Cyberpunk 2077 for Xbox Series X - game preview and next-gen console debut

The latest game from CD Projekt Red is out. Cyberpunk 2077 hit the hands of the players on December 10th and we wanted to be part of this big event, we decided to play around and review the title to see if the game would satisfy the appetites so strongly stimulated by all the announcements from the creators and the change in release dates. We invite you on a journey through the Night City - a city that turns out to be a silent hero who supports the whole story.

I'm not exaggerating if I write that Cyberpunk 2077 was the most anticipated game of this year. Who knows if gamers have been waiting for it much more than the new generation of consoles that we already beat last month. All thanks to the announcement of the premiere in Los Angeles at the E3 gala evening with the participation of Keanu Reeves. Gvyazdor not only revealed the release date. He also said that he would play one of the characters important for the plot, and also pleased the fans with an incendiary and emotional performance. And although the premiere was postponed three times, I got the impression that the enthusiasm of the players has not faded. Expectations have been rising, but since November, extremely powerful devices have appeared on the shelves of many fans of virtual gameplay, which should take the pleasure of playing Cyberpunk to an even higher level. Could 2020 be a breakthrough year for the gaming industry? I may be prone to over-excitement, but after reviewing a large number of the latest Cedep productions, I'm sure I am.

Universe Cyberpunk 2077

Mike Pondsmith created the world in which the story of the newest CD Projekt Red game unfolds. The Cyberpunk 2013 role-playing game fell into the hands of players in 1988 and was an extremely dark fantasy of a futuristic world. The American was inspired by Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, and the cyberpunk project was a bold attempt to translate the style known from the film into the role-playing game genre. The fact that the universe of the pages of numerous textbooks has migrated to monitors does not surprise me. The fascination with technology and the growing awareness that the misuse of this technology can do wrong is undoubtedly one of the most interesting topics that various creators of the science fiction genre are tackling. A common element of numerous works created in this direction is the connection of political, military and social themes - after all, the consequences of the immoderate development of technology are likely to be very wide. The performances depicting the future in gloomy colors seem all the more accurate. Both Podsmith's Cyberpunk and Cedep's Cyberpunk are no exception - they depict societies in a very violent way and tell a dark but extremely interesting story.

Night city as an embassy of futuristic splendor and extreme poverty

Government agencies and military organizations snatched parts of the NUSA from their clutches, which ended in bloody conflicts. The world economy collapsed, there was a climate catastrophe. The world fell into decay, and Night City for some reason turned out to be the epicenter of some events. This city has been through a lot. Wars and disasters destroyed the inhabitants and crushed the walls, which then had to be restored in the glory of new and better times. As players, we will have the opportunity to get to know the universe after it is unified. This, of course, does not mean peace - it is just some kind of fragile truce, as the streets of the city seethe with a mixture of violence and the need to pay the bills.

Night City is divided into districts, each with a completely different story, different challenges and dangers. The bloodstream of the city pulsates with colors, fills the ears with sounds and gives the player a lot of sensations. While Cyberpunk 2077 is a sandbox game, it doesn't offer the kind of extensive maps that, for example, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt does. However, it is worth noting that although the locations are a bit smaller, they are much more complex and refined. This compaction intensifies the gameplay, while reducing its time. It was a great pleasure for me to wander the streets between assignments and the sudden orientation that I must have ended up in a different area.

Not only is the main city of Cyberpunk 2077 divided. The class system of its inhabitants is also very complex. From the player's point of view, the most tangible evidence of this will be character V's choice of origin and its consequences. Three completely different castes mean not only a different place in society, but also different skills and experience at the initial stage. Personally, I decided to give my heroine the past of Corp. The soulless world of mega-corporations, big money and deals can seem boring - especially compared to the colorful life of Punk or Nomad. I decided that only a fall from above would make my game blush. And I was not mistaken.

If you are interested in the history of Night City, I strongly recommend you to read the album “Cyberpunk 2077. The only official book about the world of Cyberpunk 2077” and read the review of this edition, which I wrote in October.

Basic mechanics

In large open world games, in addition to issues related to the development of the hero, issues related to mobility, combat mechanics and development are very important. And I mean purely practical aspects, more precisely the physics of transport and the logic of fast movement, as well as the methodology of skirmishes and the effectiveness of the fight against the enemy.

The studio that has mastered arcade driving mechanics to perfection is, of course, Rockstar Games. The latest installment of "GTA" is a masterpiece not only in terms of perfectly polished dynamics, but also a continuation of the pop culture phenomenon. Not surprisingly, then, that game industry observers have claimed to compare the achievements of the Scots with the work of a domestic publisher in this matter. So how does Cyberpunk 2077 keep up with its iconic title? Not so bad for me. The choice of vehicles in Night City is great, we can steal them or take care of our own vehicle. We also have several radio stations at our disposal, where we can find incredibly impressive original compositions. The move itself is correct. The player has the ability to switch between two camera views: inside the car and horizontally. The controls are quite simple, but I got the impression that the traffic on the cyberpunk streets is lower than in Los Santos. Other cars often gave way to me, and it never happened that the driver tried to get his possessions out of Vee's hands if she decided to take his car.

How about combat in Cyberpunk 2077? There are many ways to defeat opponents: you can arrange a regular massacre, catch the unfortunate by surprise and deliver insidious blows, or use the infrastructure for your own evil purposes, hacking everything you can. Which strategy is the most profitable? Well, at the beginning of the game, when I was choosing the starting stats for my V, I made a deal with myself that I would become the best netrunner and hacker in the universe. In the end, I completed most of the missions with spectacular debris. Maybe it's the hovering on my new Xbox Series X that works well, or my explosive nature is just showing itself.

As for the possibility of crafting and the finds themselves, Cyberpunk 2077 surprised me very positively. I'm the kind of player who likes to craft upgrades, collect, collect legendary and rare items - I don't hesitate to scour the battlefield while the last opponents are still breathing. Can CD Projekt Red products be called looting? I think so. However, it's worth noting that the process of crafting and upgrading items isn't very satisfying, and the lion's share of the items you find don't do much during the game. However, those who played The Witcher know that there are never many wintering petals.

The Cyberpunk Hero Progression Tree is a plant that can be grown to enormous size. The many ways to progress and the fact that the points earned in exchange for reaching a higher level can be spent in two ways, on the one hand, are fun, and on the other hand, make you take a holistic approach to character building. At least I adopted this method and I did it pretty well. I unlocked my skills based on what was going well for me or what made the gameplay satisfying at that stage. I did not try to follow the assembly that I dreamed about at the beginning. Cyberpunk 2077 offers fast-paced gameplay, and that's how I recommend you approach development mechanics.

Replay value at a high level

The opportunity to return to the game for me is a very important criterion in the assessment. For a simple reason, if I like the main character and the story intrigues me, I want to be able to experience them more than once. This requires a factor of decision making by the player, which, in turn, will result in real story consequences. Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that doesn't captivate in this regard. Here, the course of events is influenced not only by the choice of a dialogue line - what we say, setting the course of a mission with a client, is a reflection of something more than just our disposition. As protagonists, we form relationships in a very tangible way and we learn about it pretty quickly - the results come back to us almost immediately. The whole thing blushes from the fact that cutscenes with dialogues are not dead cutscenes, but dynamic fragments. During their operation, we can perform a number of actions without fear of losing image quality or access to content.

The replay value of Cedep is also very well affected by the fact that individual missions are assigned to us in an "uncontrollable" way. Someone just gets our number and calls with an order that we can complete at any time. Individual elements of one task affect the solution of others. NPCs are related to our actions, react to them and can also take certain actions in relation to them.

If you're wondering how Cyberpunk 2077 was played on the Playstation 4, be sure to read Robert Szymczak's review:

• «Cyberpunk 2077» on Playstation 4. Overview

Cyberpunk 2077 — Official Gameplay Trailer [PL]

Complicated relationship with Johnny Silverhand

The concept of a duo of heroes is nothing new in the world of RPGs. Many great titles have allowed the whole team to play an extremely important role in which conventions have played an extremely important role. However, building a relationship based on so many antagonisms made a strong impression on me. Johnny Silverhand is a difficult company for V, and vice versa. On the one hand, he will tell you what to do, on the other hand, he will turn out to be her most severe critic. It should be noted, however, that this relationship cannot be limited to the master-disciple scheme - that would be too simple!

Silverhand is voiced by Michal Zebrowski, and how well we remember he had the opportunity to play Geralt of Rivia - interesting relationship, right? I'm very intrigued by this casting decision, but also happy. Zebrowski's voice matches John's charismatic personality perfectly!

Audiovisual impressions

The world in Cyberpunk is impressive. Monumental architectural projects, bold design and well-thought-out accessories delight the eye. All of these elements, combined with the power of the Xbox Series X, symbolize a new chapter in the developer's gaming history. And yet, as part of the first day patch, we have not yet received optimizations for the next generation! However, there is still a lot to be improved in the visual layer. When, in addition to rich textures and beautiful animations, there are such large errors in the behavior of certain models of characters or objects, it may seem that the designers, creating all the amazing miracles, forgot about the main functionality. And so, when walking around the city, we have to watch out for passers-by, because they attract our attention if we push them, but a character who interacts with us can easily pass through us like a ghost. Not to mention flying cannons, dancing corpses blocking passages, and sometimes pixelated graphics (especially in animations). However, I am optimistic - the first service pack is not all that awaits us in the near future. I hope that Ryoji will take the topic very seriously and find a way to eliminate them, because these little things have a big impact on the overall perception.

There are no complaints about the sound layer. The game sounds good, both in terms of background elements, voice acting (I like both the Polish and English versions), and the music. However, I can't help but feel that some of the songs are a more futuristic version of the soundtrack we know from The Witcher 3. Maybe it's my imagination, or maybe Sedep really decided to wink at the fans of the cult series?

More information from the world of games can be found on the AvtoTachki Pasje website. Online magazine in the passion for games section.

Screenshots from the game are taken from our own archive.