Games
With The Witcher 3 swansonging the series in epic GOTY fashion, we take a look at CD Projekt RED’s upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 open-world action-RPG, and consider everything we think it needs…
The future is now. Or, it will be, soon. Yeah. Anyway, with CD Projekt RED having finished up on The Witcher series of games, and having set aside a dedicated team to continue work on GWENT, all development eyes have shifted their gaze to Cyberpunk 2077.
The game was originally announced in 2012, which is a long time between drinks and all information thus far, suggests we still won’t see it until 2019 (or maybe even 2020). However, it’s expected to feature heavily at this year’s E3 and Gamescom gaming expos, while the myriad financial gains the studio made from The Witcher 3, and a recently-awarded grant from the Polish government of USD$7 million has afforded (heh) CD Projekt RED to set up another studio, working exclusively on Cyberpunk 2077, out of Wrocław, Poland. And this is alongside their main Warsaw studio, too.
In short, it all seems to be in good hands with the right resources equally at hand (heh). Moreover, being that the property is actually based on a tabletop game released way back in 1988, it’s also reassuring to know Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith is consulting on the project. So then, what do we know so far?
- The game is set in an 80s inspired cyberpunk future in the year 2077.
- One of the game’s main protagonists, as far as we know, is a woman with cybernetic augmentations.
- Language is allegedly set to play a major role in the game, and players will need to work hard to be able to understand the various different cultures and races (aliens? robots?) found throughout.
- It takes place in the fictional setting of Night City, California.
- According to CD Projekt RED it will be a “true RPG”, and one that could sit alongside the RPG side of The Witcher 3 in terms of depth.
- It will be open-world.
- It will have multiple endings based on player-agency and choice.
- There is no multiplayer.
- There will be no microtransactions, loot crates et al. The base product is a premium product (excluding expected expansions and basic DLC offerings).
- And finally, allegedly, players will have the choice to play in either first-person or third-person.
(Actually, double finally, this writer is convinced we’ll also see a cameo from Ciri based on some of her dialogue in The Witcher 3, and some comments made by CDPR to me personally on a few different occasions.)
And so all of that is awesome. We can’t wait. The Witcher 3 was largely brilliant, and the growth of the studio and how long they’ve actually been chipping away at this IP suggests that, alongside their penchant for Blizzard-like “when it’s ready” game-design (and reveal), means we’re going to be in for a treat. But what kind of treat do we want? You know, personally? So, here are seven things we think Cyberpunk 2077 absolutely has to have to truly top The Witcher, and win our cybernetic hearts.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THAT SYNTH
No-brainer, really, but like so many great synth journeys out there, and all the great sci-fi media that acknowledges synth as the absolute science-fiction anthem, Cyberpunk 2077 needs those electronic keys. Synthesisers that is. And with synth, range is not an issue; mood, action, silence, revelation, loss… everything is relatable and possible with a synth soundtrack. And you infinitely sell your new IP’s tone with it.
AR IS UI LIFE, ON THE DL
This game is set in the future. A retro future, sure. But a future nonetheless. And it’s with this setting the game needs an immersive user-interface (or UI), that isn’t just a 2D screen placement of information. Dead Space and the Batman Arkhamseries both did this; Dead Space more specifically, in a brilliant fashion. Moreover, games these days are often asking players if they want an intrusive UI or HUD (heads up display), because the removal of on-screen information for information's sake always leads to a more “immersive” experience. And so UI design in general will no doubt begin to lean towards the contextual. Cyberpunk 2077 needs to not only adopt this approach, but creatively lead the way, too.
UI design in general will no doubt begin to lean towards the contextual. Cyberpunk 2077 needs to not only adopt this approach, but creatively lead the way, too...
COMBAT, LET’S AR THAT, TOO
Now, Cyberpunk 2077 is absolutely an RPG. But with an immersive, contextual in-universe UI there’s no reason CDPR couldn’t look at expanding or riffing on Fallout’s VATS system. Think The Terminator, where overlay information helps the player make tactical decisions around combat and conflict, potentially in real-time, without the requirement for Luck, Hit Percentage, or a basic dice roll. Keep it RPG by making the combat a real-time, reactive experience that evolves over time. Where stuff like in-game cybernetic implants informs the complexity, strategy and success of each encounter.
COPPER WIRE CRAFTING
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt had a great crafting system, and with cybernetic augmentation a genuine design tilt in Cyberpunk 2077, there should be a robust and in-depth upgrade (read: crafting) component to the game. This doesn’t just need to be centred around healing devices or weapons, either. The now defunct Silicon Knights originally teased their maligned Too Human (which eventually came to Xbox 360, not GameCube as originally planned) would feature an acceptance system based on how many cybernetic augmentations a player chose to have. Essentially, game-world and mission information from specific types of NPCs would be gated, based on their prejudice of your decisions. An interesting and controversial system, but one that has real-world relevance and it’s a shame it was never actually implemented. Cyberpunk 2077 could pull it off easily enough though.
Essentially, game-world and mission information from specific types of NPCs would be gated, based on their prejudice of your decisions...
DIGITAL INVENTORY, OVER-ENCUMBERED GB
This is an RPG, and the modern RPG centres heavily around a loot loop gameplay system. Cyberpunk 2077 needs a contextual way for players to collect, craft, buy and sell with digital aplomb. Obviously you can’t just have players collecting all the things, it’s what makes the The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games -- from a loot perspective -- compelling, because you need to make decisions on what you’ll gather. But, equally, a dynamic crafting system should be employed so people become concerned about what’s valuable to their quest, and what’s not. How this is handled will be interesting, but we wanted to highlight the importance of it here in this list. Handle it, CD Projekt RED. Please.
DO AI PEDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
Yeah, tapped ourselves on the back for that subhead. Look, open-world games either suffer from, or elevate because of, NPCs. Life in game-worlds that aren’t the player-character is really important to see. It sells the game-world; the universe and story. They need to reflect the player but they need to be a kind of digital blood flow to make the place feel alive. Often, however, they’re just set-dressing. What we need is impactful AI roaming about the place. We need AI that reacts to the player, and the player’s decisions throughout the experience. We need patterns of behaviour but we need to be able to interrupt those with meaningful (or hilarious) outcomes. The more recent Deus Ex series had NPCs everywhere you could interact with, but we also need them moving and we need to be able to play with them, their behaviours and gain something meaningful from that.
CYBERMERGENCE
This bleeds into the above, but the two things we need from this game are no hand-holding, and less checklists. The Witcher 3’s biggest flaw was that players had a binary understanding of their goals due to checklists. Some areas, characters and events wouldn’t even trigger unless you’d read a note, or spoke to an NPC. Dynamic, emergent gameplay needs to be front and centre here as a rewarding exercise for exploration. RPGs need to free up rules and allow for player-agency and definitively dynamic opportunities to quest, learn, find and expand.
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