Image by CD Projekt Red

Sorry, Mr. Reeves, But This Was Not Breathtaking: A Cyberpunk 2077 Review

By Neil Sharma

Editor-in-chief

E3, June 13, 2019. During this fateful event, there is a raucous crowd being shown the promise of a game that will go beyond any Triple A title featured before. Beyond Skyrim or Grand Theft Auto. Beyond develop CD Projekt Red’s very own Witcher series: the open world medieval behemoth that became the darling of all and the capstone upon which they built their fame.

The future of gaming.

Here we see a glimpse of what’s to come in 2020 with Cyberpunk 2077, a title that has been a decade in the making. Loosely based upon a tabletop game of the early 90’s, it paints a dystopian future of chaos and capitalism, of violence and cybernetics. It has been postponed for release time and time again so CD Projekt Red may deliver the quality fans have come to expect. In the trailers broadcast, we see expansive open-world terrains with a versatile weather system, throngs of NPC’s with daily cycles (they go to bed, to work, to play, have independent personalities), an imaginative hacking system, gorgeous character design, and intricate hints of plot. Finally, as the cherry on the cake, we have the one and only Keanu Reeves, Hollywood’s genuine and perpetual sweetheart, revealed as the star of the game: Johnny Silverhand. From here, Reeves gushes praise thanks to his firsthand experience as a player and architect of the game, that Cyberpunk 2077 would be uniquely breathtaking.

Expectations now reach a crescendo. Charmed and convinced by the most trusted developers in the world, the world couldn’t wait to open their limited-edition box to the future.

How could anything go wrong?

When Cyberpunk 2077 was released December 10^th 2020, it presold eight million copies, becoming the biggest pre-release of all time. Sadly, that’s where the good news ended. Instead of a seamless new age game, what fans got was a bug-ridden glitch fest with some impressive plot driven pieces and character design, but all in all, a complete and utter letdown compared to the hype.

The pandemonium of the first month of release saw the game crash incessantly. Characters would randomly fall out of the map or glitch into walls, jumping off of buildings, or at times be shot into the sun while doing something as mundane as driving a motorcycle. NPC AI was extremely forgettable, having one-dimensional personalities, lacking even the simplest ability to walk around small obstacles. The Police AI was even worse. Should players decide to confront them, they would spawn instantly in droves to wipe them out, for the tiniest infractions. Graphical glitches were omnipresent, with invisible side characters, vehicles that would be buried half underground, and the more obscene moments where plot specific NPC characters would randomly T-pose and start urinating right in front of you, like it were the polite norm of the glorious year of 2077.

Uninspired doesn’t even begin to describe the life path selection, heralded as a choice that would definitively change gameplay until the very end. It is clear now that picking any of the three options (Corpo, Nomad, or Streetkid) will not provide any more than a superfluous addition to the story, offering no more than a unique start to the game and a few choice dialogue options later. The first-person only perspective gameplay was passable but missed out on the advantage of having the user view their uniquely designed character at locations beyond a bathroom mirror or gameplay menu (even using these methods, you’d still see your hair and clothes glitched).

It is possible that Cyberpunk 2077 plays as intended on next-generation (Xbox Series X and Playstation 5) consoles and high-end gaming computers, but for me and many others, it was such a train wreck of colossal proportions that CD Projekt Red had no choice but to offer refunds to unsatisfied customers, many of whom called their work unplayable. Yet, despite all of this I found some silver linings worth mentioning. The game does have promise. The chemistry between V and Jack is endearing, and does make for an interesting time, while the two are together. Keanu Reeves, who I expected to have a small role to play, is actually present through most of the game, adding to a sci fi plot that does engage the player. The open-world system, though lacking from the original promise, is still very expansive, leaving a lot of side quests to explore. The character preparation and design is unlike anything I have seen before, and is truly eye-catching to say the least, with a multitude of Sci-Fi features and adornments to play around with. Recent game updates have also addressed some of the above concerns; however, the game as-is, remains a fragile specter of its initial promise and still is…unplayable.

So there you have it, folks. There is hope! But it is not the hope we walked in with after forking the preorder premium of $60 to claim our ticket to a new gaming beginning. Instead we find that the developers must begin building their game again with numerous patches still in the works. Let this be a lesson to all who game that preorders, though beneficial for developers, generally bely great technical frailties within even the mightiest virtual franchises.

So next time, let’s save our green till the word is out, and we know everything is preem.

Photo by Neil Sharma

Graphical glitches such as half-buried vehicles are among Cyberpunk 2077's many technical faults.

Photo by Neil Sharma

Highly anticipated character life paths resulted in little more than a few different dialogue options.