Cyberpunk 2077

The game by CD Projekt RED, creators of The Witcher, inspired by the tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020 by Mike Pondsmith. The player is sent to the year 2077, where their created character named V must become a legend in the futuristic city of Night City (California) and find a cure for an incurable disease. The task is not easy — the metropolis is torn apart by gangs, intrigue of transnational corporations, and everyday conflicts due to glaring social inequality. A wide selection of weapons and a dynamic combat system offer an exciting gaming experience.

Cyberpunk 2077 — a role-playing story-driven first-person shooter with immersive sim elements. When controlling vehicles — from third person. The action takes place in a vast open world of Night City, where every corner is filled with characters and activities, and adventures can be found both in abandoned buildings and on busy streets. The combat system allows hacking into enemy computer systems and implants, shooting or slicing enemies in close combat. The hero’s background (corporate, gang member, or street kid) does not affect the main story but provides unique dialogues when interacting with secondary characters.

The game features a setting — “cyberpunk” — in the vision of 80s science fiction. Not dark, cold, and technological, but bright, kitschy, and crazy. A blend of human and machine occurs. Everywhere, people are actively augmented with cyber-prostheses and brain implants. Free artificial intelligence. Urban landscapes of a metropolis ravaged by economic crises, street gang wars, and corporate conflicts. Streets illuminated by neon lights and hieroglyphs. This is a world where high technology coexists with a society in decline and a low standard of living.

We learned about the start of work on the game inspired by “Cyberpunk” in 2012. The full announcement took place at E3 2018, and after several delays, the game was released in December 2020. The release was accompanied by technical issues that negatively affected reviews of Cyberpunk 2077. But the creator of the universe, Mike Pondsmith, praised CD Projekt for how the developers brought the setting, atmosphere, and game world to life — preserving the spirit and themes of the tabletop game.

Over the next 3 years, CD Projekt refined the game, improving its overall state through a series of patches. They introduced a new wanted system, added vehicle shootouts. They revamped the artificial intelligence, teaching NPCs, police, and enemies to respond appropriately to what’s happening. They completely overhauled the skill tree and refreshed the controls. Significantly improved the graphics. With patch 2.0, the open world, role-playing system, and police interactions worked as they should have at launch.

The world of Cyberpunk differs greatly from our reality: technology developed more rapidly, and representative democracy was replaced by corporatocracy, meaning the power of transnational corporations.In the early 21st century, half of the American states gained autonomy from Washington, but the USA did not disintegrate; instead, it formed a confederation. Under pressure, California was divided into North and South, with the border running south of Night City.

The city was founded in 1994 by billionaire Richard Night, who wanted to build a utopia free of crime, poverty, and government dictatorship. He was supported by corporations attracted by the freedom in unethical research. But everything turned out the opposite when Richard was killed, and corporations seized power by force. Night City became a symbol of how advanced technology can be used to increase social inequality and exploit people.

By 2077, due to economic crises and prolonged wars between gangs and corporations, most districts of the metropolis descended into chaos and anarchy. Corporations abolished human rights and take over any successful business, while gangs on the streets have devalued human life.

Bright spots in this dark reality are heroes of the past, such as Johnny Silverhand (a character played by Keanu Reeves). The leader of the group Samurai actively fought injustice through his songs before ending up in V's mind. He once blew up the headquarters of the Japanese corporation Arasaka with a portable nuclear bomb, completely changing Night City. This is why the game differs from the tabletop version.

The ideology of the residents is simple — to present themselves advantageously and stand up for themselves, which increased the number of freaks, crazies, and maniacs on the streets. Night City has become a city of adventurers seeking fame and self-realization. In reality, these are just empty hopes, illusions, and lies, for which most give their lives.

In Cyberpunk 2077, there is a huge open world consisting of two large and roughly equal areas: the city of Night City itself and the surrounding wastelands of the Badlands to the east. The city is divided into 6 key districts:

Night City looks beautiful. Here are buildings with rich architecture and unusual shapes. Everywhere are giant screens, neon and regular signs. Cars fly across the sky. Subway trains run on monorails. Nightclubs seem straight out of cult science fiction. Characters on the streets, cars, and the appearance of buildings match the district descriptions. In the center are corporations and celebrities in expensive cars, while on the outskirts are simple guys in wrecked vehicles. The interiors are also contrasting: a flashy shack with plastic and cheap decor in Pacific is not comparable to a luxurious apartment with marble and wood in a skyscraper made of glass and concrete in the City.

In terms of building detail, Cyberpunk 2077 surpasses GTA and other similar games: there are more bars, clubs, shops, offices, and other indoor spaces. Many open areas, although filled with piles of trash and concrete benches. Wastelands also earned their name, but among gas stations, motels, power plants, and endless dumps, valuable loot is hidden. The life simulation system is standard. Bots go about their business, run from gunfire, or pursue the player for violations. The wanted system is similar to the star system in GTA.

In the world of “Cyberpunk,” there is the internet and social networks in the familiar form. Throughout the game, players chat, tinker with computers, visit websites to buy cars or real estate, and even surf the internet through virtual reality glasses.

The promised CD Projekt “cyberspace” is implemented as a special way of programming and hacking, a visual interpretation of code. Those who use it are called netrunners (net runners). The technology is so dangerous that simply entering the network by plugging a cable into the head socket is impossible — the body acts as a single processor and produces a lot of heat. If not immersed in a cold bath, the body will overheat, and the netrunner will die.

Fans rushed to tweak and improve the game with mods, reworking every aspect. Mods for Cyberpunk 2077 are catching up in popularity with Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition and Fallout 4. Developers actively support the modding community by releasing necessary tools. The best and latest mods can be downloaded from our mod database for Cyberpunk 2077.

They improve graphics and clarity of the picture, add radio for any taste, rework the mechanics of machine guns, allow you to ride the metro and tune cars, upgrade car physics, add fan service, like a sword from Doom or the ability to fly.

Characteristics — strength, reaction, intelligence, technical skill, and coolness — are the main parameters affecting the character. Inside each tree are perks that can be abilities, buffs, or improve V's interaction with the world. For example, increasing strength allows you to crack open cars, break locked doors, or use intimidation. The higher the characteristic, the more perks you can learn in a specific branch.

Skills — engineering, endurance, hacking, combat parameters, and melee — small improvements that match the player's style. They level up passively when the player performs certain actions in the game. For example, using smart weapons, implants, and crafting items, the player levels engineering, and the skill makes the player slightly more effective at crafting and using weapons and implants. Every 5 levels (out of 60 total), the character gets a passive perk in a specific line.

The third development line is cybernetic implants (chrom), from 1 to 3, installed in all parts of the character's body. They can add armor and health, speed up regeneration, highlight enemies behind walls, increase carrying capacity, damage, and melee defense.

You can't install all the best body modifications — there is a limit to implant points. Their number is determined by the development of the "technique" characteristic. With update 2.0, implants play a special role in gameplay and are as important as main character development. For example, the “Sandevistan” implant slows down time and allows you to land headshots on enemies.

The game features cold and firearm weapons in all their known forms, but stands out with five rarity levels (from common to legendary), types of damage (explosive, thermal, electric, or chemical), and futuristic types.

Regular firearms are called power weapons, they are powerful, but their bullets ricochet strongly. "Teco" based on railgun technology can penetrate cover but fires slowly. "Smart" weapons fire bullets that track their target until they hit. Attachments can be added to guns to increase damage, accuracy, and other parameters, and their features, like ricochet or bullet intelligence, work only in combination with implants.

Bladed weapons, including axes, katanas, long knives, and machetes, are perfect for stealth kills, but you need to get close to the enemy. With update 2.0, katanas and other melee weapons have become more deadly and effective.Then, for hand-to-hand combat, when you need to stun rather than kill, hammers, non-lethal weapons, or just V's fists will do.

All of this allows you to build characters of different classes and play the game in completely different ways. A lone wolf can, just like Rambo, mow down enemies with a machine gun. A netrunner relies on pistols, sprinting, and blades in their hands. An engineer, although holding an automatic rifle, uses technology and a helper robot.

Playing Cyberpunk 2077 is typical for open-world games — we move around, complete main and side quests, secondary missions, and also participate in random events, such as shootouts between police and gangs. With the release of update 2.0, clothing has become purely cosmetic and no longer provides "armor," which is now handled by implants.

Earning a lot of money, obtaining the best implants, and legendary weapons are top priorities for success. You will need to take missions from fixers, many of which are as detailed as the main quest, craft items from found resources for resale, hack access points, and complete small quests in the world. For example, helping NCPD (the police) fight crime, battling city gangs, and capturing their bases.

It’s impossible to finish the game without killing anyone. The influence of shooter elements is significant, but the combat component, as mentioned above, varies for each class. Also, be prepared to participate in races, chase targets, or escape from pursuers.

There are several hub locations: an apartment, where V relaxes and stores belongings, and the Afterlife bar — another key location in the game.

Cyberpunk 2077 is not just a set of combat mechanics and ways to interact with the world; it is a full-fledged story adventure. The simple premise — V seeks to get rich and famous in Night City — turns into a fight against the corporate dictatorship for freedom, peace, and capitalism with the appearance of Johnny Silverhand. Keanu Reeves’ character is not without flaws but rejects the material world and tries to prove to V that corporations embody true evil, and the desired cars, clothes, and implants are merely tools of control and suppression. The internal conflict of the heroes is fueled by a biochip that rewrites V’s consciousness with Johnny’s personality.

Within the storyline, you need to complete three main quest lines, each with its own set of events, characters, locations, and activities, woven into one of several endings. The story immediately captivates, emotionally energizes, and develops on different levels. The ideological confrontation of the heroes, the fight for control over the body, each person’s ambitions to influence the world around them, and complex philosophical questions about life and death, goals, and the importance of time — all these are presented to the player. Flashbacks to Johnny’s world allow you to immerse yourself in his character.

In addition to the main storyline, there are several side quests that also affect the ending and the overall gameplay. But the player chooses whether to do all of this or not. The game will consider the choice and develop the plot in the chosen direction.

The writers skillfully reveal the personalities of both the heroes and the supporting characters. V will cooperate or compete with people of various ages, cultures, statuses, and influences. Some will stay for a long time, like a romantic interest, while others will disappear by the end of the next mission.