After years of anticipation, we finally have concrete information on Cyberpunk 2077's one and only expansion - Phantom Liberty!
For those that haven't been up to date,CDPR has slowly but surely fixed the game's core issues. Now, with a relatively stable experience, they have swung for the fences. And I daresay, finally fulfill their promise of bringing customers a truly next-gen experience.
Without further ado, let's get into this thing because there's A LOT to talk about.
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🔷 SUMMER SHOWCASE 🔶
Most people that keep track of the goings-on in the gaming industry will know that E3 has been dying ever since the pandemic hit. After this, the convention hasn't gotten the same traction as before. It was supposed to have this big comeback this year, but almost all developers said they weren't participating. Enter the Summer Showcase.
CDPR has kept close ties with XBOX for a while now and it made logical sense to have the Cyberpunk reveal at the XBOX showcase. Not only did we get a release date and a swanky new trailer, but the press also got hands-on experience with the expansion. 🙌 So we got A LOT of information on what we can expect going forward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it7cRnw_V3c
First let's go through what we know, and what was shown in the trailer. Then, I will go through what I've discovered through reading all the available current information from people that have had hands-on experience with the expansion and DLC.
Wait... DLC? Yes! There's more to this update than meets the eye, but more on that later.
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🔷 STAR STUDDED 🔶
I mean, the maniacs added Idris Elba to the cast. And by all accounts, he kills it in the role. 👌 Everyone says that the character brings an awesome presence to every scene he's in. Keanu is a hologram most of the time, while Idris is really there.
This tangential feeling shouldn't be downplayed. And from what little we see of him in the trailer and promotional material, his model looks absolutely fantastic. 😤
Turns out that Keanu Reaves also has a lot more dialogue added with the expansion. A lot of people thought he would just phone it in and let the other NPCs carry the load. But it turns out CDPR did the character justice. A lot of people said that Johny Silverhand talks now more than ever. Which is definitely a welcomed addition. 💯
All the other characters are well-cast and well-executed. Especially Myers the new President of the New United States of America. And Songbird, a renowned Netrunned working for the President. Seems like you as V will get to choose whether you align with the President and Songbird, or with Johny's agenda. This is all conjecture btw, we won't know for sure until we play it.
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🔷 EXPANSION AND DLC 🔶
The expansion - Phantom Liberty - is not the same as the DLC: Version 1.7. Main difference between the two is that one is a 34.99$ expansion and the other is a free update that every already purchased copy of Cyberpunk owns.
The funny thing is we still are not sure what precisely is associated with the expansion and what isn't. I.e. what will players have to pay for and what comes as just another free patch?
My initial thoughts are that everything that has to do with the new area, characters, and storylines is walled behind the expansion. Whereas all the new mechanics will be free add-ons. What free mechanics you ask? Well, let's start listing them off, shall we?
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🔷 CYBERPUNK 2.0 🔶
Along with the expansion this new update will restructure and redo a lot, if not all, of the game's systems. We're talking about bedrock changes that affect the entirety of the game. And these changes are the things I am the most excited for.
Let's start with what should excite people the most: new police system.
Police are no longer the absolute train wrecks they were on release. They have substantially upgraded since then, but nothing like this comprehensive update. 👌 For one thing there is a propper 5-star wanted-level system like in the GTA games. One star gets you a single byke cop that just casually traverses the area, while 5-star is a full-on boss battle versus Max Tac. ⭐The officers spawn on vehicles several blocks away, so the entire process feels a lot more seamless than it used to.
Next we have vehicle combat! 😮😮😮
A feature that was removed from the 1.0 release of the game, but later added on with mods. Now, you can play it in the official version without the use of mods. The system works as advertised - you can use your weapons in your vehicle while steering. Even cooler is that you can use melee weapons while riding your bike. 😁 This also applies to enemies, as they can fire at you from their ride as well. Amazing addition!
Another important note is that the skill tree has been completely reworked. No longer is the old skill tree, now each skill is a perk. Meaning they are way more impactful than before, and each subsection of the tree correlates to certain cyberwar. We will talk more about cyberware shortly. In addition, there will be a new upgrade path titled 'Relic'. It will have fewer perks, but be much more impactful. I am very curious as to what this actually means. 😁
As for that aforementioned cyberware. There will be a gauge that will show close you are to becoming a Cyber Psycho. 😱 If you know anything about Cyberpunk you will know how big of a deal this actually is. Armor has also been assigned to cyberware rather than clothing. And most cyberware upgrades have been redesigned and made cooler. This is all very exciting, and something people have been asking for since the game launched.
Rest of the updates I will just list off:
- The difficulty curve has been reworked;
- Enemy AI has been heavily improved with new enemy archetypes and so on;
- You will be able to hack vehicles and target specific weak points;
- Vehicles are no longer bought from fixers but from a website;
- Some vehicles have guns installed on their chassis; 😱
- New infinitely repeatable missions where you steal cars marked on your map;
- New 'airdrops' that make you fight with enemies for caches of loot;
- A lot of random activities and events that make the world feel more alive;
This update will be hype. And whether you have been an active hater of the game or a devout fanboi such as myself, this update looks to fix a lot of the issues we've been complaining about through the years. I personally cannot wait for to start a new playthrough with the expansion and some hand-picked mods. I finally think this game will be the next-gen experience CDPR promised at launch.
Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏
Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
Wanted to write a Through the Lens today but all of this Cyberpunk news dropped that I just had to cover. 😁 Think I'm gonna write a FIRST LOOK article next before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming!
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Have a great start to your week! 🙌
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