Cyberpunk 2077: What We Know
Those excited for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 have probably been delighted from all the little bits of news and information that’s been surfacing over the past few years. Still, there’s a lot to take in with less than a year away until the highly anticipated release date.
The best part is, even though there’s so much to find out, the game itself remains just mysterious enough to keep us itching for more. That’s why we’ve decided to compile all the tidbits scattered out there to try and make sense of what the game has to offer.
Beyond the allure of a tough lead played by Keanu Reeves and the bright, neon-tinged city where all the gritty and awesome-looking gameplay takes place, let’s do what we can to uncover what Cyberpunk 2077 is all about so all the below questions are answered once and for all!
- What is the release date for Cyberpunk 2077?
- Is Cyberpunk 2077 ever coming out?
- How much will Cyberpunk 2077 cost?
- How big will Cyberpunk 2077 be?
Release Date
But before we get swamped in all the details, we should probably set a major piece of information straight. When is the game coming out?
At E3 2019, the trailer and Keanu Reeves himself dropped the date, and it was later confirmed in forums – April 16, 2020. It will be available for PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Google Stadia.
Although CD Projekt initially slated the game for a 2019 release, the fans are just glad to have just less then a year until Cyberpunk 2077 hits the market. In fact, there have already been tons of preorders.
Trailers and Other Sneak Peeks
The most recent peek we’ve had at the game is a 15-minute gameplay demo which CD Projekt livestreamed. They also showed parts of the demo at Gamescom, after which they talked about character creation, world design, and side quests.
However, even better than that is a public preview of Cyberpunk showcasing 48 minutes of gameplay. This is perhaps the biggest source of information for all suppositions and speculations about the game. More on that later.
There’s also a behind-the-scenes look where CD Projekt Red reveals the actors’ motion capture process used for cutscenes, and untextured models from the game. Although they’re just short and don’t really offer anything new or in-depth, it’s still a cool look.
Suppositions and Speculations
Now with all that said, it’s time to dive into the details and rumors that can be gleaned from everything CD Projekt has released.
Character Design
The 2018 demo is super valuable when it comes to giving us the particulars of character creation. First off, you can choose your sex, after which you’ll be able to customize hair, clothes, and even tattoos. No options to tweak bone structure of facial features, but it’s good enough.
It’s also possible to play around with your stats, from basics like Strength and Intelligence to a Cool stat which shows how well your character can deal with stress, something that supposedly ties into weapon accuracy. All in all, the stats include Strength, Intelligence, Constitution, Reflexes, Cool, and Tech. We have yet to uncover the importance of every one.
Lifepath
What’s different about Cyberpunk 2077 is that you can change your backstory, or Lifepath, as the game calls it. The options are Nomad, Corpo, and Street Kid.
Each of them drops you off in a different starting point. And because of your origin story, you get a unique set of dialogue choices that can change how quests turn out.
In any case, your character will always be V, a cyberninja and mercenary.
Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand
With Keanu Reeves revealed as the main character in the E3 2019 trailer, Cyberpunk 2077 garnered the whole world’s attention. Even better, he’s playing Johnny Silverhand, a well-loved character carried over from the OG Cyberpunk tabletop game from 1988.
Silverhand, however, is dead in the game. He’s a digital ghost who lives in V’s head, which takes the story in a very intriguing direction. It turns out, Keanu’s role isn’t as small as we’d expect from a big-name celebrity – and that has got everyone absolutely thrilled.
The new character design for Silverhand is also quite different from the original one from the tabletop game. Instead of embodying a Rockerboy, which is a subclass that reflects a very ‘80s aesthetic, Silverhand of 2077 looks more like John Wick (no surprise there).
Good news, though – he still has his iconic cybernetic arm.
Setting: Night City
Now let’s talk about another big selling point of the game. It’s all in the name, after all – Cyberpunk 2077 is meant to offer a gritty yet neon-colored, futuristic world with foggy streets and insane technology.
To be specific, the game is set in Night City, which is a fictional city that’s a cross between LA and San Francisco. It’s based mostly off the Cyberpunk RPG that Mike Pondsmith created, complete with punks and corporates sleazing around.
What adds intrigue to the setting is that it exists in the aftermath of a war that was waged between the powerful mob and big corporations around half a decade prior. Still, it’s a lively and bustling city, showcased best in the sneak peeks where V walks amidst crowds of hundreds.
Even cooler is the utter massiveness of the city, with six districts that need no loading screens to travel to and from. It’s unsure if driving a car will feel a lot like GTA, but the previews show an impressively smooth experience. In fact, CD Projekt has revealed that there will be a function to summon your car to wherever you’re at, which is pretty convenient.
Some of the six districts include the City Center, which is extremely elite, and Japantown, which is also an affluent area. Pacifica, however, is a poorer district, rife with all sorts of criminal activities.
It doesn’t end there, either – lead quest designer Pawel Sasko revealed at E3 2019 that players can also explore the areas outside of Night City. He says it’s “mostly sort of destroyed after all the droughts and everything that happened in the 50 years from 2020 to '77 … there are specific quests prepared for that, also open-world content.”
Basically, the world of Cyberpunk 2077 looks amazingly promising.
There is also a lot of talk of introduction of gamer's favourite Witcher 3's Ciri into the mix but dev Badowski quickly rebutted those talks. We have seen this all too well before as a marketing ploy, so guys, we need to wait and watch if that sultry seductress on a motorbike will turn up! We certainly hope so..
Gameplay
In contrast with most RPGs, 2077 appears to have lots of first-person shooting, although cutscenes and driving have been shown to switch to third-person perspective. Everything is quick and crazy, with our main character V being really fast and agile.
In fact, the demo features a firefight in which V ducks behind cover and swiftly and sneakily fires a gang of scavengers with a spray of bullets from a pistol. Each shot landed explodes with numbers that reveal the damage dealt, but it doesn’t look cheap at all.
And because V is a cyberninja, she has a wide variety of skills. She’s able to run, take cover, make a short dash to a specific point, and even fire a gun in slow-motion bullet-time. A combination of the dash and the bullet-time delivers a satisfyingly fatal kill.
Weapons
When it comes to weapons, there will be a lot of guns.
There’s a tech shotgun which can break through cover. It appears to work best with an upgrade which gives V an optic implant showing enemies through objects.
There’s also a smart rifle that fires bullets that can track and follow enemies. This is convenient when the Cool stat is low, worsening shooting accuracy, since aiming at the enemies’ general direction already does the trick.
But it’s not all guns either. There are robots that can be remotely controlled, such as a spiderbot that climbs walls and ceilings, which we will hopefully see more of as the release date gets closer.
In short, Cyberpunk 2077 offers all the exciting action that a first-person shooter would, making it more than just another open-world RPG. Don’t worry, though; it doesn’t seem that CD Projekt neglected that aspect of the game, as we’ll delve into the setting and exploration of the world later on.
Multiplayer?
The producers have confirmed that there will be a multiplayer mode, although this will only come out after the free DLC is released. To be fair, everyone saw this coming (with differing opinions on the matter), but managing director Adam Badowski reassured fans.
"It will be a story-based RPG experience with amazing single-player playthroughs," he told Eurogamer in 2013, "but we're going to add multiplayer features."
Back in 2017, CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński already set the preference for multiplayer features, as he said these would ensure the long-term success of the game. Of course, this got the gaming community concerned over microtransactions.
The developers tweeted to ease troubled minds, ensuring that they’d deliver a game in the style of Witcher 3, with a massive single-player story-driven RPG in an open world setting. The tweet ends with a promise that there will be no hidden catch and that those who buy the game will get what they pay for.
Upgrades and Augments
In-game, the augments a character can acquire are called cyberware. In the demo, the player could visit a Ripperdoc who’s able to upgrade and replace cyberware, offering a whole load of things from implants to grips for guns.
One little thing to nitpick is the lack of risky negative effects and dangers that cyberware can impose on mental health.
We’re talking about the cyberpsychosis that the tabletop game featured before. There were stats called Empathy and Humanity that indicated the player’s risk of mental illness from cyberware use.
Such stats were absent from the demos, which is a bit disappointing. The frustrating part is, the 2013 reveal trailer slightly touched on it, showing the C-SWAT arresting a woman who succumbed to the psychosis, so why not go all the way and tackle an interesting aspect of the lore?
Darkness and Maturity
Let’s get this straight: Cyberpunk 2077 is not for kids. The demo itself shows this, beginning with V finding a woman naked in a bathtub, apparently kidnapped by organ scavengers. There’s also a ton of swearing.
A unique thing is that you can actually play the game without having to kill anyone, which is great for those who don’t want gore. It seems CD Projekt decided to add non-lethal options to weapons and cyberware, as reported by the lead quest designer Paweł Sasko in an interview with PC Gamer.
A Little Romance?
Although a love story isn’t exactly what people expect from a futuristic cyberpunk world, there will be choices that can lead to romance.
Quest designer Patrick Mills revealed to Game Informer that players get to define their own character in Cyberpunk 2077, which means that they get to define their sexuality any way they want. He promised NPCs that are gay, bi, and straight with the goals of helping build a game world that feels real and enables people to act out on their preferences.
CD Projekt also compared the romance in the upcoming to that of Geralt’s in Witcher 3, although there will be more options more variety overall. What’s similar is the scope and detail. "Romancing is something heavily present in Cyberpunk, from meaningful connections to one-night stands,” they shared.
Morality Mechanics
When it comes to morality, quest director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz told Gaming Bolt that Cyberpunk 2077 will not have mechanics. It would mostly depend on the Lifepath of the character and the reputation they develop throughout the game.
Again, like Witcher 3, players get to have moral choices without having to worry about it as a statistic. Although there is a high chance that law enforcement in Night City will crack down on you if you decide to be bad – still, this could depend on where you choose to engage in criminal activities.
“Shooting someone in the City Center will garner some attention from law enforcement, but in Pacifica, there would probably be no one around to see or even care about it,” game producer Richard Brzymowski said to USgamer in an interview.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve been waiting for Cyberpunk 2077 for ages or if you’re just jumping onto the bandwagon of excitement, cool action sequences, and gritty, neon-lit futuristic cities, there’s no denying that this next game from CD Projekt has to deliver.
What with Keanu Reeves fanning the flame even further by gracing the game with his presence, the hype has definitely climbed epic proportions.
We will have to wait until April 16, 2020, to see if the game lives up to the hype. But one thing’s for sure – CD Projekt will win either way, with a projected 20 million in sales once Cyberpunk comes out.
Let’s hope it’s not all numbers, and that the game leaves us as psyched to keep playing as we are anticipating its coming. Will you be buying the game? Let us know in the comments section below