Gaming: CYBERPUNK

Cyberpunk are just three examples of what the future might look like. CD Projekt Red, already known for gaming successes such as The Witcher(which has also become a successful TV series), set out to create something even bigger and better. Cyberpunk 2077 has gone through many delays through its eight-year development cycle, but was it worth it?

The game takes place in Night City, which is controlled by corporations. You play as V, a mercenary you can customize to your own liking. You can make the main character male, female, or even non-binary. The character customization is very robust. The player can choose the voice, face, hairstyles, body type, modifications, background, and clothing of their character. Afterward, you can choose to be a nomad, streetkid, or a corpo, which will also give you special dialogue you can use in the game.

After you customize your player to your liking, you can also upgrade your stats which are divided into five categories: body, intelligence, reflexes, technical, and cool. You can also choose specialties such as netrunning (hacking), techie (machinery), and solo (combat). You must visit a ripperdoc, a specialist that allows you to upgrade and purchase cyberware implants. If you really want to go for the best gear in the game, you’ll have to visit black markets to make sure you’re up to speed against the most brutal enemies in the game. You’ll also be able to customize, upgrade, and modify weapons, which are classified into three types: power (standard), tech (penetrate walls and enemies), and smart (homing bullets). There are four types of damage: physical, thermal, EMP, and chemical.

One of my favorite parts of the game is the Braindance, which allows you to undergo another person’s experiences. Like in any action RPG, you gain experience from completing quests which can be used to upgrade stats. There are also many side quests that you can undertake to give you street cred, which unlocks additional skills, vendors, places, and even more side quests. Fixers provide these quests. There are six different regions of Night City: City Center, Watson, Westbrook, Heywood, Pacifica, and Santo Domingo. You can even explore the Badlands, which is the area outside of Night City.

There has been controversy surrounding the already-delayed game, mostly on the console versions of the game. The older PS4 and Xbox One consoles have reported numerous bugs and gameplay issues that are not present on the PC version for the most part. However, to fully enjoy the PC version of the game, you will need a very high-end PC if you want to play on the best settings. In fact, Cyberpunk 2077 is the most expensive video game in history to develop even without adjusting for inflation, including both marketing and development at USD 330-million.