially when played with the Phantom Liberty expansion, which highlights the game's greatest strengths while avoiding the base game's more contentious elements.

The scale of the developers' efforts to address their mistakes inspires confidence in the direct sequel, the first details of which we have collected in a separate article, “Everything We Know About Cyberpunk 2”.

What do you think: has Cyberpunk 2077 redeemed its disastrous launch and become one of the best games of its generation, or is its status as a modern masterpiece still exaggerated?