CD Projekt Red has been toiling away on Cyberpunk 2077 for years, and all of that hard work is finally about to come to fruition on our screens on December 10. Can’t wait to dive into Cyberpunk 2077?
Well, we can’t either, so we tried to think of every conceivable way to pass the time and prime yourself for the gritty life of mercenary outlaw V and the sights and sounds that await you in Night City.
Learn a Better Understanding of Cyberpunk as a Genre
Cyberpunk isn’t just the title of CD Projekt Red’s hotly-anticipated upcoming open-world title, it’s an entire subgenre of science fiction set in a dystopian futuristic setting. There’s often a focus on advanced scientific and technological achievements creating a society rife with inequality.
While the Cyberpunk genre itself has been around since the 1960s and 1970s with the works of Philip K. Dick, John Brunner, and Phillip José Farmer to name a few, it’s William Gibson and his 1984 novel, Neuromancer that really cemented the subgenre’s place in the world of fiction. It was that pioneering novel, in particular, which first explored the possible negative impacts of drug culture, technology, and sexual revolution on society,
As such, if you’ve got a soft spot for a good book, we’d recommend you pick up Gibson’s Neuromancer. Not only is it a great bit of literature for fans of the genre, but it also servers as inspiration for parts of Cyberpunk 2077’s story, including the AI Johnny Silverhand.
If you prefer to take your lore in a more game-based capacity, you can always pick up Cyberpunk 2020, the classic roleplaying board game that takes place within the same Night City that you’ll be exploring in CD Projekt Red’s game in just a couple of week’s time.
Watch All of the Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire Series
Once you’ve soaked up all that extra-curricular lore, you can dive headfirst into CD Projekt Red’s Night City Wire series.
Chances are you’ve already heard of Night City Wire, but for those who haven’t let us fill in the gaps. Night City Wire is a series of 20-30 minute videos on YouTube that run players through a ton of different systems, mechanics, characters, vehicles, quests and weapons you’ll be able to get your own hands-on in Cyberpunk 2077.
There are interviews with the developers, details on other Cyberpunk 2077-related goodness, and of course you get to see plenty of the game in action. If you’re looking for the ultimate primer for your trip to Night City, the CDPR team have you covered with just over 2 hours of knowledge you beam straight into your eyeballs.
Pre-Order Cyberpunk 2077 and Check for Preload Daily
If you’re 100% all-in on Cyberpunk 2077, then you’ll want to make sure that you can begin your adventure across Night City as soon as humanly possible. Pre-ordering yourself a copy is the best way of doing that, especially if you’re happy to buy the digital download.
Regardless of what platform you intent on playing Cyberpunk 2077 on, you’ll be able to preload the game ahead of its official release on December 10. That means as soon as the clock strikes midnight, you can load up the game and get straight into the action, rather than having to worry about downloading the 50+ gigs plus a day one update.
By preloading, your console will have the game (and hopefully the day one update) all download and ready to go for release date, leaving you to just get playing as soon as the clock strikes midnight.
Cyberpunk 2077’s preload hasn’t begun on any platform at the time of writing, but given we’re just 10 days from release, it should be coming any day now. Keep on checking to see if preload is available each day to give you the most time to download the game completely. Preloading is only available for players pre-ordering a digital version of the game, though, so keep that in mind.
Buy Necessary Supplies & Get Certain Festive Shopping Out the Way!
Cyberpunk 2077 may be consuming your every thought right now, but let’s not forget that we’re also about to kick off the merriest month of the year.
For a good few of us that’ll mean cold wintery months, watching your loved ones become anxiety-ridden whilst attempting to cook a turkey, and that last minute panic when you forgot to get Nana a new jumper. There are also nice things, like being with family and copious amounts of alcohol. Lots of alcohol.
While this year has led to us having to change the way we’d typically do our Christmas shopping, don’t let it be an afterthought. Get your Santa hat on, open Amazon and get Christmas shopping before the alluring neon glow of Night City hoovers up every last second of free time you have for the next few months.
Take the time to stock up on batteries (or buy a Play and Charge Kit) and throw some of your favorite snacks in that Amazon shopping cart while you’re at it. The life of a mercenary outlaw is hungry work after all!
Check Out The World of Cyberpunk 2077 & Catch Up on the Cyberpunk Lorecast
So you’ve read up on the Cyberpunk genre, you’ve filled your eyes and ears with in-depth info courtesy of Night City Wire, but the lore train doesn’t stop there!
In July, CD Projekt Red, Dark Horse Comics and author Marcin Batylda teamed up to bring players the ultimate hardcover book to answer all of your lore-related questions. The book dives into the districts of Night City, the gangs that roam them, the history of Night City and the events that laid the foundations for V’s adventure.
At 200 pages, The World of Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the best, most comprehensive ways to get your fill of all that Cyberpunk lore ahead of the game’s official release.
For those of you who simply don’t have the time, though, you can always check out the Cyberpunk Lorecast. Part of the robotsradio.net family, the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google and more, each episode of the Lorecast dives into a specific topic, as well as providing additional details about the game as and when they dropped.
The Cyberpunk Lorecast’s up to its 42nd episode so there’s a fair bit to catch up on if you wanted to listen to it all. We’d recommend picking out the episodes that appeal to you most from their titles first, given some of them are over an hour long. Either way, it’s well worth checking out as an alternative primer for all the lore you’ll want to know ahead of stepping into V’s shoes on Dec. 10.
Clear Out Your New Release Backlog ASAP!
The past month or two have been great for games, regardless of what platform you play on. But as we all know that’s a big ol’ double-edged Mantis Blade. On the one hand, VIDEO GAMES! On the other hand, there are so many games to play and not enough hours in the day!
Therefore let this be your warning siren, hollering your ass to get those games finished so you’re ready to lose yourself in the hustle and bustle of Night City with no distractions. No wondering how that other game’s story’s going to pan out. No nagging feeling because you didn’t beat that last level of Tetris Effect: Connected (if I can do it, you can too!).
With all your other gaming endeavors taken care of, you’re then free to use all that brain capacity to painstakingly customize your very own V for hours at a time, and then suffer decision paralysis when choosing which Lifepath to go for.
Don’t lie, we know you’ll do it too!
One Last Reminder: Free Up Hard Drive Space if Required
Just one quick reminder: if you’re planning on preloading Cyberpunk 2077, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the required storage space ready and waiting so there’s no hold-up in getting the download finished ahead of the official launch on December 10.
PS5 and Xbox Series X owners in particular may want to do a quick spring clean of their SSD’s, given their smaller capacity, so they can benefit from the next-gen optimizations CDPR have packed in for launch.
Also a reminder that you’ll be getting a free full upgrade to the PS5/ Series X version when they release sometime in 2020.
About the author
