An open—world game based in a gritty dystopian future, with superb storytelling accompanied by amazing action that will progress throughout the gameplay, providing different outcomes on the choices chosen by the player. Sounds wonderful!
In reality, we gained a sub-par game with buggy mechanics being nearly held together by its half-decent story, enjoyable few side quests padded by modern-day repetitive open-world gameplay.
This review I will break down everything I enjoyed about the game and everything I did not. I have placed my opinions upon a middle ground surrounding Cyberpunk. I find certain aspects of the game to be extremely fun, but it likes to shatter my immersion instantly.
Most noticeably, when my V is walking through the streets of Night City and I locate and NPC’s lower body half exposed through a wall, like a weird hentai doujinshi.
I enjoy reading such material. I do not appreciate when such material is invading a game I payed £60 for. There is a time and place for everything.
Positivity. A word that makes people feel an emotion deep into their stomach, a sense of enlightenment and happiness floods the brain, we become all giddy. That’s the essence of positivity. Feeling great and looking at the world with an optimistic, hopeful view.
Let’s start with all the amazing things Cyberpunk did right and the aspects of the game that I enjoy that give me a slightly optimistic outlook for the future of this morbid open-world game.
--- The Positive ---
Crafting ---
I have seen a lot of articles upon the internet roasting the games crafting system for being useless. I have to disagree. The crafting system is nothing extremely amazing, however, it serves its primary purpose well.
You can improve upgradable weapons from their base levels by acquiring crafting specs throughout the world. Once said crafting specs have been located. Simply craft through each tier of the weapons' rank until the legendary tier has been obtained.
The game restricts players from instantly doing such a task and requires perk progression to allow for the upgrade of weapons from rare to epic and from epic to legendary tiers.
Image gathered from the IGN Wiki page. They have a great guide on the crafting perks and abilities. Recommend you check it out
We can level the crafting system itself up to 20. Crafting items, clothing and ammo will reward a small amount of Exp that gets added to the overall total of the level up progression meter. One we have filled the meter and the crafting levels up, It will reward us with a skill point.
This is the basics of the crafting system found inside the game, and I like it. The crafting screen allows for weapons to stay restocked, the ability to create new threads and upgrades for better stats and damage output. Getting perk points through the constant use of crafting will allow for faster character progression. I commend the game’s ability to intertwine crafting and character progression perfectly.
Like I said, it’s nothing new or groundbreaking and other games use this style of crafting and reward in better ways. Still, I enjoyed the use of it in the game's world.
The only gripe I can say is it makes the difficult significantly easier. The ability to keep ammo and healing items restocked takes away from a hypothetical challenge the developers could have utilised to add more depth to the game’s core mechanics, but like I said, gripe.
Weaponry and arsenals ---
I simply cannot fault the weapons and cyber enhancements throughout Cyberpunk. In my build I was a run-and-gun character. Shooting first and asking questions later. My primary weapon was the double-barrel shotgun and the berserker mode enhancement, a combination that makes me feel more overpowered than a huntsman spider among fleas.
Seriously, this combination of cyberwear and weaponry gives me a rush of adrenaline. When I activate the berserk ability and run headfirst into the enemy with no regrets. Before pulling the trigger at point blank range and watching his skull-dome cascade into a multitude of pieces flying in every direction, as his friends witness with palpable horror — is what I live for!
The game offers so much variety for weaponry and enchantments that mixing and matching combinations is practically its own mini game. Smart weapons, plasma rifles, mantis blades, pistols and more. It’s basically an everyday carnival for people with live in texas.
Story ---
A great focal point for any game is story telling. Not all games need significant stories. Some can simply charm us with their amazing gameplay mechanics. Open-world games, I feel, are a category that relies on great writing and storytelling narratives to go from being alright to great.
Cyberpunk offers an engaging and enjoyable story that had me hooked from the beginning to the end. Basing the game around a consciousness swap with johnny Silverhand possessing the body of our protagonists V, in hopes to once again destroy an evil corporation operating by the alias of Arasaka.
Depending on choices made by the player, one of the six endings will play. Apart from this elementary idea, the story didn’t offer too much for me. It was decent but not amazing at its core, it’s just a half-decent story with Keanu Reeves.
So, let’s get to depressy-spaghetti part of the review. Everything that pissed me off.
--- The Negative ---
The world building ---
At first the world of cyberpunk had me encapsulated, as I imagine it did with you too. Corporate companies thriving off the hard labour of those who live below them. A city on the verge of collapse and titties everywhere.
It felt great to ride around in a legally gained automobile and experience Night City first hand. The mountains-buildings towering above and an over-crowded foggy underbelly below.
Exploring the different districts, seeing these four distinct art styles promised in the trailers. I was optimistic. Cyberpunks atmosphere could have been more drenched than a biscuit in a men’s only university dorm room.
Instead, the more I explored and the more I discovered the quicker I learnt, is what we truly have is a world built with lack of personality and every area feels and acts the same way. The districts do not shine with the nuance promised in the release trailer and teaser images. Check out my other Cyberpunk blog to learn about the four distinct art styles promised.
However, the only real distinct location is the badlands, but that place still feels more barren and lacking in any personality or individual quality’s. Which is ironic for its name and environment!
Perhaps my expectations for the world building were high. In fact its, this which caused this game’s ultimate downfall. I was just expecting more personality and individuality for each district. The corporate area being full of high rise building and greedy suit wearing assholes or the badlands feeling more hostile and abandoned. City’s of old laid in wake to the new metropolis.
Instead, we have a lot of garbage, a small out-camp of rebels, and a lot of windmills. The poorer district uses the same concept of having garbage thrown about everywhere and destroyed building laid in wake of the new metropolis.
Night city doesn’t feel any different. Like it took a page out of Skyrim’s book and copied its dungeons a few thousand times and called it content. Up-scale the idea to a city level and you have the level design of Cyberpunk.
” But Simple, you rated Skyrim number one on your other blog for the best open-world games.”
Well, keen-eyed reader, you're correct, however, your arguments a parse because of my next reason.
Freedom ---
Image gathered from Suwalls Desktop Wallpapers
Think of some of the best open-world games ever. Gta, Mad Max, Skyrim, Red Dead, hell even The Witcher. Something these games do extremely well is the ability to create player freedom.
A basic tutorial level shall walk us through the game’s mechanics. How everything works. Then freedom. The player has the option to ignore what the main story offers and start walking or driving in any direction. With smart world building, the best game creators utilise this strength and allow for discoverable locations, great side mission or an ability for the player to create their own fun.
Cyberpunk looses out in all the expressed points because of the game’s limitations of player freedom.
“You want to do anything you want?” Asks CDPR not knowing what makes a great open-world game.
“Yes.” Replies the player with a half-mooned smile on their face and eyes shining bright with extreme optimism.
“Well, fuck you!” Exclaims the creators. Gesturing a middle finger in one hand. Whilst sexually rubbing 100 dollar bills in the other hand all over their mutual sweaty chests.
My point being CDPR limits the player’s options. Want to drive wherever you like. No! All the enemies in this location will instantly obliterate you with one shot. All side quests outside of the primary district are out of your level. “punny peasant. Come back when you’ve played the main quest and a handful of side missions for at least 10 hours.”
Some may say The Witcher has the same mechanics, and that game has ranked for being the best open-world game ever. Those mechanics work for The Witcher and not for Cyberpunk, and this is where the game looses out.
Cyberpunk has the repetitive modern open-world gameplay mechanic that bugs the living shit out of me. Go here, Kill this, reward. Most games have this. Think of a game, it has this mechanic. However, what separates a great game from an alright or bad one is how they keep such a basic mechanic engaging and fun.
GTA has missions like this. However, rockstar used big-brain and made it interesting. Instead of Go here, kill this, reward, upgrade and then go here, kill this, reward and repeat. Like the cycle Cyberpunk uses. GTA used the idea of go here, kill this, reward and buy stacks to flex on friends or improve weaponry so you can again go here, kill this, repeat. That may sound like the same premise on the surface, but it’s one simple change that makes GTA and Cyberpunk different. Cyberpunk’s only core gameplay is this infinite loop, making the game become boring after the first few hours.
Where GTA uses this gameplay mechanics as a basis for a lot of its mission. They offer a lot of variety to change up the formula and keep the game interesting, adding to its longevity. This may also be a partial reason for the game's constant success.
However, Cyberpunks NCPD missions are strictly go here, kill this, reward. The same goes for their gigs. A lot of the gigs and side missions are the same repetitive formula with a lack of innovation or creativity.
With an open-world game built in a dystopian future, the possibility for fun gameplay, interactive side-quest and enjoyable game-modes with the added feature of player freedom should’ve been a given. Games from a decade ago have greater mechanics than this thrown together mess of baby vomit mixed with human excrement after a weeklong bender.
To me, this is the fundamental issue with Cyberpunk 2077. This facade of over hype and false marketing held together by a half-decent story and likeable characters. Pale back that vale and what we discover is a game with poor Ubisoft style open-world mechanics and a game with more bugs than an ant colony on cocaine.
Other things to note. These are minor issues. They didn’t need a full rant, and I didn’t want to waste more of your time, so I will quickly throw them down here.
Lifepaths, pointless? They add little apart from a cool starting narrative and more dialogue options for later in the game. You would think they would add more to the world, but they sadly don’t.
Finally, Teleport locations. Not needed. In a game where walking or getting to certain areas is a problem. For example, Skyrim or The Witcher. Fast traveling or teleportation is a great idea to have in a game to save time. A game like GTA or Cyberpunk where the possibility of getting transport and the map is relatively linear with a lack of layers or obstacles. Teleportation is useless and unnecessary. Let me drive around with the cars I bought instead of teleporting everywhere.
Conclusion: Cyberpunk 2077 is a copy and paste of The Witcher with a new skin. The strengths of that game become unbearably weakness in this one. Backed by a decent story and some likeable characters. This game leaves me with a somewhat questionable taste in my mouth.
However, with a bit of time baking, this game may prove to be a worthy superior to GTA and The Witcher. I'm optimistic for the future of Cyberpunk and what CDPR can bake this game into.
One very final thing. If you would like a review, that's a bit more... Erm, wholesomeness. Then check out DualShockers I have enjoyed reading a few of their blogs and I'm becoming quite the fan. But apart from that... I hope you enjoyed my personal review on Cyberpunk 2077, love you all and have a lovely life.
Comments