Cyberpunk 2077 – Review

Cyberpunk 2077 might just be the most controversial release in recent video game history. While we won’t be burying physical copies in the desert any time soon like was done with the Atari 2600 copies of E.T., it actually reached the point that the game got removed from the PlayStation Store. While we were lucky enough to try the PC version, which runs relatively well, there are still a lot of things wrong with the game. While it could indeed be nice to spread the hate for the game, we did enjoy our experience with Tits and Schlongs 2077. With certain concerns and hesitation, we dived into this game that clearly suffers from Game-of-Thrones-Syndrome, trying to be edgy wherever it can. Nonetheless, with some tweaks, this could be not just a good game, but an amazing game.

Story

In Cyberpunk 2077 you will play as ‘V’, a protagonist of your own making, who can have three slightly different backgrounds. Nonetheless, it all boils down to you making a name for yourself in Night City, which is basically the crap-bucket of the world, housing degenerates as far as the eye can see. That being said, you’re doing quite well for yourself until you get spotted by a big name in the underworld, who wants you to steal a very important item from the corporation running the city. While you manage to get said item, things go south and you end up practically dead. You will have to overcome a lot of struggles to hopefully return to your normal life and survive.

The story in Cyberpunk follows a nice pace and is actually quite good. You get information when you need it, and you slowly explore the world around you at your own pace. You can opt to do side-quests first for some extra money, or you can just dive into the story.

Graphics

Cyberpunk 2077 looks very nice, even when running the game with a somewhat ‘dated’ GTX 1080. The initial pre-loading of the game does take some time, but after a big texture pop a few seconds into the game, things run quite smoothly. The city is nice to explore, the characters have a certain stage presence and the overall world is attractive enough to not mind getting lost in it. Nonetheless, this superficial coating wears thin after a while, as you start noticing important details that are missing. We can name a few, but there’s nothing that takes you out of your immersion quicker than being the passenger of a car, and the driver forgetting to use the steering wheel in actual corners, lazily using the motion of driving forward, slightly correcting the trajectory of the car. Other items include characters not moving their lips when talking to you, which is a common issue when talking to unimportant NPCs. Also, for some reason, when looking at your own character in mirrors, you look very muddy and pixilated, compared to all the other leading characters in the game.

Sound

The game’s sound design is top-notch. The music has the proper vibe, and you will not really get sick of the tunes that blast through your speaker. The voice acting has been properly handled, and there is plenty of it. We enjoyed the many dialogues, as well as the proper voice acting from the (fe)male protagonist.

Gameplay

Cyberpunk 2077 is a fairly straightforward open-world action-RPG. You will either roam around the city, completing story quests, side-quests, or you just go rogue and do basically whatever you like. The game controls quite well with a regular mouse and keyboard set-up, and after a short introduction and tutorial, you’re good to go. If you’re a fan of CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3 and you want to give this game a go, this one controls slightly different and gives a worse overview of your surroundings.

The offset of the game is easy, you get assigned missions and you can opt to pick the main ones, or the optional ones. This will net you money, and this, in turn, will allow you to upgrade your character, making progress easier. The game has a fair amount of upgrades, as well as weapons and other items to choose from. It’s basically the standard action-RPG fare, and that works quite fine for a game such as this. While some things may feel ‘new’, most of these items are done before in other games, albeit with a different lick of paint. We have to say that the hacking mechanics were a nice touch to the game, and they were sometimes even more fun than in the Watch Dogs games, which actually revolved around hacking.

While overall things are okay to play through, the game still suffers from a lot of minor bugs, such as stutters, not being optimized, general glitches, and so on. We even encountered a few instances where missions would not go to the next objective, thus forcing us to reload an older save file. While small bugs can be forgiven, actual game-breaking events are not a pleasant experience. Add the fact that the developers rather focus on shock value with some privates flung on the screen now and then, and we think we have found one of the main issues why the game was not ‘done’ yet. For some reason, it feels like people would forget the many problems with a game if it is edgy.

Conclusion

Some bitterness aside when it comes to how games are released nowadays, Cyberpunk 2077 is still a very decent game that was just taken out of the oven way before it was properly done. While the PC version runs decently, we noticed that certain things ran less smooth after a few of the ‘hot fixes’ and the game still has many small issues and bugs present, which do detract from the overall amusement factor. Nonetheless, underneath the somewhat shoddy technical aspects of the game, there is a very entertaining game to be found because of its story, its overall concept and atmosphere. Sadly, by today’s standards, this one is not a contender for a Game of the Year award for us. We still suggest either opting for the PC version, and perhaps even then waiting a few more weeks/months until things are properly optimized and improved.

Ibuki

View My Other Posts

Aspiring ninja.

Related Items

Unknown 9: Awakening – Review

PC, PS4, PS5, Reviews, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival (PS5) – Review

PC, PS5, Reviews, Switch, Xbox Series X/S

Earl vs. the Mutants – Review

PC, Reviews

Undisputed – Review

PC, PS5, Reviews, Xbox Series X/S