Of all the games released in 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 may have been the most highly anticipated. A project nearly a decade in the making, Cyberpunk 2077 promised fans a living city to explore, complete with a cast of rich characters and innovations that would redefine RPGs. After spending dozens of hours exploring what Cyberpunk 2077 has to offer, it's clear many of those promises were empty.
The game puts players in the shoes of V, whose origin is dependant on which of three lifepaths the player chooses. Those lifepaths change how the game opens and offers special dialogue options throughout the story, typically a nod to information the other lifepaths wouldn't know. While they don't dramatically change gameplay, it's an interesting way for players to establish who V is, laying the groundwork for the character throughout the rest of the game. V's choices will impact how Cyberpunk 2077's story unfolds, too, which gives timed decisions a satisfying layer of urgency.
There's an extensive character customization menu, though players don't have the option to change their character's face or hairstyle later on. While that isn't a huge problem considering that the game locks players into first-person mode, Cyberpunk 2077 makes a point to have players look into mirrors regularly, so anyone unhappy with their previous decisions will be constantly reminded of them. It's a surprising omission for a game that puts such a heavy emphasis on character customization, which, when coupled with Cyberpunk 2077's lack of a transmog system, can result in an aesthetically unpleasing character running around in ridiculous garbs.
Most of the time, Cyberpunk 2077's combat is only a trivial challenge, with boss fights occasionally spiking up the difficulty. The gunplay itself is okay, but it has a tendency to feel stale as the hours press on, especially once players find their groove with specific types of weapons. Melee combat doesn't feel all that impactful, making bladed weapons feel like they're being swung at air, but it's also serviceable. There are also some standout weapons to try that spice things up, like the Mantis Blades and Skippy. Mantis Blades are an augment hidden away inside V's forearms that send limbs flying everywhere when used, and Skippy is a talking pistol meant to parody Microsoft's Clippy. Together, the make for some of the most entertaining weapons found in a modern RPG.
Where the game truly shines is storytelling. While not all of Cyberpunk 2077's missions are home runs, CD Projekt Red has effectively managed to keep both story missions and side quests from feeling generic, even with objectives that are repeated throughout the world. One such objective has players partake in a sort of fight club, with different bouts scattered around Night City. While it would be easy to have copy-pasted fights, there are some unique twists thrown in to keep things from feeling samey. For instance, one fight has players takedown "twins," though, in reality, it's one mind sharing two bodies. It's a small touch, but one that gives the world and characters and an extra helping of personality.
Cyberpunk 2077's main story doesn't incorporate quite as many twists, but it also doesn't overstay its welcome. Focus on the main campaign, and players will likely be able to make it through in about 20-25 hours. At its core, Cyberpunk 2077 is telling a story about wrestling with one's own mortality, with Keanu Reeves' Johnny Silverhand trying to take over V's body. While going any further would cross into major spoiler territory, Cyberpunk 2077's campaign does deliver, though it doesn't quite live up to The Witcher 3, for those expecting something at that level of quality.
Night City itself is a game world worth admiring. Its architecture has a true sense of scale, with skyscrapers dominating many of the downtown areas and distinct differences between the game's districts. There are some quirks; drivers effectively have no AI and citizens have a tendency to disappear if the player looks away from them, though that's almost nothing compared to Cyberpunk 2077's egregious issues.
The trouble is that, on every level, Cyberpunk 2077 is a technical disaster. Bugs dominate nearly every aspect of the experience, many of them inexcusably awful. Cars will sometimes randomly explode while going down the street, NPCs will sometimes rise from the dead and go about their business, and in one particularly strange instance a motorcycle had partially spawned inside of a car. After mounting it, however, it teleported us into the night sky, leaving us floating there.
Perhaps the most damning issue, however, is the near-constant crashing. Playing the PS4 version through PS5's backward compatibility mode, the game crashes nearly once an hour, including once during the end credit scene. It's an issue that immediately takes the player out of what they're doing, and while the game autosaves frequently enough that large amounts of progress is rarely lost, it's still a major drawback.
There is a level of bugginess that would be excusable, but Cyberpunk 2077 has far exceeded that limit. Key moments in the story are undercut by the vast number of issues, which can make it difficult to keep pressing through the story and side activities. On occasion, half an hour or so would pass without issue, and those moments were pure bliss. Looking back, however, it's difficult to identify more than two or three of those instances during our time spent exploring Cyberpunk 2077.
It's disappointing, but Cyberpunk 2077 isn't finished yet, and it's likely going to be months into next year before the game is stable enough to be considered the intended experience. For every high point in the story, where the player's choices have a tangible impact on the narrative, there are a dozen issues that undercut those moments, and that's inexcusable for a game that promised players one of the deepest experiences of all time.
There's a great RPG buried somewhere beneath Cyberpunk 2077's mountain of issues, but it's going to be a while before that RPG is revealed to the world. Those that have followed the game's development since the reveal may want to hold off on picking it up until the problems are sorted out. Journey in now, and there's a good chance that Cyberpunk 2077 will leave behind a sour taste. Night City and a well-realized cast of characters may help with some of the disappointment, but Cyberpunk 2077 still needs some time in the oven.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Game Rant reviewed the PS4 version on PS5.