Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Phantom Liberty is a spy thriller set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 and a new large-scale adventure. The plane of the president of the New United States of America has crashed in Dogtown, the most dangerous area of Night City. And only a desperate cyber mercenary can save him: V heads to Dogtown, a city within the metropolis, whose inhabitants are under the harsh rule of leader Kurt Hansen and his capricious fighters from the PMC "Bargest." With the help of sleeping agent Solomon Reed, a character played by Idris Elba, and with the support of Johnny Silverhand, the main character V unravels a web of betrayals and puts forth all his efforts to survive in a world of dealers and ruthless mercenaries.

The expansion requires the original version of Cyberpunk 2077.

Ten years before the events of Cyberpunk 2077, there was no Dogtown, known in the official localization as Dog City. It was as much a part of Pacifica as the area from the main game. Everything changed during the Unification War of 2070, when charismatic Colonel Kurt Hansen of the NUSA, along with army units, stormed the coastal part of Pacifica. Expressing disagreement with the peace treaty, he refused to leave the occupied territory and entrenched himself there.

Pacifica was already an impoverished area of Night City, and now its part has turned into a hotspot, so problematic due to hostilities that it was fenced off with a high wall from the metropolis. Thus, Dogtown was born. Over time, it became an enclave with its own laws, traditions, and cultural peculiarities. Isolation also affected communication: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is localized into Russian, but characters speak in various languages and switch to another language here and there.

The Night City municipality has no power in Dogtown, corporations avoid it, and the NCPD police do not visit. The area is controlled by "Bargest," which monitors everything happening within its borders. The PMC was formed from former NUSA military and street gang members, well-equipped and highly trained. In fact, it is Hansen's personal army, who over years of isolation has gained a reputation as a celebrated gangster and arms baron for some, and a terrorist dictator for others.

Dogtown does not stand out in size. A few skyscrapers, one of which houses the headquarters of "Bargest," a huge stadium turned into a black market, and an elite pyramid hotel with a beam of light shooting up where important figures, like Mr. Hands, sit. There was also enough space for its own road network and car racing. As investors quickly left the area, there are unfinished buildings that have also deteriorated over the decade.

Visually, Dogtown is rendered in dark and gloomy tones, symbolizing a society at rock bottom, surviving on the ruins of infrastructure and ruled by a harsh militaristic dictatorship. Everywhere there are piles of construction debris, machinery, and tools. This sharply contrasts with the gleaming neon streets of Night City, whose atmosphere is much more positive.

Getting into Dogtown is not easy, but it remains part of Cyberpunk 2077. After completing the prologue of Phantom Liberty, the player will be able to easily move between the DLC world and the main game through inspections at the checkpoint. It's a formality: weapons won't be confiscated, inventory won't be seized, and installed implants won't be questioned. And if you unleash Bargest, then the mercenary fighters, like the cops from Night City, will chase the player — then you can slip away through side exits, loopholes to bypass the checkpoint.

The events of the expansion and the main game are intertwined with a biochip in V's head, gradually replacing his personality with Johnny Silverhand's. It is the promises to remove the chip with the full restoration of V's health that motivate him to take risks in Dogtown. Phantom Liberty contains one additional ending for the main Cyberpunk 2077 and influences others.

The narrative is built on complex and charismatic characters with motivations. Each has their "skeletons in the closet," which will make the player's attitude toward certain characters change more than once.

The story in the DLC is straightforward: you need to find out who tried to kill the president of the NUSA. The task will require "special connections," including Solomon Reed (loyal to his country but remained true to the cause) and Alex (an undercover agent). The investigation unexpectedly leads to the assistant of Soika. She is the one who gave V a job and promised to save him from death.

The plot actively exploits the past and motivations of the characters, poking fun at the clichés of "spy thrillers." The dialogues are interesting and diverse, adding depth to the characters and options for interacting with them: the player's choices in responses will affect the course of the story and reveal the narrative in their own way. There will be many epic and spectacular scenes, while the plot of Phantom Liberty provides food for thought.

It is optimal to start the DLC before the final mission, as the opponents are more aggressive, not to mention the bosses. Story quests in the DLC appear after intervals of gameplay time, but due to the dense flow of activities in the world, the pace does not sag. However, Phantom Liberty can also be completed independently of the main game.

The gameplay is diversified with random events — valuable cargo is dropped on the map, which factions fight over, but the player can seize it for themselves if they hurry. There are also more activities with vehicles, including car theft missions, which can earn money and resources. Races have been expanded with combat scenes, and vehicles can be equipped with machine guns and rockets in the spirit of Twisted Metal 4.

The player's tasks remain unchanged: explore the world, complete quests, including story ones, and level up. A new sixth attribute has been introduced — biochip. It has fewer perks and abilities, but they significantly improve the chances of survival in Dogtown.