For those who’ve managed to do the entire story content material that Cyberpunk 2077 needed to supply and have been wanting an excuse to hop again on and do some netrunning or samurai sword slashing, I’m pleased to say that Phantom Liberty goes to supply you numerous to chase after which some. I used to be dropped into Dogtown, the brand new location you’ll discover in Phantom Liberty, and it’s stuffed with a brand new story, new gigs, airdrops that’ll embrace some coveted loot, new Cyberware upgrades within the type of Relics, new perks, and much more I’m most likely going to find once I return in September.
To kick issues off, when diving again into Night time Metropolis, you’ll obtain a message and a mission from Songbird: Save the President of the New United States. She has crashed and also you’ll have to get her out from behind enemy strains earlier than Hansen’s folks do. Hansen, the large dangerous of Dogtown, doesn’t appear to love President Myers very a lot, and it’ll be as much as you to drag her out of the hearth.
By way of the story, the general feeling I used to be left with after the primary hour or so I acquired to play was considered one of unease. Not due to something bizarre, however just because I didn’t really feel like I may belief any of those folks. After simply assembly the President I used to be instantly requested if I needed to take an oath. To be honest, the demo jumped round so possibly the character will develop on me a bit extra, however I undoubtedly was hesitant to belief anybody I simply met on the planet of Cyberpunk 2077. In spite of everything, the final time I did I awakened half lifeless and buried underneath rubbish on the dump with folks making an attempt to loot my corpse.
That unease wasn’t helped a lot by Johnny Silverhand, who shares some revelations about his previous through the mission. What he tells you makes this determination about whether or not or to not pledge your allegiance to President Myers even tougher to make. It was nice to listen to from Silverhand once more after so lengthy, and to listen to his reactions throughout this explicit story path will certainly tug on the ol’ heartstrings as you make your solution to one of many new endings solely present in Phantom Liberty.
As a result of your sport at all times saves simply earlier than you speak to Hanako and transcend the purpose of no return, Phantom Liberty will give you an all-new path towards completion that solely PS5 and Xbox Sequence X|S homeowners can play (and PC in fact). My favourite ending thus far has been the so-called suicide run, however I welcome the chance to see how all this performs out ultimately.
Solomon Reed, performed by Idris Elba, is an outstanding addition to the forged and he actually brings a gravitas to his position. As I discussed earlier than, that lack of belief extends to him, too, as he’s launched along with his typical poise and no-nonsense supply throughout your hunt for backup, per the President’s orders. His life might not have taken fairly the glamorous flip you’d count on as he had rubbed shoulders with a President and for me, that simply made me additional query his loyalty given the circumstances. A personality burned by a strong determine? Yeah, I’m going to expect the opposite shoe to drop sooner or later.
The main target of the 90 minutes was totally on this story of Solomon Reed, President Myers, and Songbird. However the mission that caught with me probably the most was one of many new gigs I discovered in Dogtown. Primarily as a result of I really feel like I performed it improper.
There have been loads extra gigs to dive into, however the one I ended up operating had me attempt to assist a avenue physician who gave the impression to be making an attempt to make the lives of the folks on this metropolis higher. You meet him making an attempt to regulate the cyberware of a citizen appropriately for his or her physique sort, and since I had some expertise in tech I helped resolve it with a dialogue choice. After that I used to be despatched on a mission to recuperate a physician, and once I arrived, I used to be confronted with an indignant lady who fired just a few rounds into his forearm. In a panic I shot her, and sadly I feel I made the improper selection.
That’s as a result of I discovered later that she was mad as a result of this physician had kidnapped her youthful brother and was doing human experiments on his physique. In an try and get him again, she confronted him, however ended up assembly her demise at my hand – all whereas the physician was a whole dick. So in my subsequent playthrough, guess who V will likely be murdering as quickly as this growth drops?
Usually talking, Dogtown, like most of Night time Metropolis, isn’t probably the most welcoming of locations. There are lots of advantages for diving into the seedy underbelly of an already seedy place, although. The black market scene, for instance, has a variety of enjoyable new toys to mess around with. Like, as an illustration, new weapons, automobiles which have mounted machine weapons and rockets so that you can play with, and even cyberware that beefs up your already extremely highly effective assaults.
For instance, the brand new relic system permits you to energy up your monowire to make it act extra like a whip out of Castlevania – besides it additionally applies an prompt fast hack alongside the bodily harm it inflicts. Your Projectile Launch could be charged as much as ship a volley of missiles at anybody you’ve determined to focus on, versus only one blast. And with a powered-up set of Mantis Arms it is possible for you to to set off one of many new executions within the sport, after which immediately teleport through a lift to an opponent on the opposite aspect of the room to maintain the homicide chain going. These, alongside the brand new perks, have me very excited to min-max a brand new construct.
The very last item I had the chance to attempt was an airdrop, which is simply one of many world occasions I noticed throughout my hands-on time. You’ll hear a loud growth close by, and when you observe the plumes of purple smoke there will likely be a shoot out to see who can get the loot earlier than anybody else. Some have higher objects than others, however when you’re on the lookout for a solution to gear up with the brand new weapons present in Dogtown, you’ll merely want to chop your means via the plenty to get your bag.
Destin Legarie is a Director of Content material Technique at IGN. He likes taking chicken pictures in his spare time when he is not doing Efficiency Critiques for IGN. You possibly can observe him on Twitter if you’d like.
