This review is based on the Patch 2.1 version of the game, from a playthrough started on January 1st of 2024. It is not indicative of any version prior to this patch.
Cyberpunk 2077 flies higher and further than most other games even dream of. It features one of the most wonderfully realized worlds I have ever had the pleasure of visiting and the moment to moment gameplay is engaging most of the way through, but falls just short of fully realizing its vision, spread too thin at times by too many disparate systems that are unable to hit the same level of polish and overall quality. Even so, CP2077 remains one of the most immersive and fun gaming experiences of the decade (so far).
Narrative/Writing - The world comes alive through interesting characters with complex motivations and backgrounds, side stories that explore themes pertinent to both the main narrative of the game as well as those of the genre, and a commitment to realizing and maintaining the distinct cultural flair of the setting. Two main detractors come to mind: first, there is a nagging feeling of dissonance between the driving source of conflict in the main story and the fact you are playing a 50+ hour RPG experience, within a lush city sandbox full of quests and secrets, many hidden in its disparate nooks and crannies. This ends up robbing the main narrative from any real sense of urgency, and you are only reminded every so often when the protagonist suddenly drops on the floor and starts crawling around in pain when the plot deems it necessary. Second, for all the rich and interesting characters you meet on your journey throughout Night City, the protagonist himself, V, seems to be lacking a much-need core of authenticity, and while I’ve considered that may every well be the point in some sort of nod to the themes of alienation and facade that are central to the setting, it doesn’t change the fact V is not very engaging or compelling; it mostly just leaves you wondering why do any of these much cooler and interesting characters end up giving him the time of day. One third, lesser point, is with the pacing of the story: sometimes it feels like you are dragging towards an unclear goal, then suddenly you find yourself at the next big plot beat, and while this is particularly jarring in the early to mid sections of the narrative, once things start falling into place and you are playing through some of the biggest set-pieces the game has to offer you will eventually find yourself glued to your seat and onboard all the way to one of the game’s many endings, all of which offer largely satisfying conclusions to your journey, though some more so than others.
Presentation - There is probably no game that has left me speechless at the beauty of its technical and artistic achievements as often as it has left me staring with disbelief at the third or fourth bug I have experienced in that play session alone, except for probably any Bethesda game ever made. The fact is: the game is simply at the cutting edge of graphical presentation even today, 2 to 3 years away from its original release. If you own a top end graphics card with ray tracing capabilities chances are the game might be worth the price of entry for you on that point alone. It is just hard to ignore how often a car might bug out and turn road traffic into a loud, massive pile-up completely independent of any input on your part. These are distractions that can ultimately break you away from being fully-immersed and they will do so often; but when they are not, you can easily submerge yourself in the splendor of the world, driving through the neon-lit streets of Night City, all reflected with a mirror-sheen off the body of your vehicle in real time.
Gameplay - Nothing surprised more about this game than just how solid, well-balanced, and most importantly FUN, this game turned out to be. For a studio that has spent the past few decades developing expansive 3rd Person RPG experiences with melee-focused combat, CDProjektRed delivers a primarily 1st Person Action-RPG/Shooter Hybrid experience that at the very least matches, and often surpasses, the standard set by other genre veterans. Whether you choose to play hardened Solo ninja with automatic weapon and katana expertise constantly zipping in and out of cover, a cyberrunner capable of frying most enemies where they stand before they ever get close (and tech weapon enhancements in case any manage to sneak up on you), or a chromed-out bruiser with high physical endurance for crushing your enemies with Gorilla Arms and devastating shotgun blasts at point-blank, plus way more mixed builds than I could possibly elaborate on, there is something to latch on to here for almost all players. Despite the solid core gameplay, however, there are several elements here that leave much to be desired: driving feels wonky and never quite responsive enough (at least on PC), systems such a police “wanted” system are so negligible and easy to ignore that they feel like afterthoughts even after the so-called rework that released with the 2.0 patch, and side-mission content can vary wildly between uniquely memorable and thought provoking and just another “sneak in and kill/rescue/steal the target.” It does, however, help that those places you are often sneaking into have excellent level design that lends itself to tackling the mission in more than a couple of ways, and I nevertheless found myself playing through all of the side content for a total of over 150 hours of playtime so clearly they were not all that boring.
Conclusion - Beyond the RPG genre, this has been one of my favorite gaming experiences of the decade thus far and I can’t help but to be excited to see how CDProjektRed builds upon the foundation they have laid with this in the next title, whenever that may be.
Cyberpunk 2077 flies higher and further than most other games even dream of. It features one of the most wonderfully realized worlds I have ever had the pleasure of visiting and the moment to moment gameplay is engaging most of the way through, but falls just short of fully realizing its vision, spread too thin at times by too many disparate systems that are unable to hit the same level of polish and overall quality. Even so, CP2077 remains one of the most immersive and fun gaming experiences of the decade (so far).
Narrative/Writing - The world comes alive through interesting characters with complex motivations and backgrounds, side stories that explore themes pertinent to both the main narrative of the game as well as those of the genre, and a commitment to realizing and maintaining the distinct cultural flair of the setting. Two main detractors come to mind: first, there is a nagging feeling of dissonance between the driving source of conflict in the main story and the fact you are playing a 50+ hour RPG experience, within a lush city sandbox full of quests and secrets, many hidden in its disparate nooks and crannies. This ends up robbing the main narrative from any real sense of urgency, and you are only reminded every so often when the protagonist suddenly drops on the floor and starts crawling around in pain when the plot deems it necessary. Second, for all the rich and interesting characters you meet on your journey throughout Night City, the protagonist himself, V, seems to be lacking a much-need core of authenticity, and while I’ve considered that may every well be the point in some sort of nod to the themes of alienation and facade that are central to the setting, it doesn’t change the fact V is not very engaging or compelling; it mostly just leaves you wondering why do any of these much cooler and interesting characters end up giving him the time of day. One third, lesser point, is with the pacing of the story: sometimes it feels like you are dragging towards an unclear goal, then suddenly you find yourself at the next big plot beat, and while this is particularly jarring in the early to mid sections of the narrative, once things start falling into place and you are playing through some of the biggest set-pieces the game has to offer you will eventually find yourself glued to your seat and onboard all the way to one of the game’s many endings, all of which offer largely satisfying conclusions to your journey, though some more so than others.
Presentation - There is probably no game that has left me speechless at the beauty of its technical and artistic achievements as often as it has left me staring with disbelief at the third or fourth bug I have experienced in that play session alone, except for probably any Bethesda game ever made. The fact is: the game is simply at the cutting edge of graphical presentation even today, 2 to 3 years away from its original release. If you own a top end graphics card with ray tracing capabilities chances are the game might be worth the price of entry for you on that point alone. It is just hard to ignore how often a car might bug out and turn road traffic into a loud, massive pile-up completely independent of any input on your part. These are distractions that can ultimately break you away from being fully-immersed and they will do so often; but when they are not, you can easily submerge yourself in the splendor of the world, driving through the neon-lit streets of Night City, all reflected with a mirror-sheen off the body of your vehicle in real time.
Gameplay - Nothing surprised more about this game than just how solid, well-balanced, and most importantly FUN, this game turned out to be. For a studio that has spent the past few decades developing expansive 3rd Person RPG experiences with melee-focused combat, CDProjektRed delivers a primarily 1st Person Action-RPG/Shooter Hybrid experience that at the very least matches, and often surpasses, the standard set by other genre veterans. Whether you choose to play hardened Solo ninja with automatic weapon and katana expertise constantly zipping in and out of cover, a cyberrunner capable of frying most enemies where they stand before they ever get close (and tech weapon enhancements in case any manage to sneak up on you), or a chromed-out bruiser with high physical endurance for crushing your enemies with Gorilla Arms and devastating shotgun blasts at point-blank, plus way more mixed builds than I could possibly elaborate on, there is something to latch on to here for almost all players. Despite the solid core gameplay, however, there are several elements here that leave much to be desired: driving feels wonky and never quite responsive enough (at least on PC), systems such a police “wanted” system are so negligible and easy to ignore that they feel like afterthoughts even after the so-called rework that released with the 2.0 patch, and side-mission content can vary wildly between uniquely memorable and thought provoking and just another “sneak in and kill/rescue/steal the target.” It does, however, help that those places you are often sneaking into have excellent level design that lends itself to tackling the mission in more than a couple of ways, and I nevertheless found myself playing through all of the side content for a total of over 150 hours of playtime so clearly they were not all that boring.
Conclusion - Beyond the RPG genre, this has been one of my favorite gaming experiences of the decade thus far and I can’t help but to be excited to see how CDProjektRed builds upon the foundation they have laid with this in the next title, whenever that may be.