After years of viral trailers, acclaimed gameplay showcases, and several delays, Cyberpunk 2077 is a mere three days away from its official December 10 launch. With players waiting for the game since its first teaser debuted seven years ago, the big question on everyone's minds is whether CD Projekt Red has managed to pull off what looks to be its most expansive RPG to date.
With the game's release right around the corner, critics are able to share what they think about the highly-anticipated sci-fi RPG, with the embargo for Cyberpunk 2077 lifting earlier today. As expected, early impressions are extensive and numerous, with several significant publications weighing in on whether Cyberpunk 2077 was worth the years of build-up.
Here's what some of the biggest publications in the gaming industry think about CD Projekt Red's newest game. Take note that the build being reviewed is apparently only the PC version, as critics were not able to play Cyberpunk 2077's PlayStation or Xbox counterparts.
GamesRadar (Sam Loveridge)
"Cyberpunk 2077 is a paragon of open-world gaming, offering the kind of freedom to explore and define your character that provides a new pinnacle for the genre. It takes everything we celebrate about open-world games, and learns from it, implementing best-in-class variations in a world that's so dense and detailed. Add in the human-like level of reactivity and emotional depth that it brings to its narrative, and it all combines for the most spectacular experience. Take a trip to Night City immediately."
Score: 5 /5
VGC (Andy Robinson)
"If you can swallow a few glitches in the system, Cyberpunk 2077 is undoubtedly one of the most memorable games you’ll play this year. We can’t wait to reroll our character and play through it all over again."
Score: 5 / 5
VG24/7 (James Billcliffe)
"In the midst of such intense anticipation and scrutiny, it’s easy to get carried away with what Cyberpunk 2077 could have been. The final experience might be more familiar than many predicted, with plenty of elements that aren’t perfect, but it’s dripping with detail and engaging stories. With so much to see and do, Cyberpunk 2077 is the kind of RPG where you blink and hours go by, which is just what we need to finish off 2020."
Score: 5 / 5
TheGamer (Kirk McKeand)
"I’m V and the game is Silverhand - I can’t get Cyberpunk 2077 out of my head. I’ve had it a week and played 70 hours, which is probably about as healthy as scooping out my face and replacing it with electronics, but it didn’t feel like work. Like a digital personality loaded onto a biochip, it felt like stepping into another life for a while. It’s a life I can’t wait to relive."
Score: 5 /5
PCGamesN (Richard Scott-Jones)
"Even if such sentiments are uttered in sincere good faith, I think it’s a tragic diminishment of our medium to insist that it shouldn’t tackle politics. Cyberpunk 2077 might not push quite as many boundaries in game design as a landmark release could, but if it can convince more people that games can and should take a position on issues of substance rather than peddle mindless thrills, that’ll be a worthy legacy."
Score: 9 / 10
Game Informer (Andrew Reiner)
"Cyberpunk 2077 is dark and disturbing at times (frighteningly so), but the majority of its content is fascinating, and loaded with depth through the various RPG systems and lore. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Night City, and Johnny Silverhand is a great partner to see the sights with. Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t overstay its welcome with its critical-path story, and invites players to jack in and stay for hundreds of hours of unique content should they want to. It didn't blow me away like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but is still a hell of an opening to what will hopefully be a new series."
Score: 9 / 10
IGN (Tom Marks)
"Cyberpunk 2077 kicks you into its beautiful and dazzlingly dense cityscape with few restrictions. It offers a staggering amount of choice in how to build your character, approach quests, and confront enemies, and your decisions can have a tangible and natural-feeling impact on both the world around you and the stories of the people who inhabit it. Those stories can be emotional, funny, dark, exciting, and sometimes all of those things at once. The main quest may be shorter than expected when taken on its own and it’s not always clear what you need to do to make meaningful changes to its finale, but the multitude of side quests available almost from the start can have a surprisingly powerful effect on the options you have when you get there. It’s a shame that frustratingly frequent bugs can occasionally kill an otherwise well-set mood, but Cyberpunk 2077’s impressively flexible design makes it a truly remarkable RPG."
Score: 9 / 10
GameSpot (Kallie Plagge)
"But then it's hard to get into Cyberpunk 2077's world in general. So much of it is superficial set dressing, and there's so much happening all around you--ads going off at all times, gunfights breaking out in the streets, texts coming in about cars you'll never buy--that a lot of the game feels superfluous. The side quests and the characters they showcase are the shining beacon through the neon-soaked bleakness of Night City, and they give you room to explore the best the core RPG mechanics have to offer. These are what carried me through an otherwise disappointing experience."
Score: 7 / 10
Although it seems the general consensus is that Cyberpunk 2077 is slightly let down by its buggy initial build, the game itself is allegedly an exceptional RPG experience that is sure to leave a lot of CD Projekt Red fans pleased. To the surprise of many, it appears the studio did reduce the runtime of the main campaign, which clocks in around 20 hours. However, the game itself is supposedly filled with engaging side content, including additional quests, complex character arcs, and meaningful choices that affect the game world.
Its character progression systems are also cited as being deep and varied, with the player getting to really fine-tune their build to create their perfect protagonist. Overall, while it seems Cyberpunk 2077 isn't the boundary-breaking title some may be expecting, critics seem to think it's one of the year's best games and a solid first entry in a new franchise for CD Projekt Red.
At the time of writing, the game currently boasts a 91 on Metacritic, with the numbers sure to fluctuate in the coming days as more critics release their thoughts. Reports yesterday cited that some reviews may come late, with CD Projekt Red still not giving several critics early copies of the game despite its imminent release. It'll be intriguing to see where the game's rating falls once more reviewers have had the chance to share their thoughts.
Cyberpunk 2077 is set to launch on December 10 for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions currently in development.
Source: Metacritic