What is Cyberpunk 2077?
Cyberpunk 2077 is an upcoming First-Person RPG created by CD Projekt Red and published by their publishing face, CD Projekt. The game is set to be released this December 10th for the PS4, Windows, and Xbox One, and will come on the Xbox Series X and the PS5 next year. The game’s setting is adapted from the old tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020, written and created by Mike Pondsmith, who is one of the game’s lead consultants in addition to having a significant role in the creation of the game’s world and setting. He even has a few cameo roles inside the very game itself.
Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay Features
Let us now take a look at Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay features and what they offer.
Setting
Cyberpunk 2077 is set in the year 2077 in Night City, a metropolis on the Free State of Northern California in the west coast of the United States. With a population of six million, a thriving megacorp at its center, and a rampant case of gang activity, Night City is both vibrant and dangerous to those without the instinct to survive and the claws and fangs to ensure said survival.
Lifepaths
One of the key aspects of the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay mechanics is your character. You play as V, a mercenary who can go through three Lifepaths as a Street Kid, Corpo, or Nomad. While these Lifepaths start at different points and provide differing experiences, all of them lead up to the same first chapter which is the proper start of the game. Each of these Lifepaths can affect how V can start and end interactions with the various individuals and locales that call Night City home. There are even romance options that are locked to you if you’re not in a specific Lifepath. For now, though, let’s not talk about Romance and talk about the Lifepaths that you can lead.
Street Kid
“I know these streets…” The Street Kid Lifepath is exactly what it says on the tin. You’re born in Night City, born to the bustling streets, grungy alleyways, and vibrant communities that are always in the midst of development. The gangs are also abound, always looking to gain and take the streets for their own. Choosing the Street Kid lifepath grants you certain connections with a lot of well-connected individuals all around the streets of Night City, and people from those same streets are more inclined to talk to you because they know you. However, expect some pretty heavy disdain from the corporation suits and the Nomads outside Night City itself. In the case of the corporation suits, they’re not that inclined to even look at your general vicinity due to a holier-than-thou attitude that they exude from every pore of their bodies. They’re gonna be predisposed to distrusting you on general principle. In addition to this, you might not be able to parse the things that are between the lines of what the corporate execs are telling you when you interact with them. This makes it easier for them to string you up in their games. Things are a bit lighter when interacting with Nomads. They’re very much community-driven and will immediately distrust any person that’s not part of their community. You need to do a lot if you want to establish rapport, but it’s still pretty much doable.
Nomad
“Though we wander these desolate wastelands, at least we still have each other.” Nomads are the outsiders, the wanderers. The ones that roam the wastelands of America, blazing their trails, walking their paths. They roam from city to city in their communities, making ends meet and relying on each other to move forward. Due to their very inclusive community, Nomads are distrusting towards other people not a Nomad themselves. They’re gonna be more distrustful of Corpo’s and those on the Street. However, they do have a better relationship with the Street Kids compared to Corpo’s. They will, at least, not employ a shoot-first-ask-later policy.
Corporate
“There’s only two things that matters here: that’s Power and Money. And those two go hand in hand.” Those that choose the Corporate Lifepath will have a few things to their advantage. For one, they start as a sort of fixer inside the Arasaka Megacorp, one of the, if not THE prominent Megacorp on Night City. They have a better read on the people inside the seedy underbelly of the Corporate Ladder, and they have a significant advantage when detecting all of their scheming when interacting with them enough. However, talking to individuals from the Streets will be an uphill battle as they will be very distrustful of you. And don’t even try to talk to a Nomad unless you have a very good reason. They tend to have a beef against Corpo individuals. However, it’s still possible to talk and even interact with them in a significant manner.
Can Choices Affect Endings?
The answer to this is yes. One of the game’s quest directors, Mateusz Tomaskiewicz, stated in an interview that the game will have multiple endings depending on V’s decisions throughout the game. This includes interactions with certain characters, which gangs you antagonized or befriended, which character you romanced, et cetera. You might want to keep a close eye on your actions throughout your whole playthrough if you’re looking for a specific ending.
The World of Cyberpunk 2077
Before we discuss Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay mechanics, let’s take a look at the world you’ll be playing in. The World of Cyberpunk is incredibly apparent from the design of Night City. From various individuals having all kinds of cybernetic enhancements and neon lights that pulse with the beat of the music to the rapport of gunfire on a gang fight, you can see and hear the things that make Night City a place that a lot of people flock to. And you get to experience for yourself what makes it so alluring. For now, though, we’re only teased with gameplay footage and cool concept art. But it’s not gonna be a long wait as the game is going to be released this December. So we just need to hold out a bit longer.
Day and Night Cycles
Its been confirmed by the devs that the game’s Day and Night Cycle will last three full IRL hours. A lot of open-world gamers might notice that this is significantly longer than other games of the type, and it’s for a reason. The length of the day/night cycle is made so that players can explore the totality of Night City at their own pace, allowing them to take in the sights and sounds of the city at what they feel is the best time to do so. With over 3 hours in the day/night cycle, you can expect to do this with ample time for exploration, quest completion, and other things that you may want to do in the city.
Interaction with the Environment
Another thing to keep in mind is that the very environment itself can and will harm you. The devs confirmed that they added in dynamic weather to the game that includes some pretty hazardous weather like acid rai. In addition to this, the game’s NPCs will also react accordingly to said hazards, making them believable and very much dangerous. Different interactions can and will affect your Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay experience.
Map
The map of the game is a fully loaded expanse of the whole of Night City, plus the surrounding area that’s known as the Badlands. When you start the game, it’ll place you on a specific part of Night City depending on what Lifepath you chose on the character selection screen. An example of this is on the Nomad Lifepath. In this Lifepath, you don’t start IN Night City. You start outside of Night City, and you need to find a way to get in. On other occasions, you’re also gonna be flung into other parts of Night City, from the alleyways, dumps, to even cyberspace. However, that’s a story for another day.
Is Fast Travel Possible?
Cyberpunk 2077 allows players to Fast Travel. There are certain map holograms scattered throughout Night City that allows players to Fast Travel to said locations. However, do you want to do so? The devs of Cyberpunk 2077 have repeatedly said that there are some things that you can see when you go and explore Night City to the fullest, from weapon and tech caches to new NPCs. You might want to go out and keep your eyes peeled. After all, you might not know what you’ll miss if you use Fast Travel.
Quests
Of course, we cannot talk about Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay mechanics without taking a look at what would eat the bulk of your time: quests. There are four types of quests that you can choose to go for on Cyberpunk 2077. These are the Main Quests, Side Quests, Street Stories, and Minor Quests. The main quests are self-explanatory. They’re quests that progress the game’s main story and something that you’re gonna have to go through eventually if you want to complete the game. They’re usually built around the game’s main characters and have certain themes that the devs want to show the players. Another thing to note is that it’s possible for players to finish the game doing only the main quests. But are you going to leave the rest of the City and world unexplored, though? Quest type #2 are the side quests. These quests aren’t needed for the main campaign. However, they allow players to see the various happenings inside Night City, to be part of said happenings, and show how their presence impact said happenings. Side quests can be big or small, and may or may not have a purpose. However, they’re still something to look out for. Last but not the least, the Street Stories and Minor Quests. Street Stories work similarly to Witcher 3’s monster hunts, as said by CDPR Quest Design Coordinator Philip Weber during an AMA held on the studio’s official forums. Lastly, Minor Quests are very short side quests that players can take on the side for more info about the world. They can also get a quick buck or an interesting item through these quests.
Combat
Combat is done from a first-person perspective with various methods on how you tackle each combat situation. Your methods vary from sneaking up at enemies and killing them silently to going loud and proud, tanking attacks no human ever should. The game gives you a lot of options to facilitate the destruction of your opponents. To start with this, let’s talk about the weapons that you can get. Let’s look at what you’ll have in your arsenal as we discuss this aspect of the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay.
Weapons
“You better gear up for this…” A Mercenary’s bread and butter, weapons are an essential part of a Mercenary’s arsenal. These are one of the things that V needs to invest in above all else if he/she wants to live another day in the dangerous streets, underbellies, and soaring skyscrapers of Night City. One thing to keep in mind though is that Cyberpunk 2077’s weapons are made to be modified based on the player playstyle. It’s a way to express the player’s way of utterly destroying their enemies. From increasing bullet power and tracking bullets to bullets that go through concrete walls, there’s probably a mod for what you wish for. To ensure that your V has the maximum capability to deliver carnage, here are the weapons that you have to choose from:
Power Weapons
“Loaded for bear…” The most similar of all to what modern militaries currently have today—at least in terms of what it can do—Power Weapons live up to their namesake and put particular emphasis on sheer power. They’re the weapons that can pierce or even break body armor, and they rely on sheer reflexes and good gunplay. They also have a pretty cool perk in addition to this: Power Weapons can ricochet from solid surfaces, allowing V to set up trick shots that can hit from any possible angle. If you’re wondering what that looks like, think a Gunslinger from Stephen King’s Dark Tower. They can bounce their bullets from various surfaces, allowing them to do sick trick shots to not only kill, but also to disorient and confuse their targets. Also, there’s a very good chance that we can even hit our bullets to speed them up. But for now, that’s mere conjecture on the weapon class’ capabilities. Currently, a few Power Weapons were introduced on CD Projekt Red’s podcast known as Night City Wire. First was Carnage, a pump-action shotgun made by the arms maker Budget Arms. There’s also a double-barreled shotgun that showcased the weapon type’s capabilities to ricochet shots, and guns that look like assault rifles.
Tech Weapons
“Heere’s Johnny!” Tech Weapons, on the other hand, are weapons that look like they fit more in a cyberpunk world. With various wires and a somewhat futuristic look, some of the guns in this category also look like today’s modern guns with an added twist of electric wires and coils. They’re a really sweet weapon design to tickle the fancy of people who dig the aesthetic of creating their death-dealing weapon of destruction. In addition to this, the guns have the uncanny ability to pierce through walls, cover, and concrete as if they’re nothing more than butter. Your enemy might be behind a wall, but there’s nothing stopping you from popping their heads with these guns, now is there? Either that or you can disintegrate their whole bodies even when they’re in cover by shooting THROUGH said cover. Either way, Tech Weapons provide a wealth of tactical advantages. Players who would wish to invest in this weapon type need to be conscious of these tactical advantages to make use of them. For now, the weapons that were shown currently include Nekomata, a sweet sniper rifle by Tsunami Defense Systems. The sniper rifle showed its capabilities by popping off someone’s head from a distance, with the unlucky victim none the wiser. Other weapons included what looks like DIY combo versions of a double-barreled shotgun and a railgun. Yes, you heard right. A marriage between a railgun and a double-barreled shotgun. Its as awesome as it sounds, with the results speaking for themselves when they turned someone’s head into fine mist after a headshot.
Smart Weapons
“Who needs to aim?” Smart Weapons are the last of the gun types that you can get on Cyberpunk 2077, and you can pretty much expect what these weapons can do from its name alone. These weapons indeed have a normal firing mode, being that you can still line your sights and pop some heads with these. However, the real capabilities of these Smart Weapons require a Smart Link between itself and the user. Once that’s established, the real fun begins. Once the Smart Link is online through a piece of cyberware in V’s body (typically this kind of augment is on the eye), Smart Weapons can highlight and track enemies with the weapon’s in-house targeting systems. After tracking and marking them, the weapon’s bullets will then track said enemies. This tracking will completely bypass any cover they hide in, so long as the weapon is able to track them. They will keep following the enemy until they hit or the enemy’s dead. Now, this may sound overpowered to some people. And yes, it’s true, it does sound overpowered. However, there are drawbacks. For one, you need to have a specific piece of cyberware installed on V’s body to even use Smart Weapons to their fullest potential, which usually means sacrificing an eye. In addition to this, the efficiency of the enemy tracking is not based on V’s stats and skills, but instead on the gun’s capabilities. So a better gun equals better tracking. The last of these disadvantages is that any skills that V can get don’t affect the capabilities of a Smart Weapon. While it’s true that all these disadvantages are bad, try saying that again when you’re facing a shotgun with eight barrels that fire shells that track you.
Melee Weapons
“I wanna get up close and personal…” Melee weapons are exactly what it says on the tin. An up-close and personal weapon that’s reliable and won’t run out of ammo. Various melee weapons are already shown in the game. One of them being a cool Thermal Katana, and another is a vicious maul that you can pilfer from a boss. The Thermal Katana allows players to cut their enemies like butter and is great for silent and quick kills if you have the appropriate perks and stats for it. Meanwhile, the maul shown in the previous trailers allows players to play whack-a-mole on their enemies. With the right perks, stats, and augments, you can even send enemies flying.
Cyberware
“My body is a weapon…” Last but not the least is Cyberware. These weapons are unique in that they’re surgically grafted into V’s own body, making it so that he can look innocuously unarmed to other people while, in reality, is armed to the teeth. Among the various Cyberware weapons that are shown in the game’s trailers are Monowires and a hidden projectile launch system that shoots grenades and bullets from V’s arm. The Gorilla Arms are exactly what it says on the tin, and the eponymous Mantis Blades are as cyberpunk as it gets. The Gorilla Arms are especially interesting. Not only do they increase V’s punching power but also straight-up rip turret guns from their placements. Combine that with defensive Cyberware and armor, and you can turn V into what is essentially a mobile juggernaut of pure destruction. Another option is to use the Mantis Blades or the Monowires to sneakily and silently kill enemies. Since these are concealed weaponry, they’re great for taking down opponents in stealth missions. Finally, the projectile launch system can come in clutch when V’s out of ammo or if he wants to do some sneaky kill shot here and there.
What’s Good and Bad From What We Know So Far?
That concludes our in-depth look at the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay features. Cyberpunk 2077 is looking like a great game to play overall. The graphics are great, the gameplay looks cool, and there’s a myriad of ways that players can play the game. It’s up to the players to elevate V from a mere mercenary into a legendary individual that can do the hardest jobs with ease. If you want a look into the futuristic world of Cyberpunk 2077, it will be up on the 10th of December. You wouldn’t want to miss it.
