'Cyberpunk 2077' is a good, open-world FPS. What surprised me is that, while it may offer all kinds of technological options for stealthy combat, including the hacking of enemy cybernetic implants and environmental objects, using these features has little more effect than slowing the game down to a crawl. Or maybe the game was just adapting to my own play style? Why would I ever bother to play hacking minigames to alter the viewing field of a camera? Or hack into an enemy's cybernetics to influence his behavior, then perform a silent takedown, then carry the body to a hiding location and stash it? And then do that fifty more times in order to clear out a room. You know what's faster than all that? Blasting someone's head off with a single shotgun blast. Or better yet, throwing a single grenade and killing six guys instantly. I was perpetually convinced to play this like any other FPS and doing so stripped the game of much of its intended individuality. Speaking of a lack of individuality, the player character V underwhelmed. Maybe the problem was pairing him wtih freaking Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand. Silverhand is everything V is not and so he has the effect of making V seem passive, weak, and without ambition, politics, or drive. The story of 'Cyberpunk' is particular. I was happy with the ending I chose. And I might be convinced to play 'Phantom Liberty' someday. Right now, though, my complete-feeling forty-hour playthrough has me plenty sated.

Reviewed on Jan 04, 2024


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