I was about to start part two of 'The Good, the Bad, and the Free' when I noticed that something Cyberpunk came up. Since a lot of the talk out of E3 was positive on the game, I just had to take a gander. Next thing you know, CD Projekt Red just dropped the E3 demo right into our laps for our viewing pleasure. After watching the whole thing, I decided to pour out some small quick thoughts I had while watching. Each thought is in bold with my thoughts below. And it should go without saying that the thoughts I have on the game could be changed because of changes made to the game.

1. It's beautiful

The absolute thing this game nails is the dystopian hyper capitalist punk world. The scale of the city, the vibrant colors mixed with the dirty undertones of the streets, the people that inhabit this world, and so much more plays to this world so well.

2. It's immersive and deep

The game also does a great job at really putting you into this world and showing just how much detail has gone into the game. Whether it be special hospital treatment based on how rich you are, getting a look at the different groups of people inhabiting this world, or skills that actually matter in the world like street cred. The game doesn't just allow you to play as a character in this world; it makes you that character in this world.

3. Missions and how you tackle them have weight to them

Every action you took actually felt important. While driving towards the next mission, some of the enemies from the previous one tried to do a drive-by. When teaming up with the mili-tech company, they offered you money so you can take the upcoming mission in a peaceful manner, only to have that end in a betrayal by mili-tech when the money was rigged. Cyberpunk missions feel like something that can have very different outcomes depending on how you tackle them, and I see that as a big potential for high replayability.

4. Gun gameplay didn't look great

I get that there are aspects of this game that are new for CD Projekt Red, but the guns didn't wow me. I saw some cool features to the guns like a ricochet ability, but the shooting itself seems weightless. This one is a little hard to explain, so the best I can say is look at the gameplay yourself. Besides that, I think combat overall looks solid. It seems to offer a wealth of options as to how you want to dispatch enemies and offers some extra movesets like wall running and double jumps.

5. The game seems to have a lot going on, but it never felt overwhelming

The game seems like it would be overwhelming because of all of its systems, but it never felt overwhelming. All of its systems and mechanics felt streamlined in a way that made sense to me and was relatively easy to follow. I don't think this game will be as easy to jump into as Peggle, but I also don't think it will be insanely difficult either.

6. Something didn't feel quite right

The game looks impressive. Almost too impressive. This last part is more of a concern than a complaint, but I think this demo got the Ubisoft treatment. Of course they did say multiple times that the gameplay isn't a representation of the final product, but I feel that this gameplay is flying a little too close to the sun. I really hope I am proven wrong here, but only the final product will tell.

I have more thoughts on the game, but I felt that I should just keep this short and stick to the main points. I have little complaints to what I have seen, and it overall looks very impressive. I'm not really any more or less excited for the game mainly because I know it still is going to be a good amount of time before this game releases, but I think that people coming out of E3 saying this is THE game of the show this year are not wrong. Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of promise, let's just hope the game lives up to it.