For as long as I could remember, I’ve been looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 since it was first teased all the way back in 2013. So much time has passed until I finally received my own copy of the game and I could not have been more excited. With the amount of development time that went to this game, my expectations were at an all time high. After no less than three delays, it wasn’t too much to believe that Cyberpunk 2077 was going to be so polished at launch.
And I couldn’t be more wrong.
Cyberpunk 2077 was a launch disaster. This was a game that was riddled with bugs. This was a game that was terribly optimized. This was a game that isn’t even playable on the last generation base consoles.
And most importantly, this was a game filled with broken promises.
In Night City, a setting where any vice can be fulfilled if you have the money, we were expecting to be sucked into a world of drugs, sex, and alcohol. But it’s barely even that. Night City is far from interactable with brain dead NPCs, low polygon textures, and the frequent bugs that plague the game.
What was supposed to be a rich lore filled city where each interaction with certain factions can affect how the story goes down the line and who V’s allies and enemies are being based on the player’s choices. Instead, the story is rather linear and nowhere near as divisive as what we were lead to believe.
This city’s always got a promise for you. Might be a lie, an illusion, but it’s there… just around the corner – and it keeps you going. It’s a city of dreams.
V – Cyberpunk 2077’s Protagonist
Gangs were supposed to be a giant part of what made Night City feel so alive. They controlled the streets with each gang having its own unique background based on ethnicity, nationality, and culture. Instead, they’re all pretty much the same gang everywhere with different colored outfits that don’t really have much of an impact on how the game plays.
For example, I’ve been pestering a gang called the Tyger Claws left and right; I’ve disrupted so much of their operations and assassinated what I’ve been told were known figures. But it never once affected my relationship with one of the fixers who supposedly has close ties with the gang. None of their members even recognized me despite the street cred I got from killing their own. I still got missions from this fixer without so much as a comment at what I’ve been doing to them.
This makes gangs in Night City feel so much less intimidating. It doesn’t matter how many times I bother their operations, they couldn’t give a shit about me. I never had to think twice about what the consequences were for messing with a certain gang.
That’s not even touching the terrible way the police were handled.
From what’s been advertised, they were supposed to be a force V wouldn’t want to mess with. Break the law too much, and they’ll send powerful NPCs to track, locate, and kill V as he ventures into the world. This doesn’t happen. At all.
The police here are terribly and poorly implemented. They don’t have the ability to even chase you in cars. And their method of spawning into the map is just by teleporting 2 meters behind you no matter where you’re located.
CD Projekt Red even made a comment that we would be able to bribe police officers into looking the other way if they catch us committing crimes. This would certainly make sense with the corruption of the Night City Police Department being a key factor as to why the city is such a dump for criminal activity to flourish. Instead, it’s a wonder why Night City isn’t 100% crime free with the police’s 2-second response and impressive teleportation abilities.
Megacorporations themselves are somewhat lacking in presence. With companies like Militech, Netwatch, and even the Trauma Team taking a backseat to Arasaka despite their supposed prominence in Night City.
The lifepaths. What a letdown.
What was advertised to be complete story changers, winded up being another disappointment. Doesn’t matter what lifepath you choose, V still acts the same way. To the point where much of his dialogue when you pick the Corpo path makes little to no sense.
Occasionally you’ll get the opportunity to make a comment about something if you’re background matches. But it doesn’t seem to impact anything much and barely even comes up. The connections you have regardless of what lifepath you pick is more or less the same. So why even have this mechanic in the first place if it’s so under-utilized and insignificant?
Night City is a beauty to behold… when it’s not rendered in low polygon.
There’s no mistaking the potential for this amazing city to be fully utilized. But unfortunately, there are very few chances of getting the Cyberpunk 2077 we’ve been promised down the line any time soon. And the reason for that is that at its core, the game has a lot of problems that stem beyond just its unpolished nature.
CDPR has promised us that they’re working into getting Cyberpunk 2077 to be closer to what we’ve envisioned. But I doubt it’s going to change the fact that the gangs, megacorporations, and a lot of factions in Night City feel so insignificant.