«Cyberpunk 2077» on Playstation 4. Overview

The premiere of Cyberpunk 2077 is undoubtedly the biggest event of the year in the video game industry. The developers at CD Projekt RED spent years preparing a production that would overthrow The Witcher 3 and win the title of the best Polish game of all time. Did they manage to meet the expectations of the fans? Let's find out what Cyberpunk 2077 really is and how it looks on the current generation console.

Live and let die in Night City

Night City, a gigantic California metropolis with free city rights. Here, mega-corporations rule with a hard hand, and Eurodollars can buy almost everything: from drugs and weapons to cybernetic implants. This is a city full of contrasts: based on the latest technology, but at the same time terribly damaged, joyfully colorful and terribly sad. Fabulously luxurious neighborhoods border on abandoned areas where endless gang wars are taking place. The corporate rich earn more and more, the poor live and die without a chance for a better tomorrow, but no one controls anything. The only true and unchanging feature of Night City is chaos.

To say that this city never sleeps would be an extreme understatement - no one here remembers a night without screams and the lilac-pink glow of advertising neon lights.

And this is precisely such a dystopian world that V is sent to, and with him the player. What awaits us? A cruel world where there are no clear rules of the game, where personal sympathies are one thing, and interests are another. However, it will quickly turn out that our decisions and actions will have a much greater impact than meets the eye. The night city shines so brightly that it could soon burn to the ground.

Cyberhype 2012

The very history of the creation of Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be as interesting as the plot presented in the game. Announcements of the new CD Projekt RED project appeared in May 2012 (!), and the players saw the first trailer in 2013. The game has been developed for many years: the conceptual prerequisites have changed, the REDengine graphics engine has been constantly refined, new gameplay elements have been introduced, but also thrown out. And all this in front of a huge fan base that was hungry for more and more information about the upcoming products. And she was getting impatient.

The position of the developers was unenviable. The subsequent delays with the premiere, on the one hand, built an (already gigantic) excitement around their game, on the other hand, expectations became cosmically inflated. After all, a game that took 8 years to develop cannot be just good, it must be a real revelation to compensate for such a long wait. Fans' patience began to run out - the mood slowly shifted towards mild cynicism and jokes that the game would most likely never be released again. Or didn't happen at all.

Somehow, CD Projekt RED emerged from all these difficulties unscathed. “Cyberpunk 2077” is a huge, coherent and well-thought-out production that cannot be put down. The developers managed to do what they did with The Witcher 3, but on a much larger scale - to create a colorful and vibrant world that you just want to be in. This is one of those titles that we light up for a while and understand that it's four in the morning, the pad is already discharged, and in the morning we have to go to work.

How much cyberpunk is in Cyberpunk?

But let's start in order - the plot. The less we know about it before we start playing, the better for us. The story unfolds relatively slowly, the authors give us time to get comfortable with the world, understand the rules a little better and soak in the atmosphere. However, over time, the whole thing accelerates, grabs by the throat and no longer lets go. The authors have created an adult story that takes famous clues from cyberpunk books and movies and transforms them into their own original style. In addition, we will be presented with a real galaxy of interesting and complex heroes, whose goals and motives are not always so clear - with the fantastic Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves) at the head.  

Cyberpunk 2077 avoids the pitfalls of many modern action RPGs. Here the plot is not an excuse and never fades into the background or third plan - this is the core of the game, which always remains in our field of vision. The multi-threaded story is told through dialogue, side missions, websites, messages from NPCs, etc. Even the simplest side quests serve something else - if not to advance the plot, then at least to create the atmosphere of Night City. RPG fans will love it.

It is all the more impressive that the Reds have set themselves a really difficult task compared to the series about the adventures of Geralt of Rivia. The production is based on Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk 2020 role-playing system (which even includes a cameo as one of the game's characters!). However, cyberpunk is not only an analog role-playing game, but also a whole fantasy genre that includes a lot of iconic works of art: from Neuromancer, through Blade Runner, to Akira and Ghost in the Shell. . In addition, the cyberpunk style is so distinctive and expressive that it even makes it difficult to create something original and stay in it. The authors had to crack a difficult nut.

In Cyberpunk 2077, we have managed to create a world that is also firmly rooted in the well-known style, but at the same time never crosses the fine line with the unwitting self-parody lurking behind it. In Night City, the sun also occasionally shines, and many elements remain relatively realistic - there is no time for jokes. The creators have prepared for us a cyberpunk reality with modern chic, without falling into kitsch and stylization.

In addition, cyberpunk here is not just a set created because it's fun to shoot surrounded by glowing neon lights. Reji took this fantasy with all its quality baggage. They do not shy away from difficult topics, such as the threats posed by the power of large corporations or the preservation of humanity with the constant development of cybernetics. 

RPG, shooter or sandbox?

For many years now, there has been a question among fans - will Cyberpunk 2077 be more of an RPG with action elements, or more of an FPS shooter with additional story options? Contrary to appearances, the answer to this question is not clear. At its core, this game is primarily a role-playing game where it's important to play characters, shape them as you see fit, and relive stories. This is a well-known and safe scheme for CD Projekt RED, from which their previous hits were created.

However, to close "Cyberpunk" only within the framework of the role-playing game seems to be quite an understatement. It's more of a genre mishmash that combines features typical of PC role-playing games, modern action games, as well as stealth games or sandbox games under the GTA V brand. And each of these elements plays an equally important role.

Thanks to this approach, we get a varied, enjoyable gameplay that never discourages us with its genre clichés. Thanks to the character development model, we can customize the character of the game according to our preferences. The action scenes in our performance can be either a quick brutal dance surrounded by flying fists and bullets, or a methodical shootout from behind the scenes. We can focus on hand-to-hand combat or sneak up on opponents from behind and use hacking tricks to distract them. Each of these mechanics has been prepared with due care and attention to detail, making them a lot of fun.

I myself was surprised how well the shooting model was implemented. This is a huge advantage of Cyberpunk 2077, which is not the rule with games that border on RPGs. Each of the available weapons has its own use, it differs in its weight and recoil. It's all about properly selected, deep sounds of shots. It's hard to put it another way - Cyberpunk is just fun to shoot.

Driving a car can be described with a slightly less superlative degree - apparently, such a gameplay element was new for the Reds. The driving model is somewhere on the border between GTA V and the first Watch_Dogs. It's very arcade-like, and the cars lack weight at times, so we get the impression that the vehicle is skimming over the surface, rather than actually going up to huge speeds and fighting matter. Cars also appear to be relatively large in relation to other elements of the environment, sometimes making it difficult to maneuver in tight spaces. The vehicle collision model also doesn't make a good impression - it's relatively primitive, we don't see too many dents, and the cars tend to bounce and crash into the roof.

To be clear, this isn't a broken model - moving around Night City can still be fun, but it's also not the most perfect element of fun. It is most convenient to move around using the third-person camera, but I recommend sometimes switching to the view through V's eyes. Car interiors and dashboards are often true visual masterpieces, whimsically combining retro solutions with futuristic style. However, it is worth remembering that a faster and more agile motorcycle is much better suited for racing through the narrow streets of a dystopian metropolis.

How does Cyberpunk work on Playstation 4?

It has long been known that "Cyberpunk 2077" was prepared primarily for PCs and next-generation consoles that are just entering the market: Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X. However, the name nevertheless appeared on the predecessors from Sony and Microsoft - how does it work on some the already old equipment? Let's find out - I played this game on the classic, first version of the Playstation 4.

Of course, graphical fireworks from the strongest gaming computers in this case are not to be expected, but everything still looks very good. Cyberpunk is a visually sophisticated game, and graphically it's definitely the first league in modern RPGs. Aesthetics plays an important role here, which, even on weaker equipment, still impresses and looks simply beautiful.

Want to test how Cyberpunk 2077 works on the latest hardware? Check out an overview of the Xbox Series X version by Alexandra Wozniak-Tomashevskaya:

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

The speed of action is more important here - it is difficult to determine how much it is in the optimization of the game, but how many bugs and other "childhood diseases" that plague many recently released productions. The fact is that Cyberpunk 2070 on the Playstation 4 runs at a maximum of 30 frames per second, but often drops to 25 or even 20 frames per second. There are more serious crunches, especially when we are outdoors or when there is a lot going on. This is not something that greatly interferes with the game itself, but it can offend people who are especially scrupulous at this point.

One thing that is always difficult to view and play games at the time they are released is bugs. Cyberpunk 2077 still has some bugs after its premiere, but that doesn't mean everyone will have the same. In my case, there were only minor glitches: unreadable textures, spontaneously flying weapons, or training frames that disappeared from the screen only after turning on the inventory menu. Nothing that could ruin your entertainment or ruin your game.

It's really hard to say whether a player who buys the game, say, a few months after the premiere, will encounter similar errors. CD Projekt RED is known for taking care of their creations long after they're released, and the first patch (about 45GB in weight) was released on release day. So we can safely assume that over time it will only get better.

Little joys in a dangerous world

Finally, it is worth highlighting another aspect of this game - music. Cyberpunk 2077 has a phenomenal soundtrack that creates a unique, dirty vibe like nothing else. In addition, the game perfectly gives the player small, magical moments that delight and additionally create the atmosphere of the game. Sometimes it's worth taking a break from the plot and just looking around the city. Ride through the morning Night City with your favorite radio station, watch a stylized talk show in the elevator, or simply explore the area and observe the most attractive elements of the environment. Cyberpunk can enchant where we least expect it.   

Not even premiere bugs or occasional drops in liquidity change the fact that Cyberpunk 2077 is still one of the most interesting productions to appear on this platform. CD Projekt RED proved that The Witcher 3 was not a fluke at work, and the developers really know how to make a modern, fun RPG that will take many hours of our life. And we won't even regret it.

The screenshots in the text are from official CD Projekt RED promotional materials.