The Map Isn’t as Big as The Witcher 3’s, But It’s More Dense
I have fond memories of trawling across The Continent with Geralt and Roach in The Witcher 3, often spending more time riding around exploring than actually completing quests. This time around, though, in CDPR’s latest action-RPG, the rolling green pastures have been replaced by the neon-soaked streets of Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, as well as its barren desert surroundings, The Badlands.
In terms of sheer size, Night City and The Badlands don’t match up to the total area of The Witcher 3’s landmass. Instead, CD Projekt Red has focused on cramming more detail into a smaller map, with towering buildings and all manner of urban nooks and crannies to explore.
These towering buildings add a sense of verticality and huge indoor sections that make up the lack of sprawling fields and varied outdoor areas that The Witcher 3 brings to the table. There are also more buildings you can simply go inside, rather than having buildings with impenetrable doors.
Each of Night City’s six districts has a ‘Fixer’ that players will be contacted by about available Gigs in the area. These are essentially side quests, but you’ll also have NCPD Scanner Hustles which see you taking on all kinds of different criminal-busting activities for the police. The perfect side quest for a mercenary like V.
Additionally, you can take on bounties, bringing in wanted citizens of Night City dead or alive for a reward, or pick up ‘Shards’ which are lore-based collectibles telling tales of Night City’s history or other random short stories.
Ultimately, Night City’s condensed content makes for a more immersive experience that comes to life when seeing and doing all of it from a first-person perspective. Throw in the various NPCs going about their daily lives, and the many Gangs of Night City causing chaos on a daily basis and you’ve got a city that feels like a truly living, breathing open-world.
Playing on PS4 & Xbox One Could be Rough
Things You Should Know Before Starting Cyberpunk 2077
While Cyberpunk 2077 reviews are out in the wild right now, all of them are based on a pre-release PC build, more often than not running in powerful PC hardware. It’s great that we’re able to get at least an idea as to how the game’s final form fares in the eyes of critics, but there’s a growing concern that the console versions of the games aren’t in good shape.
The reasoning for this? First and foremost, console review codes still aren’t available, meaning it’s unlikely you’ll get console impressions before the game launches tomorrow, December 10.
Second, taking a look at the Xbox and PlayStation gameplay videos shared by CD Projekt Red, we never actually get to see how the game runs on a base Xbox One or PS4. While it’s obviously never going to look as good as its PC counterpart or the PS5 and Series X, it would be nice to see just how stark the differences are (or aren’t).
That being said, one of the developers has stated that Cyberpunk 2077 is “a different game with console updates,” suggesting a hefty day-one patch will address many of the performance and stability problems even those playing the PC build for review had experienced.
Still, with no access to the console versions of Cyberpunk 2077, we’d advise (if you can manage) holding off for a little bit longer, especially if you were planning on playing on a base PS4 or Xbox One. We hope CD Projekt Red will come through with some excellent console versions, but given how demanding the game actually is, that could be a difficult task on the base, last-gen consoles.
There’s a Ton of Endings & Choices to Make Along the Way
From the very beginning of Cyberpunk 2077, player-choice is paramount, and that all starts with V’s Lifepath. By choosing Nomad, Street Kid, or Corporate, you’ll essentially choose V’s backstory and detail how they arrived at the point at which the story kicks off. This consequential choice will completely change how Cyberpunk 2077 starts, before all converging back onto the same main story questline.
Throughout the rest of V’s quest for a chip that holds the key to immortality — Cyberpunk 2077’s main story beat –, you’ll have to make a ton of decisions. Notably, these aren’t really signposted as major turning points in the game as they typically are in many RPGs. Instead, you may unintentionally completely altar important plot points with seemingly trivial decisions. It makes for a hugely immersive experience, but one that demands your full attention.
All of these seemingly minor decisions culminate to give you one of over 4 endings. That means there’s plenty of replayability here, giving you ample reason to pick a new Lifepath and start over to see each and every one of V’s fates.
That being said, take the time to think about what you’re saying to characters and how you approach missions. One bad decision could drastically change the way the remainder of the story plays out.
If You Suffer from Epilepsy, Be Careful!
Things You Should Know Before Starting Cyberpunk 2077
This one’s very important for those picking the game up the game on its Dec. 10 release date if you suffer from epilepsy or are prone to seizures in any capacity.
During the early stages of the main storyline, players are introduced to the Braindance ‘BD’ mechanic, which lets your character relive experiences recorded by others via a futuristic headset. When V puts the headset on, there’re a number of red and white blinking LEDs.
While flashing lights in video games are nothing new, it’s the way in which the Braincdance mechanic deliberately mimics the real-life device used by neurologists to trigger seizures that is particularly concerning. It’s something that Game Informer’s Liana Ruppert noted having suffered a seizure from herself.
The good news is CD Projekt Red has been quick to issue a statement via Twitter, confirming that while the warning was in the EULA, they’re working on adding a separate warning, and a more permanent solution to be implemented as soon as possible.
Still, in the meantime, if you do suffer from epilepsy, it might be worth speaking to your doctor, or waiting for the permanent fix in a patch before jacking into Night City. Better to be safe than sorry!
You Can Enjoy It Without Needing to Dive Into Cyberpunk Lore Beforehand
If you’ve played the Cyberpunk 2020 board game or you’re familiar with cyberpunk literature, you’ll already have a good feel for what the genre is all about. That’s going to make you feel that little bit more at home on the streets of Night City. You might see something and go ‘ah yes, that thing from that book I read!’
But outside of that, you don’t have to be a Cyberpunk lore-fiend to enjoy what CD Projekt Red has created. While inspired by the likes of Blade Runner and William Gibson’s Neuromancer to name a few, Cyberpunk 2077 is its own vision of the genre and, more specifically Night City, making it a joy to explore whether you’re a seasoned Cyberpunk vet, or a complete newcomer.
Now, say it with me. One. More. Day!
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