Cyberpunk 2077

I'll start this off by saying that Cyberpunk 2077 is not the game it needs to be, or the one it tries to be, at this point in time. It may get there eventually but what we've got at release time is an incomplete, bug-riddled, mostly lifeless form of what most of us were envisioning. The opening video sequence seems to paint that vision well, with a dystopian city that's oozing with action, crime, sex, drugs and violence. However, once you get settled in and the initial awe of the cityscape fades, you're left with world that's mostly devoid of personality and can't figure out what it actually wants to be. Also, yea, there's quite a few bugs that will be impossible to not notice…

I could almost excuse the visual and game play bugs if the title was more fun to play but unfortunately that's not the case. The combat is clunky and repetitive, the driving and navigating city traffic is mostly annoying, and the items/progression system is just there to be there. Friendly AI is constantly getting in your way (might be my biggest peeve in any fps) and there's health drops almost everywhere you look. Some of the weapons are fun to look at, and I like the customization--but it's not enough to keep me interested personally.

Night City (terrible generic name btw) is genuinely breathtaking upon arrival, and admittedly you could just spend your first hour or two snapping screenshots, however that chaotic "always alive" vibe that you're introduced to falls away pretty quickly. Despite the loads of NPC's walking about and some little pockets of criminal activity, there's nothing there. The police don't chase you (they can't even drive cars to do so) and the whole crime vs punishment system doesn't actually exist; there's essentially no negative repercussion for doing bad things.

Luckily, Cyberpunk does offer some commendable characteristics. For one, it is a very pretty game IF you can afford to pay the steep eye-candy bill. There's no denying that it can't look good for the few who've got the beefcake hardware to both keep the frames up and the glam active. Secondly, the story does offer writing that's competent enough to grab you and it does so with quite a bit of style. Some of it's a little over the top of course, but that's what we kind of signed up for after all. Most of the main characters are very stylized, animated and voiced well, and relatable for the most part.

CDPR still has a bit of work to do, but I think they will stay true to their word and get the game more polished up in the coming months. It's going to take some time though, and it may be difficult to ask many gamers to be patient. It’s really hard to recommend the game in its current state and at full price nonetheless but you might find something to like under all the mess. The release of this game has me somewhat worried about the future of AAA gaming and other large-scale projects that might be carried out by other self-published developers. There are lessons to be learned here but I also can’t help but applaud the talented developers at CD Projekt Red for taking on such a risky and ambitious project.

That’s all for now, gonks.