Consultation on Cyberpunk 2077 starting somewhere in 2012. Mike Pondsmith, the author of the Cyberpunk 2020 universe, made his first work in 1990. Cyberpunk gained popularity when CD Projekt announced work on the project. The pre-production phase started after the release Blood and Winelatest expansion story for Online game Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The title was initially supervised by a team of 50 people, but the team was systematically growing. The third Witcher required only cosmetic care, so CD Projekt RED took care of building Night City for positive. For this reason, action was taken to improve the RED Engine 3, which powered the Wild Hunt. The engine was transformed into the fourth version. Work on Cyberpunk 2077 was in full swing.
Through your eyes
Adam Badowski, the game’s director at the time, decided to change perspective. The view of the eyes was supposed to ensure the best immersion with the presented world. At first, it was assumed that Cyberpunk 2077 would be an identical game to The Witcher. We cannot confirm whether a third-person perspective was considered. More interesting “features” were abandoned and the option of running on the wall. I have loved wallrunning ever since Prince of Persia: Sands of Timealthough let’s stay on the cyberpunk reality, which is not ours to deal with Online game Ghostrunner, a title in my opinion more interesting than the position of CD Projekt. Smaller but better, sharper and harder. The game by Level 5 studio is an example that cyberpunk as a setting works perfectly in a more narrow, intimate setting. Night City pays homage to the brutal era with its architecture. The backbone of urban infrastructure was created with the support of urban planners, meaning those involved in the development and modernization of cities. Brutalism is an architectural trend from the late 1940s. One of the Polish examples of this type of construction is e.g. Train station in Katowice.
Badowski is not currently directing Cyberpunk 2077. In the spring of 2021, Gabriel Amantangelo took over his duties. A name associated with Dragon Age: Inquisition Whether Star Wars: The Old Republic. The former director remains a member of the company’s board of directors. nonetheless, he was involved in the entire development process of the game. In 2018, the CDPR Wrocław division was created to provide production support. In the same year, the representative of the studio reported that the focus was on proper optimization. Yes, I know what you would like to say now. The atmosphere was heated red by a fragment of more than 40 minutes of the game during the conference held at E3 2018. Even then, we did not believe that this level of visuals could be achieved in a console environment. Night City was full of life like Akka from the first Assassin’s Creed years ago. Except that now the density of the crowd was decorated with hundreds of lamps, neon lights and skyscrapers thrown into the sky. Cyberhajpe has grown.
In the following year, no gameplay was introduced. CD Projekt proposes something completely unexpected. The Microsoft conference, where Keanu Reeves appeared on stage, has become a legend. The actor confirmed his participation in the project and the icing on the cake is the famous trailer, where the line “Wake up, samurai. We have a burning city.” Who has not picked up on the hype, let him send a stone in the comment section. “The character I play gets into a lot of interaction with the viewer. I’m part of their journey and they’re part of mine, so you’ll see what happens“- Keanu Reeves was excited in 2019. Johny Silverhand is a character conditioning the narrative of Cyberpunk 2077. A construction of his personality, that is, a rebel rocker who even after death dreams of destroying the corporate machine. Night City was founded on the ruins of corporate warfare. Can we imagine Cyberpunk 2077 from a third perspective today? Conversations with Johnny would not be so memorable. In the game, only V, the main character, speaks more than him. There are now mods that allow third person viewing.
A rough start
We are getting closer to that date. On December 10, 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 enters the market. I first bought the game when I still had PS4 Pro. A few minutes after I started, I crashed into a wall. I did the first test and the game crashed. I continued my adventure only after buying PS5, long before the decisive update, which raised the production image to current standards. Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that should never have appeared on older generation consoles. Profits were at stake, but the studio’s reputation was severely damaged. Sony has decided to withdraw the production from the PlayStation Store. This has only happened once in the past when another publisher, Warner Bros. return the computer version Batman: Arkham Knight. This is a situation no one expected. The game is heavily advertised from the creators of The Witcher to the players. The number of bug compilations on the web has grown exponentially.
The game managed to survive this media storm. Apart from dissatisfaction with the operation of the game on the older generation, the lion’s share of customers had fun with Cyberpunk 2077. Night City could charm and engage. The game can be accused of generic activities (mainly contracts), but the developers offer several options to resolve conflicts. In turn, a certain update almost cleared the streets of Night City of residents. I had the impression of moving into a neon mock-up. The developers managed to breathe life back into the upcoming fixes. Cyberpunk 2077 would need about a year. If only the management would hold for these twelve months and release the game on PS5, XSX and PC, many situations could be avoided. The story is shorter than in the third Witcher, which the developers explained by the fact that many players did not finish the Wild Hunt because of the length of the story. The main plot of Night City closes in a dozen or so hours. The city is actually smaller in size, although it is a more intense environment.
Today, the creators boast an average positive rating of 80%, according to Steam data. Cyberpunk 2077 is still a specific title, harder to pick up than The Witcher. Night City will charm some, and overwhelm and discourage others. A big expansion is coming, Specter of Liberty. The game is now at an attractive price, and the developers have brought it to an acceptable state. This should be a lesson for the company. For us? An example does not die hype, because everyone, even the most recognized developers, can stumble. The Witcher trilogy gave REDs a lasting confidence. It was hard to rebuild after the cyberpunk storm.