This year’s Electronics and Entertainment Expo was all about the heavy hitters making big announcements and it started early in the week with Microsoft bringing Keanu Reeves into the fold for the CyberPunk 2077 portion of their presentation since he’s playing Johnny Silverhand. Fast-forward to the temporary home of Dutch developers CD Projekt Red and we were going to learn even more about the futuristic game, Cyberpunk 2077.
Open world games are all the rage lately and Cyberpunk 2077 is no different. You play as V, a hired mercenary in Night City. The game is also an action-adventure game that reminds me of the Dishonored games from Bethesda. V also reminds me of a Cyborg, similar to the Terminator as her/she depending on the gender you choose, has several features you can use via your implant. You have the likes of your cyberware where you can hack electrical devices as well as certain security equipment like cameras. You also have the ability to traverse anywhere you want, via the open world aspect of the game. If you want to enter the mall through the front door, which would be suicide, you have that option. Depending on your attributes/character details, you’ll be able to have different dialogue/conversations with people you run into. If you’re a certain character class, you’ll have different answers you can give to certain characters in the story.
During gameplay, you can be as sneaky as you want or as deadly as you want. What’s the fun of being sneaky so go for as many kills as you’d like. During the demo, it was shown that you could hack into various things you might not think of like a turret or the cool one, another person’s arm, so you can control their gun and kill them by their own hands! If you decide to take the sneaky approach, you’ll have the option to hack into cameras and doors so you can open other paths and avoid enemy fire/contact. One of the cooler things in the presentation was when V hacked into a vending machine and made it explode! It just shows that you really can play Cyberpunk anyway you’d like and everything has consequences.
The game can also be thought of as a role playing game since it does have a system similar to leveling up in terms of mastering skills to use during gameplay. It’s a branch system where you’ll be able to master different skills as you progress in the game. Being a mercenary has never looked so good and Cyberpunk really shows what the future holds. As I mentioned before, you’ll be able to kill to your hearts content as you make your way through Night City. Since the game is open world, you should be able to travel anyway you see fit such as motorcycle or other vehicle that you can find in the area. You’ll be able to use guns or knives or any other means necessary to do the killing if you need to!
Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the best looking games shown during E3 this year and it’s a shame that it doesn’t release until next year. However, what was shown in the theater presentation should have been enough to wet the appetites of players thinking of grabbing it. It feels like a cross between the future and old-school Miami and that’s an interesting combo. Having Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand is a nice touch and shows that CD Projekt Red is going that extra mile. The idea of a mercenary with a cybernetic arm that can hack into all kinds of stuff is badass and should be shown the support it deserves.