I cherished Cyberpunk 2077, because it occurs. I used to be taking part in on Xbox One X, the least buggy of the launch platform, which helped loads, however even past that, I used to be enthralled with the story that CD Projekt Red had put collectively. After three years of bug fixes and content material patches, the remainder of the world has retracted its claws somewhat too. Now the devs are again with Phantom Liberty, the primary (and solely) main DLC that Cyberpunk will likely be getting.
Phantom Liberty gives the whole lot you’d count on from a significant growth. There is a important plotline to run by means of, a brand new space of the town to discover (howdy Dogtown), and an entire host of aspect missions to avail your self of.
The important story is a rollercoaster of spy thriller cliches that manages to carry itself on the best aspect of absurdity more often than not. V receives a name from a mysterious stranger referred to as Songbird, who gives a treatment for the Relic in trade for a small favor – rescuing the president whose airplane is about to crash into Dogtown, a militarised ghetto bolted onto the aspect of Night City. Songbird stops simply in need of saying, “The president has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a foul sufficient dude to rescue the president?”
Idris Elba’s Solomon Reed could be the massive marketable title, however your entire supporting solid does a incredible job of drawing you into the story. Coming off the again of Starfield, the standard of writing, voice performing, and character animation throughout conversations is simply evening and day. They really feel like actual individuals, not simply exposition machines. Minji Chang, who voices Songbird, deserves a particular shoutout for her convincing flip because the femme fatale whose motives are at all times in query.
The plot itself is a fairly commonplace spy thriller handed by means of a neon filter. Bombastic motion sequences, tense standoffs, individuals yappering about obligation, inevitable betrayals, and even a little bit of espionage utilizing devices that might have come straight out of Q department. Despite the predictability of it, the marketing campaign is near-expertly paced, making certain that you simply by no means run an identical model mission again to again. And, in fact, Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand is round all through to offer his reducing commentary.
There is a significant divergence level that I received’t spoil for you, however you find yourself making a alternative that drastically impacts how the ultimate few missions play out. Your decisions may even result in a brand new ending to the primary sport too, although I haven’t seen that but attributable to beginning a brand new save (received one other 40 hours in Night City earlier than I can report again there). In its personal bubble, although, the Phantom Liberty storyline reached a suitably gritty and spectacular crescendo, such that it felt like I’d wrapped a pleasant little bow on the story by itself. If my decisions result in some further taste or choices for closing out V’s story too, that’s simply icing on the cake.
There are a few screeching halts within the pacing alongside the way in which when it asks you to bum round city for a day or two, presumably to assist the marketing campaign mesh into the primary story extra, however these are simply skipped by simply resting.
If you load up your outdated save, you may soar straight into the motion. However, you may also begin a brand new sport and skip ahead within the story to the purpose the place the DLC turns into accessible (after you resolve the Voodoo Boys plotline). I opted for a totally new sport as a Corpo rat, and did the legwork to get to the purpose the place the DLC would let me in; I needed to expertise the swanky new perks system because it’s supposed, not with a stage 50 character who will simply turbo by means of it in 5 minutes.
The perks system has been overhauled to offer extra course to gamers – as an alternative of a spider net of abilities that sprawl out in all instructions, you’re set alongside paths that result in related abilities. An improve for melee fight will result in extra upgrades for melee fight. Nothing was stopping you from doing that earlier than, however this new system makes the trail loads less complicated to observe.
Alongside the brand new format, lots of talents have been tweaked. Some ineffective abilities have been eliminated, whereas new abilities have additionally been added. This makes leveling up really feel a bit extra significant, although it comes with the draw back of feeling extra limiting. There are additionally new Relic abilities, which theoretically provide extra substantial buffs, however the factors wanted for this tree can solely be present in a couple of areas, not through common leveling up.
Since I’m usually a stealthy boy, I made a decision to combine issues up and take a extra guns-blazing strategy to issues, placing all my factors into the Body tree to unlock shotgun talents. Before lengthy, I used to be making brief work of something on two legs, and with some mobility choices from the Reflexes tree, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than I used to be a power-sliding, kneecapping machine to be feared.
Boss fights are one of many largest enhancements in Phantom Liberty when in comparison with the bottom sport. There are nonetheless loads of dudes with huge well being bars to take care of, however there are some extra unique enemies to face off in opposition to. A giant battle within the earlier phases of the DLC is a real standout second, extra akin to a Destiny boss than anything I’ve confronted in Night City.
Combat usually feels nice. How a lot of that comes from the two.0 patch and the way a lot of it got here in previous updates is tough to inform, however I by no means regretted my resolution to go run and gun on this playthrough. Between enhancements, perks, weapons, and mobility choices, there are many methods to strategy each fight encounter. At the identical time, enemies appear somewhat extra clever in how they assault you. They use grenades to flush you out and ship flanking models round your aspect whereas preserving you pinned down.
Some of the opposite options which were added on this newest replace fell flat for me, although. The cops truly chase and hunt you down now a la GTA, which is ok, and actually what it ought to have been at launch, however, truthfully, I barely seen them. This isn’t GTA. It’s not a systemic sport the place I’m creating my very own kicks. It’s a story-driven narrative with a metropolis slapped round it for immersion’s sake. As a outcome, I hardly ever stopped to trigger any chaos and get chased by the fuzz.
Vehicle fight can be a little bit of a letdown. It comes up in perhaps two missions, and each instances I simply received fed up and received out of my automotive to off my pursuers. It could be extra participating for those who pour a load of ability factors into automobile buffs, however it’s an enormous funding to place into one thing that simply barely comes up.
And but, none of that issues as a result of none of it’s what Cyberpunk 2077 is about. The open world has at all times been a facade to function the backdrop for our hero’s journey. The phantasm now holds up higher underneath scrutiny, however it’s not why any of us tuned in. Fortunately, none of what we cherished was sacrificed on the altar of higher cop AI. The story is nice, the writing is great, and the mission selection is stellar.
Summary
Is this the massive shift that may win over individuals who bounced off Cyberpunk 2077 at launch? No. Instead what Phantom Liberty represents is a small slice of the very best that Cyberpunk 2077 and CD Projekt Red has to supply.
* A replica of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty was offered by the writer for this overview.
