7 Reasons to Tear up Night City and Keep Playing Cyberpunk 2077
Let’s be honest, Cyberpunk 2077 has not had a great run out of the gate (or even leading up to the gate) and the incredible backlash and outrage against the game and CD Projekt RED seems to be more about the trend of outrage than approaching it from a calm and collected view. By no means did it launch as a perfect game, and there are plenty of articles out there which look into the development history of the game, its launch, the alleged maltreatment of the developers, etc. But this isn’t that kind of list. Underneath it all there are plenty of people who are having a great time with Cyberpunk 2077. I myself have been playing it on PS5 and I’ve had no bugs outside anything you would normally expect from any other open world game – and certainly nothing game-breaking.
This isn’t about judging and insulting a game, this is about celebrating what it got right. There is no way this game is universally horrible like people love to say but rather there is a very solid experience here that will only get better with time. So lets take off the tinfoil hats, put down the pitchforks, and celebrate 7 reasons to keep playing Cyberpunk 2077.
7. The Breathtaking Rockerboy
He had to be on the list because he is Canada’s perfect export. Keanu Reeves absolutely nails the role of Johnny Silverhand and seeing him pop up on screen to have a little war of words with V from time to time is just delightful. No one else could have played the part better, and given his stardom from roles like John Wick and The Matrix we already know him as the badass action hero we love to cheer on. Something about seeing him appear in Cyberpunk 2077 elevates the interaction from video game to cinematic experience.
6. Create Your Class
While it’s true they could have done a better job explaining leveling, skills, and perks, the fact of the matter is Cyberpunk 2077 has an impressively complex level of customization when it comes to your skills and abilities. Keeping in mind the game is based on the tabletop series, the goal here is to specialize into your playstyle of choice and not spread yourself too thin by trying to level everything at the same time. There is a strong following of RPG gamers who absolute love making complex builds and if that is your jam, Cyberpunk 2077 has it in spades. They even help you focus your build by only unlocking the skills you seem to use similar to Oblivion: the more you use them, the more powerful they can become. It’s a great way to challenge the player without overwhelming them as it encourages you to either play the way you like, or challenge yourself to try something new.
5. Egg Hunting
Cyberpunk 2077 is a big game, and like many other big games it happens to be loaded with a metric butt-ton of easter eggs. With references to Death Stranding, Portal, even the actual tabletop game itself, there are so many hidden references to find and discover. It makes for a great way to spend some down time in between sniping gang members and stealing cars. There are plenty of awesome easter eggs already found online and undoubtedly even more secrets still to see. My personal favorite comes from the Delamain Cab quest line, but I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. There is this unstoppable knowing grin we get when we discover these little secrets in games and it’s a sensation worth chasing.
4. Disintegrating Enemies With Style
Cyberpunk did drop the ball on customizing your characters clothing, but the options for combat and weapon customization are incredibly vast, cementing that this is a world of kill or be killed in the urban jungle. Enhancing ammo, using armor-piercing rounds, incendiary bullets, new scopes and silencers, making any weapon non-lethal, there is a huge variety of ways to modify your weapon of choice. You can even install a rocket launcher in your arm to replace grenades, or the more popular mantis blades which the series has become known for. The diversity in your arsenal has almost no limits in how you choose to decapitate, destroy, and decimate your enemies.
3. An Armory of Options
While some shooters change up the rate of fire and damage output of a gun and call it a day, Cyberpunk 2077 has quite a unique feel for each of its weapons. From the recoil, damage, range, accuracy, and more, these each go further to helping you cement your playstyle. Revolvers pack a huge punch up close but can’t fire quickly. Want something better for closing the gap? A pistol or SMG will do the trick. Weapons are also in such abundance you’ll be able to try them all out in no time and see what feels right. You’ll have three weapon slots to make a well-rounded build, or you can go all out with high-power weaponry and blow your enemies into pieces. The fact of the matter is – just like the incredible amount of mods you can implore to turn yourself into an unstoppable killing machine – the possible variety of firearms and explosives at your disposal is staggering.
2. A Beautiful Scene, Day or Night
Night City is gorgeous. It doesn’t matter which district you are driving through, the game is just a marvel to behold. Sometimes it’s hard not to drive just a little slower and marvel at the designs of these monolithic buildings, the giant billboards, the holographic advertisements. The world around you explores the cyberpunk setting like no other game has before and it is absolutely worth taking a detour from trying to rip the rockerboy out of your head to just breath deep and take in the sights. This game was in development for such a long time for a reason and it would be criminal to ignore the beauty of the world, day or night.
1. The Nuance of the City
Cyberpunk 2077 is not only gorgeous, it’s remarkably complex in its design and approach to character freedom. Gigs, side quests, and other exploration-based objectives all offer multiple ways to accomplish your target. Are you strong enough to rip a locked door open? Can you hack the buildings security and shut the locks down? Or will you scale the outside of the building and slip in undetected? Even outside of missions just walking the street there is loads of hidden content to explore and discover. The city map might not be as big as some open-world games but that is because there is a stark verticality and nuanced complexity to exploration. There are numerous hole-in-the-wall locations to explore, hidden paths to traverse, and treasures to find which all lend itself to the complexity of the game, you just need to know where to look.
And there you have it, 7 reasons to keep playing Cyberpunk 2077. Have you beaten the game? Are you still playing? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, or the Comments section below, and let’s try to keep the focus on the good work the people at CDPR did rather than immediately tearing it down, shall we?
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
