Cyberpunk 2077 was hyped up to be not only the game of the year but possibly the game of this decade as well. While I did try to seep myself separate from the hype associated with this game, I won’t shy away from saying Cyberpunk 2077 has far exceeded my expectations. In many ways, Cyberpunk 2077 feels like a genre-defining game that will be remembered by fans for a very long time. I’ve played about 22 hours as I’ve been messing around in the Night City doing side missions, gigs, and soaking in the glistening neon-filled world. This is a massive game and there was no way I could have finished Cyberpunk 2077 in time for the global embargo. However, that does not mean we cannot talk about the game and what we think so far. Do keep in mind everything we talk about below is spoiler-free and only talks about my initial impressions of the game based on over 20 hours of in-game time.  

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

In our 22 hours of gameplay time, the story so far has been quite action-packed and filled with emotions. The opening sequence of the game is fairly long, filled with tutorials and basic introductions to the complex RPG mechanics. You will learn the ropes gradually until the very end of the first act of the game. The main title screen does not even appear at least five hours into the main campaign. I chose to play the ‘Street Kid’ life path for my first playthrough as I wanted to experience ‘Night City’ from the get-go and trust me when I see say this - it was a sight to behold. So far, the story has been exceptional and I haven’t come across even one boring moment. Most of the game’s presentation is very cinematic where the gameplay flawlessly switches from gameplay to set pieces without you even realising it. 

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

I’m not going to be talking much about the story as yet, however I will say that every decision you make matters. Your decisions are the most important aspect in the context of the overall story and you shouldn’t take it lightly. Some choices will come from conversations while others might just surprise you. CD Projekt Red has masterfully implemented consequences and gains that might creep up at the most unexpected moment. Due to a plethora of choices available and its first-person nature, the game truly makes the experience feel like a personal journey. I haven’t come across a game like this in a long time that sets a new benchmark for immersion. 

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

Speaking of immersion, the world crafted by CD Projekt Red is by far the most detailed environment we’ve ever seen in a game. The futuristic metropolis looks and feels and sounds like a melange of Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong, although with a futuristic vibe. The world is populated just like you would expect from a dense city like Tokyo, filled with NPCs who are strolling the streets of Night City and going about their day. There will be times you will be visiting markets that genuinely feel overcrowded and you may have to trade through a hoard of NPCs to get to your destination. Night City truly feels like a lived-in city with beautiful skylines and city centres that can give real-world cities a run for their money. Even most of the character models of NPCs look extremely detailed, realistic and at par with what we’ve seen in previews. 

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

The case remains the same while driving vehicles as you will often find yourself stuck in a traffic jam or drive through narrow streets much like in real life. Each car feels and handles differently which is along the lines of GTA V albeit slightly better. You can hijack cars as well, however it works a bit differently than GTA V. You can only hijack cars depending on how many points you’ve invested in your ‘Strength’ attribute, which makes you want to improve your character further if you want the ability to hijack better cars. 

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

Now let’s talk about the combat system as it is by far, the most important aspect of the game. Cyberpunk 2077 is mostly a first-person shooter, reminiscent of games like The Outer Worlds and the Fallout series. Having said that, the combat mechanic feels a lot more polished and smooth as compared to the aforementioned games. Even melee combat feels more comprehensive than anything we’ve experienced before. We’ve seen rumours online about Cyberpunk 2077’s enemy AI where it puts the intelligence of NPCs into question. In my experience, on normal difficulty, there were times I got picked off by enemies in a single shot because I chose to approach some missions head first. Enemies in this game can be unforgiving and taking a more cautious approach is recommended.  

Being a CD Projekt Red game, Cyberpunk 2077 is filled with complex RPG systems that you get to play around with as soon as you start the game. You will end up collecting different types of mods to enhance your weapons or buy and install cybernetic mods from a local ‘ripperdoc’. We will talk more in detail about the RPG mechanics and how these systems play a role in character progression as a part of our full review soon.  

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

Since I have not finished the game yet, I am not going to give a final verdict as of now and instead just gave an overview of the game’s performance so far. In my 22 hour playthrough, I have not come across any major bugs or performance issues until now with exception of one hard crash. It is important to let you know that I have been playing the ‘pre-release’ build of the game and there will be stability improvements as a part of the day-one patch. 

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

I am currently playing the PC version of the game on my RTX 2080Ti GPU and will be switching to the RTX 3090 for the rest of the game. In my experience, the game runs flawlessly at 60 frames per second with the high ray-tracing mode turned on at 1440p resolution. After uncapping the frame rates, Cyberpunk 2077 was running around 135-140 FPS with RTX turned on and will test the game in 4K resolution on the RTX 3090 for our review. I have not tested the game on any of the consoles as of yet but will be running it on the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 4 as soon as I get my hands on the physical copies on launch day.

© CDProjekt Red_MesXP

Cyberpunk 2077 has already set a new standard for open-world role-playing games and immersion in my opinion. It is the most detailed world I’ve ever come across that gives GTA V a run for its money and may have just set a template for future games to come. If you were to ask me my current score, I would give it a 9/10, keeping one point in reserve in case I come across any game-breaking bug or because of an unsatisfactory ending.

View the full article