Everyone loves a comeback story, and the gaming industry is full of them. Take No Man’s Sky for example; an absolute trainwreck at launch, but over time the game rebuilt its player base and is now a hit with numerous updates that are well received, virtually changing the nature of the game. I am happy to report that Cyberpunk 2077 is another video game that has completed its redemption tour. Releasing at the end of 2020, the game was a disaster: missing features, bugs and a game world that seemed empty. Not to mention the absolutely poor performance on last generation consoles. CD Projects’ star that was soaring after the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt came to a crashing halt. The game clearly needed more time. Years passed as blame was placed on the COVID pandemic during the last year of production and a terrible crunch schedule to rush the game out the door. Four years have passed since the game’s release, updates, a full DLC, and even an anime helped pushed the game back into the public’s good graces. Being fully tempted by the positive reviews and impressions, plus with Starfield falling on its face, I needed a strong open world to sink into. I thankfully found what I was looking for in the streets of Night City.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person open world RPG developed and published by CD Project Red. The game follows the player’s character, a mercenary named V, as they race against time to find a cure for the cybernetic disease that is killing them. This review is being made on Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty, the latest update and the DLC that followed the original release. Essentially, this is a review of the game currently, not on its release state or how it evolved to this point. I played the game on PC and logged around 60 hours in my campaign.

Game reviews done in my style are organized into five categories, with each being graded on a scale from one to five. At the end of the review, all the categories will be summed up to determine the game’s letter grade. The five review categories include: gameplay, story and characters, visuals, soundtrack and sound design, and quality of life. Gameplay is game and level design, the quality of the combat, traversal mechanics and skill tress. Story and characters judge the narrative and character development. Visuals discusses the quality of the graphics and art direction. Soundtrack and sound design looks at the original score, sounds, and ambient music that fills the world with sound. Finally, quality of life grades the game on user interface and game stability.

Gameplay

Cyberpunk’s gameplay is dynamic and fluid, with plenty of options to approaching a mission that can benefit any playstyle. For my playthrough I focused on stealth and pistols, really utilizing a fun combination of the hacking mechanics with Cyberpunk’s gunplay.

Cyberpunk’s gunplay isn’t as polished as other Western RPGs with FPS mechanics, clearly showing that CD Project Red are new to guns, as their previous games in the Witcher series used 3^rd person action-slasher mechanics. For instance, there are moments where I line up a head shot but the hit doesn’t register. Aiming down sights is slightly awkward and feels clunky. The rest of the combat mechanics work well together. Enemy AI behaves and adapts somewhat as they mostly take cover and shoot from afar, though there are some moments of enemies lining up in front of you. Enemy variety is diverse with each faction adding flavor, weapon types, and attitudes to their aggression towards the player. Quick hacks also add a fun variety to combat by adding status effects and damage over time. Though I did not invest too much into the quick hacks tree, I made do with the base hacks. It was actually more enjoyable when the enemy attempts to hack the player as that adds a sense of urgency to disrupt the hack.

Cyberpunk’s stealth system is an aspect of the game that going into the game I didn’t expect to enjoy so much. Being used to Bethesda games, I expected stealth to be a buggy mess and although there were some issues with having the enemy sometimes just knowing where you are, the stealth system worked and was enjoyable. What separates Cyberpunk’s stealth system from others that I’ve played is that the guards/enemies are interactable naturally through the game’s mechanics, like hacking. Enemies also go on alert when they find a body or if you use a hostile hack. Cameras also added another dimension, allowing the player to take control of them to aid themself. Stealth was truly dynamic and enjoyable to the point it became the center of my playthrough.

While I focused on stealth and pistols, the skill tree was diverse with the five-character traits offering different playstyles. These attributes were body, reflexes, technical ability, intelligence, and cool. With a max level of sixty, the player can max out three of these attributes, allowing the player to choose abilities from these lines. The skill tree offers many playstyles such as cyber enhancement, melee slasher, high speed dasher, and focuses on different weapon types. As said earlier I chose stealth and pistols, with investment in sniper rifles and endurance.

Another mechanic that I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it was driving, I expected the mechanic to be tedious and something I wanted to avoid, but I was wrong. I enjoyed driving through the streets of Night City through the wide variety of cars and bikes. This is amplified with the radio that can be played on the go, both in vehicle and on foot. Vehicle handling varies widely from those bikes that turn on a dime to cars that sway with every tap of the button, which is a tad annoying. The Metro fast travel system was a cluster of confusing images that turns away new players, but benefits those who have traversed Night City before. There are also traditional fast travel beacons that populate nearly every street corner and key location in the city back when the game first released. Having multiple fast travel systems in one game is rather peculiar. I found these systems largely unnecessary as the driving is the superior and favorable option.

To sum up, Cyberpunk offers an array of fun gameplay options for the player to pick and choose what they wish to use on their adventures. A gameplay loop based on player creativity will always look great in the eyes of any player.

Cyberpunk 2077’s gameplay score is a 4/5.

Story

Of all the aspects of the game that have evolved since Cyberpunk’s release, the game’s writing and characters have stayed the same, with the exception of the Phantom Liberty DLC. With all the negative reviews for the poor quality and buggy gameplay, the plot has always been well regarded. After completing the game, this is something I agree with. Fair warning, there will be spoilers ahead.

As I said previously, Cyberpunk has the player take control of V and follow their story. The game begins with the player selecting V’s backstory: corpo, nomad, or streetkid. These options don’t really provide much outside of unique dialogue options. After playing out V’s origins, the player is thrown into the first act which revolves around V and their close friend Jackie getting their first big break as mercenaries. However, this gig goes bad as Jackie is killed, which came as a shock to me as the first act built him up to be a main companion for the entire game. V survives but is forced to stow their quarry, a microchip stolen from the megacorporation Arasaka. V’s handler turns on V and attempts to kill him, only for V to survive yet again. Through this near-death experience, V discovers that the microchip has the living conscience of Night City legend and terrorist Johnny Silverhand. The two vastly different personalities clash as they fight over the control of V’s body, only to come to an agreement to find a cure for V’s now dying body, as the conflict between V and Johnny is causing the body to corrupt. The rest of the game has V follow up on leads given to him by his contacts and Johnny and throughout this journey V meets new friends, enemies, and strange denizens of Night City. The DLC, Phantom Liberty, follows a different path, V after establishing himself as a known mercenary, is contacted by an agent of the New United States of America, named Songbird. Songbird informs V that a militaristic gang within Night City has hacked into the President’s transport in an attempt to kidnap them. From there the DLC’s story evolves into a harrowing spy thriller with complex characters and at the end forces you to choose a side and betray characters you’ve come to know. The best part about the DLC is that it is a contained story within the game that can be done before the endgame and doesn’t conflict with the main game. Cyberpunk 2077 has multiple endings based on the relationships and decisions that you have made through your campaign.

Cyberpunk’s characters are a shining spot in the narrative aspect of the game. They each add elements to the game. Some are familiar venders and merchants, handlers, and companions, many of whom have their own questlines that V can assist or hinder them on. Some of my favorite side content includes aiding a Night City mayoral candidate by investigating a murder, rescuing a pair of cops trying to make a quick buck off a drug deal gone terribly wrong, and the times where you allow Johnny take control of your body to clear up last minute business before his number is up. As for the characters themselves, many have made a lasting impact on the player. Judy, Viktor, Jackie, Johnny, Rogue, River, Solomon, and even an AI named Delamain. Each of these characters had purposes, goals, and agendas; they shared so much with the player to help them feel a part of the world. But my two favorites were Songbird and Panam. Songbird is a tortured soul, who like V is dying from a cyber illness caused by a mistake she made in her past. She goes to extreme lengths to cure herself which is a mirror for the player to realize that they are the same. In my playthrough, I helped Songbird escape the NUSA after betraying them. The mission to smuggle her through the spaceport so she can get to the moon was arguably the best in the game, with rises and falls in action and suspense, concluding in a final confrontation, a last stand, and a sad goodbye. As for Panam, she quickly became a favorite due to her attitude and drive to do whatever it takes to save her clan of nomads, even breaking the code that binds her clan together. Panam would eventually become the romantic interest in my playthough and the path that opened up by doing her entire questline was the ending I chose for my playthrough. Plus I got to drive a hovertank and blow shit up. Always a bonus.

With the endings I chose for both the main game and Phantom Liberty I came to realize the theme of the game and the one I held during the whole playthrough. The goal for V and those that inhabit this world filled with megacorporations and gangs is to escape. To become free. That is why I chose the nomad ending and helped free Songbird. Cyberpunk’s story, missions, and conversations are full of intense moments filled with action, but also plenty of quiet moments that allow for reflection. This balance allows the player to be easily immersed in the game. To be honest I can find very little to critique in this category, outside of some occasional lame quests, but then again, every game has content that is subpar. Heck even the radiant quests were entertaining.

Cyberpunk 2077’s story score is a 5/5.

Visuals

When it comes to the graphics and the art style of the character design, such as costumes, armor, and the like, Cyberpunk in my opinion falls short. Throughout my 60-hour playthrough I barely found any interesting looking pieces of clothing and armor for my character to wear. Much of the clothing looked flat out ugly. Character models were also hit or miss, with more attention given to characters with narrative importance. The portions of the game introduced in the DLC looked drastically better than those from the base game. Rendering and crowd generation were mostly fine, with the flaws really only showing up during the first moments of the game booting up. This follows the trends people had when the game came out. Along the routes traveled for missions, Night City is lively, but on the fringes, the cracks of the game show. Granted in the years since, many of these cracks have been filled, yet some of the problems still exist. The main cast at least look amazing and alive. Coloring and lighting for the most part are great. Night City at night is a neon wonderland and the lighting even impacts the gameplay in some aspects. Weather systems are hit or miss; rain looks realistic versus smog effects that look glitchy. Cyberpunk is like most open worlds, graphics and visuals are usually the weakest portions of those titles, with the exception of Elden Ring. Overall, I’d say the visuals on a broad scale look last gen, but the planned content meant for the player’s attention is passable.

Cyberpunk 2077’s visual score is a 3/5.

Sound Design

In contrast to the graphics, the sound design, particularly the soundtrack, helps to heighten the experience. Composers Marcin Przybylowicz and P.T. Adamczyk have done an amazing job crafting an original score that properly inhabits the world around you. It amplifies the crucial moments, both epic and sad. In fact, it is in the sad, humble moments that the original score is at its best. Any score that leaves a hole in the player’s soul is something that is well done. On top of the original score, CD Project Red brought on outside bands, singers, and groups to help write and perform the music that is heard on the radio when you are traveling through the city streets. All I can say is that these songs are genuine bangers that if I had the albums for them, I’d play them in my car. In my opinion the best station to listen to in the game is 89.7 Growl FM, which has a mixture of alternative rock and a hint of rap. To be honest, I have no notes.

As for the rest of the sound design, stuff like sound effects and voice acting are also well done. Much like the writing of the game, the sound department cannot be blamed for the game’s launch issues. The cast, both celebrity and professional voice actors alike, put in a great performance. Keanu Reeves clearly put in a full effort for Johnny Silverhand, while Minji Chang (Songbird), Emily Woo Zeller (Panam) and Michael Gregory (Viktor) were the other performances that should be highlighted.

Cyberpunk 2077’s sound design score is a 5/5.

Quality of Life

Now comes the potentially most controversial category for this review. First let’s go over the UI. It’s pretty basic consisting of a map, health and experience bars, ammo count, and interactable buttons for stuff like V’s phone or calling a vehicle to your side. There were some instances where the buttons weren’t responsive and required a restart or backing out to the menu to solve. I did experience three crashes, just simple application closes. There were still some body glitches, phasing into walls and the like. Some gameplay features aren’t completely smooth all the time, mostly stealth systems. But these features were nothing compared to the bugs at launch, which is what happens when you give a game plenty of polish. I purchased the game on sale for around 30 bucks along with the DLC, which given the experience I had, was an amazing deal. What CD Project did to fix the game is incredible, however, the release state isn’t acceptable. Cyberpunk 2077, in the state that it is in now, is fully acceptable. Too bad it took an extra three years to achieve this. I have touched upon the quality of life in other sections in this review, in general the quality is on par with open worlds that I have experienced in the past with systems that do the job. I advise to pick this title up on a sale if you are worried about supporting a product that faltered at the gate.

Cyberpunk 2077’s quality of life score is a 3/5.

Final Verdict

Cyberpunk 2077, as I have said throughout my review, is a drastically improved game. The game champions its story and soundtrack that helped keep it in the good graces of fans while CD Project worked on refining the title after it got released. It isn’t perfect, no game truly is. The graphics are subpar with a standard UI system. Some bugs are still existent and there are moments where the gameplay systems don’t work as intended. But in all seriousness, Cyberpunk 2077 has been a glorious time for me. It was a journey filled with emotional moments, epic moments, and even moments that made me laugh. In my 60 hours I came to love the world that I fell into to the point that when I reached the end, I was sad to leave it. And any game that does that deserves a pat on the back. Just please CD Project, for the sequel, release it when it is ready.

The final score for Cyberpunk 2077 is a 20/25 or a B-!