Cyberpunk 2077 (2020 Video Game)
7/10
Excellent story/characters/quests, flawed sandbox
13 December 2020
I'd put the Witcher 3 up there with my top ten games of all times, a serious contender for the best written RPG I've ever played, competing against Planescape: Torment and Knights of the Old Republic 2.

After the triumph of Wild Hunt, the hype for this new release of CD Projekt RED was insane, which is leading to strongly mixed reactions. Eight MILLION preorders is an incredible result; however, a certain part of the fandom seems to be receiving this as well as the last season of Game of Thrones, churning out scornful memes at impressive speed.

I've read console versions have important issues in terms of visuals and stability. On my PC no complaints on the matter, the game looks neat and I've encountered no major bugs.

More than a cyberpunk Witcher 3, however, this feels like Deus Ex: Night City.

Writing is typically fine, both in the main and secondary quests, with memorable characters and solid dialogues anchored by strong voice acting. CD Projekt RED has a knack for creating NPCs far more interesting than the usual quest-delivering puppets.

What doesn't work? Well, the open world sandbox element of the game lacks immersion and feels rushed compared to, say, Red Dead Redemption 2, which came out two years ago. Night City is vast and looks impressive (I particularly like its verticality) but kinda feels empty, because NPC (and vehicle) AI is lacking and, well, there's not a lot to do other than quests. Some features reek of cutting corners, like the awful police AI: when a crime is committed a bunch of angry cops will spawn behind you like law-enforcing, trigger-happy ghosts and start shooting. It's so rough compared to the sophisticated reactions of lawmen in RDR2.

My advice: if you liked, say, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and want to play this on PC for the story and characters, Cyberpunk is strongly recommended. If you crave an immersive sandbox cyberpunk experience ("GTA 2077: Blade Runner"), wait for new patches and see.
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