Cyberpunk 2077

A game from CD Projekt RED, the creators of The Witcher, based on Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop game. The player is sent to the year 2077, where their character, V, must become a legend in the futuristic city of Night City, California, and find a way to survive an incurable disease. It won’t be easy: the city is torn apart by gangs, the schemes of multinational corporations, and everyday conflicts caused by glaring social inequality. A wide selection of weapons and a dynamic combat system make for an exciting gameplay experience.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person, story-driven action RPG with immersive sim elements. Vehicles are controlled from a third-person perspective. The game takes place in the vast open world of Night City, where every corner is filled with characters and activities, and adventures await in abandoned buildings as well as on busy streets. The combat system lets you hack computer systems and enemy implants, shoot enemies in gunfights, or slice them up in close combat. The hero’s chosen background—corpo, gang member, or street kid—doesn’t affect the main story, but unlocks unique dialogue with supporting characters.

The game’s setting is “cyberpunk” as imagined by science fiction writers in the 1980s. It’s not dark, cold, and technological, but bright, kitschy, and wild. Humans and machines have begun to merge. People are constantly augmenting themselves with cybernetic prostheses and brain implants. Artificial intelligence is free. The city’s urban landscape has been ravaged by economic crisis and wars between street gangs and corporations. Narrow streets glow with neon lights and are covered in hieroglyphs. This is a world where advanced technology coexists with a society in decline and a low standard of living.

We first heard about work beginning on a game based on Cyberpunk in 2012. It was officially announced at E3 2018, and after several delays, the game was released in December 2020.The launch was plagued by technical problems that negatively affected Cyberpunk 2077’s reviews. But the creator of the universe, Mike Pondsmith, praised CD Projekt for how the developers brought the setting, atmosphere, and game world to life while preserving the spirit and themes of the tabletop game.

Over the next three years, CD Projekt improved the game’s overall condition with a series of patches. They added a new wanted system and vehicle combat. They revamped the AI, teaching NPCs, the police, and enemies to react appropriately to what was happening. They completely overhauled the skill tree and refreshed the controls. They also significantly improved the graphics. With patch 2.0, the open world, role-playing system, and police interactions started working the way they should have at launch.

The world of Cyberpunk is very different from our own: technology developed more rapidly, and corporate rule—the power of multinational corporations—replaced electoral democracy. At the beginning of the 21st century, half of the American states gained autonomy from Washington, but the US did not break apart; instead, it formed a confederation. Under pressure from circumstances, California split into North and South, with the border between them running south of Night City.

The city was founded in 1994 by billionaire Richard Night, who wanted to build a utopia free of crime, poverty, and government control. Corporations supported him, attracted by the freedom to pursue unethical research. But everything turned out the opposite way when Richard was murdered and the corporations seized power by force. Night City became a symbol of how high technology can be used to deepen social inequality and exploit people.

By 2077, economic crises and prolonged wars between gangs and corporations had plunged most of the metropolis into chaos and anarchy. Corporations have abolished human rights and take over any successful business, while street gangs have made human life worthless.

Bright spots in this dark reality are the heroes of the past, such as Johnny Silverhand (a character played by Keanu Reeves). The leader of the band Samurai actively fought injustice through his songs before ending up in V’s head. Back in the day, he blew up the headquarters of the Japanese corporation Arasaka with a portable nuclear bomb, completely changing Night City. This is also where the game differs from the tabletop RPG.

The residents’ ideology is simple: know how to sell yourself and stand up for yourself. This has led to more freaks, crazies, and maniacs on the streets. Night City has become a city of adventurers who come here in search of fame and self-fulfillment. In reality, these are just empty hopes, illusions, and lies that most people pay for with their lives.

Cyberpunk 2077 has a huge open world made up of two large, roughly equal areas: Night City itself and the Badlands wasteland to the east. The city consists of 6 key districts:

Night City looks beautiful on the surface. Its buildings feature rich architecture and unusual shapes. Giant screens, neon signs, and regular billboards are everywhere. Cars fly across the sky. Metro trains zip along the monorail. Nightclubs look like they belong in a cult sci-fi movie. The characters on the streets, the cars, and the buildings all match the descriptions of the districts. In the center, corporate types and celebrities drive expensive cars, while on the outskirts, ordinary guys drive beat-up cars. The same goes for the interiors: a flashy shack with plastic and cheap decor in Pacific is no match for a luxurious apartment with marble and wood in a glass-and-concrete skyscraper in the City.

In terms of building detail, Cyberpunk 2077 puts GTA and similar games to shame: it has more bars, clubs, shops, offices, and other indoor spaces. There are lots of open areas, even if they are filled with little more than piles of trash and concrete benches. The Badlands also live up to their name, though valuable loot is hidden among the gas stations, motels, power plants, and endless dump. The life simulation system is standard. Bots go about their business, run from gunfire, or chase the player for committing crimes. The wanted system is similar to the star system in GTA.

The world of Cyberpunk has the internet and social networks in a form familiar to us. Throughout the game, the player chats, pokes around on computers, visits websites to buy cars or real estate, and even surfs the internet through virtual reality goggles.

The promised “cyberspace” by CD Projekt is implemented as a special way of programming and hacking—a visual interpretation of code. Those who use it are called netrunners (network runners). The technology is so dangerous that you can’t simply connect to the network by plugging a cable into a port in your head: the body works as a single processor and generates a lot of heat. If it isn’t submerged in an ice bath, the body will overheat and the netrunner will die.

Fans rushed to polish and improve the game with mods, reworking every aspect. Mods for Cyberpunk 2077 are catching up in popularity with Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition and Fallout 4. The developers actively support the modding community by releasing the tools it needs. You can download the best and newest mods from our mod database for Cyberpunk 2077.

They improve graphics and image clarity , add radio stations for every taste, rework the mechanics of machine guns, let you ride the metro and customize cars, improve vehicle physics, add fan service, such as a sword from Doom or the ability to fly.

Attributes —strength, reflexes, intelligence, technical ability, and cool—are the main stats that affect your character. Each attribute has its own perk tree, with perks that can grant abilities or buffs, or improve V’s interactions with the world. For example, raising strength lets you break into cars, force open locked doors, or intimidate people. The higher an attribute, the more perks you can learn in its tree.

Skills —engineering, endurance, hacking, combat, and melee—are small improvements that support the player’s preferred playstyle. They level up passively as the player performs various actions in the game. Yes, using smart weapons, implants, and crafting items, the player levels up their Engineering skill. In turn, the skill makes them a little more effective at crafting and using weapons and implants. Every 5 levels (out of 60 total), the character gains a passive perk in one of the skill trees.

The third progression path is cyberware (chrome). From 1 to 3 pieces can be installed in every part of the character’s body. They can add armor and health, speed up regeneration, highlight enemies behind walls, and increase carrying capacity, damage, and defense in melee combat.

You won’t be able to install all the best body modifications—there’s a limit to the number of cyberware capacity points. This limit is determined by leveling up the “Technical Ability” attribute. Since update 2.0, cyberware has played a special role in the game and is just as important as the main progression system. For example, the “Sandevistan” implant slows down time and lets you land headshots on enemies.

The game features every familiar type of melee and ranged weapon, but they stand out with five rarity levels (from common to legendary), damage types (explosive, thermal, electrical, or chemical), and futuristic weapon classes.

Standard firearms are called Power weapons. They’re powerful, but their bullets ricochet a lot. Tech weapons, based on railgun technology, can penetrate cover but fire slowly. Smart weapons fire bullets that pursue their target until they hit. Weapons can be fitted with upgrades that increase damage, accuracy, and other stats, while features such as ricochets or bullet tracking only work in combination with cyberware.

Bladed weapons, including axes, katanas, long knives, and machetes, are ideal for stealthy kills, but you’ll have to get right up close to your enemy. Since update 2.0, katanas and other melee weapons have become more lethal and effective. For hand-to-hand combat, when you need to stun rather than kill, you can use hammers, non-lethal weapons, or simply V’s fists.

Together, all of this lets you build characters of different classes and play through the game in completely different ways. A solo can mow down enemies with a machine gun, just like Rambo. A Netrunner relies on pistols, sprinting, and the blades in their hands. An Engineer may carry an assault rifle, but also makes use of technology and a helper robot.

The Cyberpunk 2077 campaign follows the usual open-world formula: you travel around, complete main and side quests, take on secondary missions, and take part in random events, such as shootouts between the police and gangs. With the release of update 2.0, clothing became purely cosmetic and no longer provides “armor”—that role was taken over by implants.

Earning lots of money, getting the best implants, and finding legendary weapons are top priorities for success. You’ll need to take jobs from fixers, many of which are just as detailed as the main quest, craft items from scavenged resources to sell them, hack access points, and complete small quests around the world. For example, help the NCPD (the police) fight crime by battling city gangs and taking over their bases.

It’s impossible to finish the game without killing anyone. Shooting plays a major role, but as mentioned above, the combat style varies for each class. Also, get ready to take part in races, chase targets, or escape from pursuers.

There are several hub locations: the apartment, where V rests and stores their belongings, and the Afterlife bar, another key location in the game.

Cyberpunk 2077 is more than just a set of combat mechanics and ways to interact with the world; it’s a full-fledged story-driven adventure. The simple premise—V wants to get rich and famous in Night City—turns into a fight against corporate rule for freedom, peace, and capitalism, with the arrival of Johnny Silverhand. Keanu Reeves’s character is not without fault, but he rejects the material world and tries to prove to V that corporations are the true evil, while the cars, clothes, and implants they want are just tools of control and oppression. The inner conflict between the characters is fueled by a biochip that is overwriting V’s consciousness with Johnny’s personality.

As part of the story, you need to complete three main questlines, each with its own set of events, characters, locations, and activities, all weaving together into one of several endings. The story draws you in right away, packs an emotional punch, and unfolds on several levels. The characters’ ideological clash, their struggle for control of the body, each one’s ambition to influence the world around them, and difficult philosophical questions about life and death, purpose, and the value of time—all of this unfolds before the player’s eyes. And the flashbacks into Johnny’s world help you get to know him better.

In addition to the main storyline, there are several side stories that also affect the ending and the main playthrough. But it’s up to the player whether to do them or not. The game takes their choices into account and shapes the story accordingly.

The writers skillfully bring out the personalities of both the main characters and the supporting cast. V will work with or compete against people of many different ages, cultures, social standings, and levels of influence. Some will stick around for a long time as love interests, while others will disappear at the end of the next mission.