CYBERPUNK 2077 REVIEW

Gameplay:

There are quite a few ways you can approach situations. Guns out, blades swinging, or going the stealth route.

For me personally, I’ve went the stealth path. Did that for most of the game. I was surprised at how decently the levels were made to accommodate for people who choose to go stealthy. The structure of the levels feel quite similar to the Deus Ex games. I liked it.

The guns and the shooting feel very solid. From pistols to massive sniper rifles that take half the screen. All good.

I can’t however say the same about melee combat. It’s stiff. Doesn’t feel satisfying.

The game has some RPG elements like upgrading gear, weapons, skills, and the body implants.

Honestly, most of them were not that impactful except a few. I especially think that the stats you get with clothes are useless. No matter how much armor I have on, normal mobs will kill you with 2 shots. I have the game set on the hardest difficulty. So strange.

It would require me to investigate further but I feel like most of the numbers on these RPG elements are honestly pointless.

BUGS:

The game has got a huge number of bugs. In all aspects, animations, characters colliding, progression tied ones, overlapping dialogue, random NPCs through cutscenes. Spawning and teleporting enemies and police. It’s no good.

The most annoying ones for me were the progression tied ones. You would sometimes not be able to interact with characters unless you reload. There are also missions where you have NPCs with you, they would just get stuck and you need to reload to progress. It’s frustrating.

The game feels like it needs at least 6 months of work to iron out most of these bugs.

Visuals and Soundtrack:

The world is beautiful. Driving around Night City and seeing different environments is a joy, even though the actual driving is only okay. Characters are very detailed with excellent animations (during cutscenes). I also want to highlight the lighting 😊, it’s just great. Particularly at night.

Let’s talk soundtrack.

Let’s not talk soundtrack. Nothing to be said except that it’s COOL AS HECK.

Story:

So, when it comes to the story. I want to talk about a few things: Pacing, characters, dialogue, and voice acting.

You play as V, a mercenary in Night City. First few hours into the game, you get a gig that completely changes everything for you. I won’t go any further to avoid spoilers. Last thing I’ll say is that your relationship with Johnny Silverhand (played by Keanu Reeves) starts after this mission. You two go on quite the adventure after that.

OK, let’s talk pacing. It’s much faster than CDPR’s previous big game, The Witcher 3. If you choose to go all in with the main missions, you could finish the game in around 20 hours.

I personally always say that most video games are not good at storytelling. But they can be good at certain aspects of telling a story. It’s no different here with Cyberpunk 2077.  

The game excels, mostly, at delivering memorable main cast. Sharp, focused dialogue, even though I can definitely see that it’s not for everyone. I personally liked it.

The characters that I thought they were decently written are V (main character), Johnny Silverhand, and Viktor. The same goes for the voice acting. Most of the cast in Night City are well acted. The spotlight for me were the male V actor. Fantastic delivery by Gavin drea (name of the actor). Keanu’s performance is also excellent, even though it took some time to grow on me.

Panam, Judy, Jackie, and most of the cast were also well performed.

There are choices you make during your adventure that can have an impact on the ending path. However, most of the rest feel like getting more information about the mission rather than altering the outcome of it. If alteration occurs, it’s minor.

The plot overall is engaging for the most part. I would say though, I wish the main objective had a more grand conclusion as a whole rather than just being the personal story of V. But it’s a story worth playing through.

Conclusion:

Cyberpunk 2077 is a game filled with bugs and mediocre RPG elements. Saved by a good personal story, cool writing, and interesting characters. The fantastic soundtrack and the breathtaking Night City.

I look forward to when the issues and bugs are fixed. I especially am eager to see what they do with the expansions since I thought Witcher 3’s expansions were superior to the main story.

Later, Night City.