While anticipation was high leading up to Cyberpunk 2077, I bounced off playing it soon after launch. Sure, there were bugs, performance issues, and what generally felt like a few undercooked ideas to deal with, but something in the story and gameplay wasn’t doing it for me either. That never sat right with me and now with the recent updates and current-gen releases on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, I gave it a second go. After all, many aspects in the game are intriguing, and felt like they should have pulled me in, but I didn’t want to just try the same stuff over again. This time I’d do some different quests, side activities, or just focus on exploring this amazing playground the developers built. How could such an awesome environment steer me wrong?
Night City itself may be the game’s greatest accomplishment. It’s the element that shows CD Project Red had embraced the source material, that they understood the feeling and tone their environment needed for Cyberpunk (the tabletop RPG) to enter a new medium. The structures help to present the grit, grime, and plagues covered up by sex and neon, making sure that each of these aesthetics flows together to weave a cruel and romanticized dystopian tapestry of capitalism and faux progress. The player is a potent but tiny spec inside a large shell that spreads in all directions, swallowing everything it can.
There are six main districts, all featuring their own swatch of personality, with notable changes in the buildings and people. We even have some history to explain why players don’t see many animals around on the streets. There are many civilians and notable NPCs that help build up the city’s past, mystique, and lore, making it feel alive, with bits of random dialog amidst the violence. They come together nicely for the most part, with much of it being a treat to look at, especially at night. It’s an amazing place in many ways, which makes it an even greater shame how annoying it is to get around there.
Assuming we want to enjoy the city and not just fast travel everywhere, there are two main ways to get around: by car, or on foot. The first option seems like it should be a winner with how slick some of these rides look, but it’s also a scary thought. There are missions where the player is forced to drive that just induce stress. The driving in the game wasn’t simply bad at launch, in fact, it was arguably one of the worst parts of the experience, but Patch 1.5 was supposed to add some weight to the cars and make handling better overall. It failed.
Operating a vehicle is still a frustrating task after these tweaks and it feels impossible to drive within the lines, not bump into objects, or casually murder pedestrians and get into trouble with the cops. Coming to a stop and reversing feels like pumping the pedals continuously with nothing happening, due to no part of the controls while inside the automobile coming across as responsive. In many cases, I had better luck using V’s car like a slingshot and seeing how far I could make it before abandoning the machine, as continuing on foot made more sense than the countless setbacks and cases of whiplash. There’s also the matter of trying to use what is a pathetic GPS system. It’s the future and I can’t get a line to appear on the road or a sexy British voice to call out directions, but instead have to deal with thin yellow lines that don’t always show up and do so only on the radar. For some objectives the line is blue, making it nearly impossible to see against the background. At least a previous patch altered the player’s position on the mini-map so now there’s a bit more of a chance to make sharp turns, even if it feels like piloting a boat when trying to go anywhere fast.
Finding my way around the city wasn’t an easy task even when using the map. It’s hard to guess which route is best, especially in a place that’s so vertical, with bridges overhead, backroads to the side, as well as valleys and tunnels under major highways that often need to be reached. This is a place that is quite easy to get lost in and makes it hard to establish landmarks, not because everything looks the same, but because there is so much to take in and process while trying to have some sense of direction. On one occasion, I parked my car on the overpass, got out, jumped down below a couple of levels where my objective was, and then summoned my car back to me; much easier than trying to figure out how to get there with the map. Careful though, as calling the car in some areas can place it in odd spots.
Even walking can be a pain though. The place is crowded, claustrophobic, built on top of itself to deal with the population, and contains more back alleyways and basement areas than most noir novels. The street setup makes it hard to go places directly, but thankfully V doesn’t seem to tire out or stop running. I stuck mainly to the dense and heavily populated districts of the area, exploring City Center, Heywood, Santo Domingo, Westbrook, and sometimes Watson, while avoiding Pacifica and The Badlands when I could. There are tons of structures in these areas and plenty of them V can enter, whether it be a dark and dingy club, gang hideout, or random housing.
Many of the buildings, like where V lives, are a mixture of prison architecture with mall culture. They have plenty of shops, places for food, and random people of interest who can offer various things, but there are also heavy gates, random police raids, and scary-looking dead ends. There are people hanging off broken ledges, dangling their legs over to enjoy the view, even though one quick push could end them right there. Little details like that, interesting artwork and graffiti, the desire to see what was around each corner, all of this had me taking random elevators or going down deeper into alleyways to explore, which sometimes paid off with items or an appetizing view.
In the end, however, I would walk out of a building and try to decide where to go next, only to realize I had already been that way. The main quests weren’t useful, needing me to collect money to start the next job or wait for phone calls from characters I couldn’t remember. I’d want to do a bounty or other side quest, only to get lost or feel unsure if I was after the right marker on the map. I dreaded getting into a car and even the initial excitement I felt from wandering aimlessly on foot faded. I had seen Night City. The game itself wasn’t doing it, the city was flawed, in some ways, copying the source material too well. I haven’t uninstalled Cyberpunk 2077 yet, but I have a feeling Night City isn’t the place for me and I’m about to bounce off the game once more. It’s a shame, but maybe I’ll try again after a few more updates.
