“At its core, the game had potential, but stumbles on delivery.”
As 2020 came to an end, there were notable games released to major consoles. Of these, “Cyberpunk 2077” was the last major game released in mid-December. Created by CD Projekt Red, the creators of “The Witcher series,” there was anticipation that the video game was revolutionary in applying mature content for suggested gamers. For some, there was a belief within the gaming community that “Cyberpunk 2077” was to be the future of gaming, but for others, it probably was overhyped. In being a fan of science fiction, I chose not to turn away from this game and explore its lore.
In the game, the player takes on a role as “V,” a mercenary sent out to steal a chip from the Arasaka Corporation so as to make a name in Night City. Little to V’s knowledge, the chip contains the data of Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves. Pending on the player’s choices throughout the game, V can save or destroy the world based on their actions throughout Night City.
When I first got the game on the PlayStation 4 back in December of 2020, I was in awe of its luster and graphics. The most notable thing I enjoyed in playing “Cyberpunk 2077” is the idea of choice. Since most of the game is story-driven, the player has the opportunity to choose which lifepath to embark on and deal with the consequences. The three lifepaths the player can play from are Nomad, Street Kid or Corporate. Since I knew a little of “Cyberpunk 2077” and its lore, I chose the Street Kid path. Along with the idea of choice, the game did well in having a skill tree. Unlike “The Witcher series,” “Cyberpunk 2077” has five different areas to choose from, which are Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical and Cool. As someone who plays stealth games, I chose a mixture of Cool, Technical and Reflexes to harness my skills. In addition, I felt its combat gameplay equates to that of Borderlands.
Within a few hours after the game’s prologue, I noticed that there was something wrong. The main issue I had were the unusual glitches. For example, when I was calling my car, the game instantly stopped and gave me a notice that there was something wrong with the game. Another issue the game had was that the frame rate kept dropping each time I went to another location. Despite these frequent occurrences, I chose to keep playing the game, but as I continued to progress, there were certain moments in the game that proved to be too glitchy.
Though this is my experience playing the game on the console version for the first time, I would probably argue that getting “Cyberpunk 2077” for the PC version would fare better. Regardless of its flaws, I chose not to return my game to GameStop, but kept it in the hopes that CD Projekt Red would revamp the game with patches. As it turned out, they did release several patches for the game; however, the game itself still has glitches and bugs. Consequently, the game that was promised back in 2019 never truly delivered as it came to its release in 2020, which left me to ponder about the future of “Cyberpunk 2077”. Personally, I believe that the game did not deliver because of ongoing delays that took hold. I guess I will have to wait and see within the summer of this year to find out what Downloadable Content (DLC) will come out for this game.
Overall, “Cyberpunk 2077” has great potential for story and action, but due to ongoing issues with glitches along with framerate drops, the game significantly lacks potential that “The Witcher 3” achieves. That said, I would rate this game a three out of five stars. For those wanting a story driven experience that primarily focuses on choices and consequences, I suggest playing “The Witcher” series.
Nicholas Bartelmo is a fourth-year History major. NB790429@wcupa.edu