It’s no secret that Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t get off to the best start when it released in December 2020. On base PS4 and Xbox One consoles, the game was borderline unplayable, with a myriad of bugs plaguing players’ experiences as they cruised around Night City. That was accompanied by generally poor performance and some poorly-implemented gameplay mechanics. It resulted in the game being taken off the PlayStation Store, and both Sony and Microsoft refunding copies of the game to disappointed players. CD Projekt Red vowed to make it right, and with Cyberpunk 2077’s 1.5 update and next-gen versions released this week, it may have done just that.
Here are five ways the 1.5 and next-gen updates have made Cyberpunk 2077 the game it, really, always should have been to begin with.
A More Immersive and Realistic Open-World
Cyberpunk 2077 1.5 & Next-Gen Update Changes
In the pre-launch trailers for Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red showcased a truly immersive Night City. NPCs going about their business, wandering the streets, observing and responding to V’s actions. There was a genuine hustle and bustle about the world, but when the game released, it all felt a little lifeless.
The NPCs that seemed so realistic and brought a vivacious feel to Night City felt like empty husks, some window dressing to fool you into the sense that the world was alive and would continue ticking over regardless of whether you were playing or not.
With update 1.5, crowds feel more realistic on PS5 and Series X|S. If you go and provoke characters by aiming, shooting or fighting with them, they’ll fight back. Even on last-gen consoles, crowd reactions have been improved so those random passers by on the street will stare you out if you try and walk into them.
Crowds and communities feel more varied depending on the time of day (or night) that you’re exploring, rather than seeing the same NPCs duplicated over and over again regardless of where and when you see them.
They’re also more aware of your presence in general, and while it might not sound like a lot, it goes a long way in making Night City feel more like the version that was advertised all those years ago.
Refined Driving Experience
Cyberpunk 2077 1.5 & Next-Gen Update Changes
One particular gameplay element that was lambasted at launch was the driving. Prior to launch, Cyberpunk 2077 made a big deal of the various rides that players could get behind the wheel of in Night City. They’d feel distinctly different, and above all else, they’d just be enjoyable to drive. After all, this was the primary way of covering ground quickly in the sprawling metropolis. It should be satisfying to get behind the wheel, especially when you’re in Johnny Silverhand’s beloved Porsche.
Unfortunately, what we got were floaty, unrealistic and frankly frustrating driving controls. Motorbikes fared even worse, handling like their larger, four-wheel counterparts on the road, rather than how a lightweight and nimble motorcycle should. In other words, it was all rather disappointing.
Cyberpunk 2077’s 1.5 update makes some massive changes to the driving and traffic systems. New braking and ABS models have been introduced to ensure consistent performance across all speeds, making for a more realistic response when you slam your foot on the brakes. Engine and gearbox simulations have been refined, improving resistance forces when shifting up and down gears, as well as the transmission realistically and smartly shifting to keep the engine revs in the right spot and reverse shifting has been reworked entirely so you can perform J-turns effectively.
Handling across the board has been reworked, ensuring that vehicles now generally feel distinctly different, and those pesky motorcycles have received all of the above improvements, as well as additional steering improvements and retuning fixes that make them feel suitably agile.
The traffic around Night City also reacts to you more realistically, too. Drive like a maniac, and NPCs will perform evasive maneuvers to try and get out of your way. Passengers can die (a bit morbid, but we move), and other vehicles on the road drive around more realistically generally with improved steering and suspension models.
Fixers… Fixed?
Cyberpunk 2077 1.5 & Next-Gen Update Changes
Fixers were touted as your main ’employers’ when it came to doing odd jobs around Night City. The middle-men of your life as a gun-for-hire that would reward you handsomely for your efforts and someone you’d feel like you were building a sense of rapport with.
That all fell a little flat on its face. Fixers would just spam V’s phone with texts and phone calls relentlessly, and the rewards for completing these tasks were nothing to write home about. They felt generic and a little underwhelming in their implementation within the world.
With update 1.5, CD Projekt Red has reworked Fixers. V now has standing with each Fixer (except for Mr. Hands who just straight up hates you), and the more gigs you complete for them, the better your standing. As you increase your standing, you’ll unlock another set of gigs in that district. Become a trusted contractor for a Fixer and you’ll be rewarded with an actual, lucrative reward like a special weapon or piece of gear.
It’s a great addition, making your relationships with each Fixer feel more tangible and encourages players to take on these odd-jobs dotted throughout Night City. Even if you’ve already beaten the main story, this acts as a nice incentive to return to the world, especially knowing that there are worthwhile rewards awaiting you at the end.
Customization Options Befitting of a Cyberpunk World
Cyberpunk 2077 1.5 & Next-Gen Update Changes
In a world where people switch out their eyeball for some high-tech alternative capable of scanning your surroundings, or equip themselves with beefy gorilla arms or razer-sharp mantis blades, it felt a little silly that V couldn’t change their hairstyle. You know, that natural thing that grows and gets styled on a daily basis in 2022, let alone 2077.
Finally, a year after launch, players can now change V’s hairstyle by visiting the mirror in their apartment. They can pretty much change any facial feature of their character by using this same method, too.
The customization fun doesn’t quite stop there, though. Tired of V’s pad in the heart of Night City? Well, now you can spruce it up with a number of different decorative ‘styles.’ You can’t move furniture around or do anything too in-depth, unfortunately, but a new lick of paint certainly helps to brighten things up.
If that’s not enough, you can always just buy one of a number of entirely new apartments dotted across the different districts of Night City, too. Taking a shower now gives you a ‘Refreshed’ status regenerating health during combat up to 60%; Sleeping gives you the ‘Rested’ status giving you a +20% skill XP boost and regenerates health, while sipping a hot cup of java will give you the ‘Energized’ status that gives you a +25% Max Stamina and +30% Stamina regen boost.
All of this comes together to make V’s pad feel like a more useful part of your experience, without intruding on your open-world fun too much.
Again, though, how the ability to change hairstyles was overlooked at launch still baffles us to this day, to be honest.
Improved Last-Gen Performance & Enhanced Visual Improvements on Current-Gen
Cyberpunk 2077 1.5 & Next-Gen Update Changes
Last but certainly by no means least, we’ve got the improved performance and enhanced visual fidelity.
While the base PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game still aren’t anywhere near the performance of high-end PCs, they do feel more stable and actually playable now.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions get far more improvements, with a Performance mode that maintains 60fps while scaling up to a 4K resolution depending on the action on-screen. There are ray-traced local shadows, improved crowd reactions (as previously noted) and generally the game looks and runs as you’d expect it to.
That kind of sums up the entirety of the 1.5 and next-gen updates. It’s all stuff that was kind of expected when the game released just over a year ago now. If you’ve held off, then you’re about to experience the game as it should have been back in 2020.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of things that have changed with the latest updates, but instead those that we felt brought the game to the standard so many fans had expected at launch. You can check out the complete patch notes here.
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