Cyberpunk 2077 has been reborn. After almost three years, the latest title from the Polish studio CD Projekt finally looks – more – like what they promised in 2020. This week the Phantom Liberty expansion arrives in the science fiction universe of Night City with 13 new main missions, many secondary roles, an expansion of the city and new characters such as the netrunner Songbird or the researcher Solomon Reed, played by Idris Elba.
Additionally, last week, Cyberpunk 2077 also received update 2.0, which substantially improves the game and adds many new features. To be clear: the 2.0 update is free and available on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. On the other hand, the Phantom Liberty expansion is paid and costs 29.99 euros. Below, we review the main news.
Phantom Liberty represents a substantial expansion of the Cyberpunk 2077 campaign. The numbers published by CD Projekt talk about 13 main missions and 17 secondary missions, in addition to a new skill tree, new items, three radio stations, several characters and a new part of the city open to explore. But beyond these cold data, this expansion is the final blow of a redemption arc that began in December 2020, when the original game was published.
Cyberpunk 2077 came out broken. It was not what the studio promised and on platforms like Xbox One and PlayStation 4 it was directly unplayable. The situation became so critical that it was even removed from the PlayStation store for several weeks. At that time, CD Projekt decided not to give up mainly for two reasons: they could not condemn a product in which they had invested too much time and money to oblivion and they could not lose the trust of the fans.
So in December 2020 they started their redemption arc and started working to make Cyberpunk 2077 a good game. Maybe not the kind of game they had promised, but at least make it enjoyable. And they have achieved it. Phantom Liberty presents a really interesting story: the president of the New United States, Elizabeth Kress, has crashed in the lawless city of Dogtown and our protagonist must save her.
Following this premise, CD Projekt RED takes the player to a completely new area of ??the city of Night City: Dogtown. Once part of the Pacifica district, it is now an independent city ruled with an iron fist by former military man Kurt Hansen. Someone has caused the President’s airship to crash in Dogtown and our mission is to find out who and why.
As it is an expansion, it does not replace the main plot of the game, which is still there as it was in 2020. With the same missions and the same characters. Phantom Liberty is an add-on that can be started halfway through the main campaign mode, after completing a mission called Transmission.
Beyond the Phantom Liberty expansion, much of the new features that CD Projekt has been preparing for these three years have arrived for free in Cyberpunk 2077. Update 2.0 turns the game into – basically – what it should always have been. And it adds several features that fans have been asking for for years, such as a new police system or combat from vehicles.
So, actually, we can start here. The Night City police force has been completely revamped. The NCPD will now chase the player if they commit a crime and the type of units that chase you will depend on the player’s wanted level. There may come a point where intervention units from the elite MAX-TAC force arrive, so be careful.
Another of the game’s great novelties is combat from vehicles. Now you can shoot with pistols and submachine guns from cars and motorcycles. In addition, there are vehicles directly with integrated weapons. But the improvements don’t stop there. CD Projekt has completely renewed the operation of the vehicles and modified their durability and resistance. Now there are armored cars, weaker cars and you can even have punctured tires to hinder driving.
To all this is also added a new AI system for enemies. Basically, with update 2.0, enemies are now smarter and act more logically to the player. Additionally, the capabilities of enemy netrunners, who pose a real threat, have also been improved.
Although the ability to use offensive hacks is not limited to enemies. Playing as a netrunner is better with the 2.0 update. The skill trees have been redone from scratch and new options for hacking the environment and enemies have been added: queuing up several quick hacks, more balanced RAM consumption, and even Overdrive mode that allows you to hack by spending life if you run out. RAM. And the list goes on and on.
In September 2022, Netflix published a series called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners in collaboration with CD Projekt and Trigger Animation. It was all a success. The animated series revitalized the game, made many people return to Night City, but what they found when they returned was far from what the anime offered.
Cyberpunk – the tabletop role-playing game, not the video game – talks about the relationship between human and machine. Cyberware upgrades help you build a stronger and more versatile character, but the price you pay is your humanity. This is also the premise of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, but it’s something that CD Projekt forgot while developing their game.
Yes, in Cyberpunk 2077 there was talk of cyberpsychosis and these topics were pointed out. But they remained in the background like a decoration. Now, with update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077 is more like Edgerunners, more like the original RPG it is based on. The protagonist’s path no longer follows only his desire for salvation, it can also condemn him to a complete loss of his humanity motivated only by the desire for power. The line that separates man from machine.
This new Cyberpunk 2077 goes far beyond an expansion of content and a remodeling of the mechanics. It is the birth of a new game much more similar to what it should have been in 2020. It is still not perfect, but, as No Man’s Sky did at the time, it has shown that with time and trust things can end up turning out well.
