Cyberpunk 2077 stole the show in spectacular fashion at last year’s E3. Cleverly disguised as a convincing remote hack at the end of Microsoft’s conference, the hotly anticipated title from renowned developer CD Projekt Red looks set to redefine our expectations of what an open-world first-person shooter can be.
Initially announced way back in 2012, Cyberpunk 2077 is based on the pen-and-paper game written by Mike Pondsmith, Cyberpunk 2020. At its heart, it’s an incredibly ambitious sci-fi RPG with a strong narrative component. A 50-minute long gameplay demo was released last year which highlighted the impressive breadth of Cyberpunk’s various systems, while introducing the enthralling setting and heart-pounding combat. It’s well worth a watch.
Sadly, we already know that the game won’t be playable at this year’s show, but that doesn’t mean we won’t receive a tidal wave of new information. Here’s what we’re hoping to hear about Cyberpunk 2077 at this year’s E3 conference.
Despite the in-depth walkthrough of the game’s many mechanics - albeit with the warning that all footage may be subjected to change - CD Projekt Red still hasn’t provided a firm release date for Cyberpunk 2077. We know that it’s supposed to release sometime between 2019 and 2021, but that’s about it. Using our powers of deduction, though, we can make an educated guess that the game might be released this year. CD Projekt Red is targeting the current generation of consoles and PC, but with the next generation of consoles looming, time is running out.
This is obviously a given, but we’re super excited to see more of Cyberpunk 2077 in action. With so many fascinating features to delve into, we’d like to see more of the game’s unlockable abilities and futuristic gadgets. We saw a few examples of the cool Cyberware augments that your character can use, such as the Kiroshi Optical Implant that lets you zoom in on objects and analyse the environment, but you can never have enough kickass gadgets at your disposal. We’re also intrigued as to whether these upgrades are permanent, upgradeable or if they have any negative implications on your character over time.
An RPG is only as compelling as the characters who inhabit it. If everyone’s a stone cold bore then it’s easy to lose interest. Thankfully, Cyberpunk 2077 already seems to be teeming with unnerving and unhinged individuals, and we can’t wait to find out what makes them tick (and inevitably shoot them). It appears that dialogue happens in real-time, and that you’ll be able to choose from a number of responses to steer a situation in the direction you see fit: avoid confrontation, or start a mass riot. Dialogue seems to be more fluid and contextual, too, with conversations taking place without the obvious transitions that occur when you enter and exit a conversation in other games.
Powered by a remarkable new crowd-rendering technology, Cyberpunk 2077’s formidable Night City is packed with hundreds of characters going about their daily lives. And it’s quite a sight to behold. Each NPC appears to have their own agenda and their own distinct lives. It remains to be seen how interactive and dynamic Night City will be outside of controlled conditions, but we’re cautiously optimistic that this could be one of the most amazing virtual playgrounds ever created.
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