Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red's futuristic action-RPG, was one of the biggest titles of 2020. In the game players take on the role of V, an up-and-coming fixer in the sprawling metropolis Night City. Night City is the heart of Cyberpunk 2077's world, a rain-slicked, crumbling conurbation drenched in neon.

If it wasn't obvious from the name, Cyberpunk 2077 leans heavily into the tropes of the cyberpunk sci-fi subgenre. This dystopian medium has been growing in popularity recently, with its "high tech, low life" spirit reflecting developments in the modern world. Cyberpunk 2077 explores many of the issues that are core to cyberpunk, forging them into a immersive and intriguing world.

RELATED: Cyberpunk 2077 Video Shows That the Game Is Still Having Major Issues on Older Consoles, Even After 1.3 Update

High Tech, Low Life in Cyberpunk 2077

the witcher 3 cyberpunk 2077 support

There's no trope more central to the cyberpunk subgenre than the combination of high technology with societal breakdown. Cyberpunk games are often set in dangerous, semi-lawless places, where technology is used as both a weapon by the criminal gangs that haunt the streets, and as a tool of suppression by the all-powerful megacorporations.

This remains true in Cyberpunk 2077's Night City, as V spends most of the game fighting with the gangs that dominate the streets of the metropolis. All of these criminal groups make use of Night City's advanced technology to rob, intimidate, and brutalize more law-abiding citizens. One of the most egregrious examples is the Maelstrom gang, a pack of violent killers on the verge of cyber-psychosis. Maelstrom are obssessed with cybermodification, and are just as keen to experiment on themselves as on anyone else unfortunate enough to cross their path.

Megacorporations in Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 Arasaka Corporatiion

The might-makes-right gang mentality isn't confined to Night City's alleys and clubs. It also extends to the towering skyscrapers and cutthroat board rooms of the megacorporations. The idea of individuals struggling against the power of out-of-control capitalism is another major trope of the cyberpunk genre, one which Cyberpunk 2077 embraces.

The megacorporations of Night City control almost every aspect of its inhabitant's lives, including where they live, where they work, and how they spend their money. V can choose to start as a corporate executive in one of Cyberpunk 2077's openings, though they quickly lose their position. Nevertheless, players spend a lot of time interacting with the various megacorporations over the course of the game's story, getting a chance to see just how twisted and dominating their rule can be.

The Badlands in Cyberpunk 2077

The Badlands from Cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk is almost-exclusively an urban genre, with the vast majority of its stories taking place within sprawling cities. This is normally because the land beyond those cities has been contaminated by pollution, climate change, or nuclear war. It's the first two that created Cyberpunk 2077's Badlands region, a vast desert that covers the Californian coast.

The Badlands have their particularly dangerous areas, but no part of them is safe. Acid rains, chemical swamps, and stinking landfills render large sections unliveable, while roaming gangs like the Wraiths threaten travellers even in the safer zones. It's the juxtaposition between the dead wastelands and the decaying city that make it a core of the cyberpunk genre, and the lands beyond Cyberpunk 2077's Night City capture that comparison perfectly.

Cyberpunk 2077 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.

MORE: Cyberpunk 2077 Fan Creates 3D Printed 'Skippy' Gun