Cyberpunk 2077: The Most Hyped Game Ever?

Cyberpunk 2077 has become one of the most eagerly anticipated games of all time thanks to a brilliant marketing campaign from CD Projekt Red. The critically lauded studio behind The Witcher series has drip fed information about this title for several years and the hype has risen accordingly.

It went into overdrive when Hollywood superstar Keanu Reeves was unveiled on the stage at E3 2019 to promote the game. The Matrix and John Wick star plays legendary rockerboy Johnny Silverhand in the game, and he whipped attendees into a frenzy of excitement at E3. We are now less than a year away from its launch date and the intense anticipation is rising all the time.

Cyberpunk 2077 Release Date

The game will be launched on April 16, 2020, on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. It is adapted from the 1988 tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020, and set 57 years later in Night City, a dystopian hinterland.

CD Projekt Red first teased details of the game all the way back in 2012. RPG fans have been desperate to get their hands on it ever since. However, the Polish studio did not release The Witcher 3 until 2015, and it had to work on various expansion packs before it could fully devote itself to Cyberpunk.

Yet it now has 450 people working on the game and they will have it ready by April 2020. Next year sees the launch of the Xbox Scarlett and the PS5 is also expected to hit shelves in either 2020 or 2021. Both consoles feature backwards technology, so Cyberpunk should work well on each of them.

Cyberpunk 2077 Setting

Night City is located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the Free State of California. It is controlled by corporations and it therefore operates outside federal and state laws. It has been through four eras –Entropism, Kitsch, Neo-Militarism and Neo-Kitsch – creating a bizarre, thrilling mishmash of futuristic, robot-dependent architecture.

The megacity is divided into six regions. Center City hosts the biggest corporations and their flashy headquarters, while Pacifica is the crime-ridden armpit of the city, In between those two you can explore the industrial district of Santo Domingo, the luxurious, tourist-friendly Westbrook, the suburbs of Heywood and the melting pot of Watson, while you can also venture out into the Badlands that surround Night City.

It will be a huge map and CD Projekt Red has its work cut out if it is to make every area impeccable. Yet the trailers look outrageously impressive, showing off a vibrant yet grimy dystopia, populated by punks and corporate stooges. The city is full of hustle and bustle in the trailers we have been treated thus far, and it will be thrilling to see it come to life in full. You might want to book April and May off work.

Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay

Cyberpunk is an immersive RPG that involves a heavy amount of first-person shooting. It switches into third-person for scripted cut scenes, allowing you to take a look at your creation. The hero is called V and you can customize the character’s face, body and gender. There is also the ability to switch to alternative, non-lethal combat methods and you can apparently finish the game without killing anyone, while you can also drive around the city in a range of vehicles.

It is by no means a family friendly game, as trailers have featured gore, organ harvesting, nudity and rampant swearing. You can define V’s sexuality and morality as you go. The character can shoot, run, take cover, scale walls, jump and slide. You can buy apartments and garages, listen to radio stations and barter with vendors. Quests and missions come from Fixers, while companions help V in a bid to flourish.

And what of Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand? He is actually dead and he lives in V’s head as a digital ghost, appearing regularly to guide the narrative.

Character Creation in Cyberpunk 2077

CD Projekt Red said it has massively expanded Cyberpunk’s character creation options after taking on board feedback at E3 2018. “We just listened to what people wanted, how they thought we could improve,” said senior concept artist Marthe Jonkers. “We really expanded that, which I think is really exciting. You can actually make your own character now; you can change your body type, you can pick a voice you like, you can make all kinds of combinations.”

Stat categories like strength, intelligence, constitution, tech, reflex and cool are malleable depending on the class of character you decide to assume. Your options are Solo, Techie and NetRunner. You can also define V’s face, hair, body shape, piercings, tattoos, clothing and background. The studio is also working on customizable voice for V, while you can continue to customize your character by installing Cyberware throughout the gameplay.

Multiplayer Options

In October 2018, CD Projekt Red announced a “long-term strategic cooperation” on with outside development studio Digital Scapes. It describes itself as “a video game development studio specialising in bespoke PvP gameplay for AAA PC and console titles.” The studio has not explicitly confirmed that Digital Scapes is working on a multiplayer version, but that would be the logical assumption.

Chief executive Adam Kicinski has previously said that multiplayer functions can assure the game’s long-term success. It might even allow it to tap into the flourishing esports sector, so check out Unikrn for regular gaming updates to see what happens in that department.

“We want to experiment in new fields that were not yet explored in the Witcher,” said Kicinski. “Online is necessary, or very recommended if you wish to achieve a long-term success. At some point, we have mentioned that there will be a certain online element related to Cyberpunk.”

However, CD Projekt has promised that it will not include microtransactions in a bid to bolster its ongoing commercial success. Yet there will surely be extensions in future, as this game looks set to be enormously popular. It will be difficult to fully justify the immense hype, but if CD Projekt come close then it will be an awe-inspiring game.