Cyberjank 2077

Update: I completed this game prior to the release of Version 1.1. Not sure if it fixes all issues I experienced in the game, but I heard it does fix the Delamain quest I mentioned below and some stability issues.

CD Projekt Red has come under fire as what most gamers consider to be the worst launch of a game in recent years. Stories came out of the woodwork like developers selling an unfinished game to hostile working conditions were covered in the press. Long development cycles for games usually raise eyebrows in the gaming community. Most games, after announcement, require gamers to wait usually two to three years for the game to be in their hands. Longer development cycles usually beg the question: "What's wrong with the game?"

Must have been all that Keanu to keep fans from realizing the truth

I don't know if gamers had the wool pulled over their eyes because CD Projekt is a relatively small studio or because the studio's success in adapting the The Witcher book series into a video game trilogy, but most people assumed the game had a long development time because it was going to be the ultimate game. But just like other games that overpromise, the ambition led to their downfall.

Anyways, I was so graciously allowed and had the privilege to...uh...complete Cyberpunk 2077. In the game’s temperamental state, it is not a question of “are you good enough to beat the game?” It’s more of a question about “will the game let you beat it?” Yes, you really don't need skill as much as you need luck to finish Cyberpunk 2077. Every time I booted the game up, I knew I was victim to whether the code would agree with me or not.

Cyberpunk 2077 is riddled with bugs - enough that some people can't complete a normal run of the game because of game breaking glitches that can occur at anytime. The game requires constant manual saving at every turn because there is always a risk of the game's just telling you “No. I don’t want you to play me right now.”

"No, you cannot complete your objective.”

“No, you cannot jump from this pile of trash you ran into accidentally.”

“No, since the person didn't load in the room, your quest is broken for forever."

It's a shame all this technical crap has gotten in the way of an otherwise well written, well crafted story that takes place in beautifully detailed world. However the attention detail actually highlights how Cyberpunk 2077 feels unfinished in almost every single way that you can imagine. With all the buildings and people you’d think there would be a lot of hustle and bustle all the time. But the NPCs are lifeless and have absolutely nothing to them. They all have canned responses that don't make much sense or, even worse, can break the mood of the game. There was a really cool moment in the game where I am shredding on a guitar and I talk to an audience member and they just go: “Can’t you see I’m busy?” I went from feeling like a cool rock star to just a laughing, crying mess.

Night City, the setting of the game, is an amazingly re-imagined version of Los Angeles. Everything is so well made and crafted. The metropolis’s skyscraper-filled downtown is so well done that it felt as oppressive as real life. The textures everywhere are so well done, and the little details of street names and such are all there. The problem is that you can only enter about 10% of the city’s buildings. This wouldn't be so bad, I mean it is a video game after all, but the problem is that all the store fronts look like they are made to be walked into. It almost feels bad that there’s an open sign on the window of a store, but there’s no method to go inside.

Like most open world games, Cyberpunk's main story also takes a back seat to the gargantuan amount of side missions strewn throughout the map. Some of them are really good and get you invested into people who request for your assistance. The side missions are also half filled up with...buying cars. There are so many cars in Cyberpunk that they have their own separate side quest section. You really only need one car... And you get three of them for free during the main quest. So I never understood why they even existed. Have to admit, some of them look really awesome. Too bad all cars drive like they are perpetually spinning on black ice. There's also only one set of missions in the entire game where you actually need a car (otherwise you can just fast travel) and they already give you a car that's good enough to beat it. Just...so many cars....for no reason.

Shhhh....he can't see me....or shoot me...

During my time with the game, it had crashed three times. I had gotten stuck to the point of reloading at least half a dozen times. I have been killed more times than I can count by bullets from seemingly nowhere. I experienced so many glitches where people don't sit right or don't follow you correctly or hold items incorrectly or twist their body like the exorcist...I can keep listing the bugs.

In fact, I will. The main attraction of Cyberpunk isn't the cutthroat but inviting city, it isn't the well written story I mentioned before or the characters, it isn't even the way it lets you “choose your combat,” - no, it's the bugs. It's the seemingly chaotic and weird behavior of all the AI in the game. I've had cars repeatedly driving into highway overpass posts. I sat on the curb for five minutes; just watching cars come over and clip the post and damage their own vehicles. I had an instance where my character spawned inside another character in a cut scene. There were times where I skipped dialogue and ended up crouching (same button) and not being able to  move, requiring me to reload my game. I've had quests fail for no reason. Gut-wrenching.

                                                                    What is he doing?

Most of these glitches are obviously terrible, but tolerable. They do break immersion and tone, but I can still continue playing with a quick reload or restart of the game. There were four huge offenders that really ruined the game for me though:

1. Glitches that prevented me from continuing side quests and locking me out of content that I paid for.

2. Unbearable performance on my rig. No matter the settings, there were times where I was playing a PowerPoint presentation. Even with low settings and detail, I would still get the same result. 

3. The button mapping is atrocious. There is no need to map crouch, dodge, skip dialogue, and cancel to the same button. It just doesn't work. 

4. The pacing of quests.

Issue number 1 is heartbreaking because of what I mentioned above. Some of the quests are so fun to experience that I felt robbed when these quests wouldn't load or glitch out. An example: there's a early quest line where the premiere taxi service in Night City, Delamain, asks you to find some cars that seemed to have splintered off. Apparently finding these cars and reining them in is fun and ultimately comes to a satisfying conclusion, but I wouldn't know since I couldn't even start it!! Every time he called me to tell me a car was near, he would just hang up. The call is 100% required to start each quest. You can find the cars, no problem, but nothing will happen without Delamain giving you a ring.

Issue number 2 makes the game painful to play. I don't have an amazing or top-of-the-line rig, but I'm confident my PC is up to the task to play the game at medium settings. But even with certain features turned off, it was anything but a smooth experience. I even tried low settings and still had horrible performance. I ended up just throwing everything on Ultra settings since at least it would look nice.

Issue number 3 is just offensive. So many fights where I crouched instead of dodged and ended up dying. This is such a preventable issue that just didn't get caught before launch.

Issue number 4 was overwhelming. The method of unlocking side quests is to increase your “street cred” in the game by completing quests (in this game they call them gigs) and taking out bad guys. The more gigs and bad guys you beat, the higher your street cred goes up. As your street cred levels, more people will call you to ask for help. The problem is that they never stop calling you. Every time you cross into another area, a “fixer” will call you telling you about available missions. Move into another area and another fixer will call you. And another. And another. And another. In the first ten hours of Cyberpunk, I had a laundry list of gigs to complete and cars to purchase and my phone would still be off the hook. The worst part is that these are player activated quests. The NPCs call you without warning. You can just not pick up, but eventually you will have to.

Uh...Panam....need to get on your bike, now

I never bought into the hype of Cyberpunk 2077 pre-launch. The cyberpunk aesthetic is cool and all, but I just didn't think it would be something up my alley. So I can only feel terrible to the people who looked forward to this game for over seven years. Imagine going through high school and college and being rewarded with a game held together with duct tape and bubble gum. 

Since my completion of the game, CDProjektRed has issued patches to help fix some of the issues I have experienced. I don't think it's quite there yet and I don't think the game could ever get polished enough to be what it should have been to all the patient fans. 

But hey, talking to a sentient vending machine was pretty cool.