When exploring the lengths that Cyberpunk 2077 has gone, the game back in its late 2020 launch left many players with a very bad taste in their mouth. And for fans that did enjoy what was offered is left waiting for the first major expansion for the game – Phantom Liberty. For many, it is believed the next-generation update for Cyberpunk 2077 was the start of a turnaround for the game since its initial impression.
Moving forward, it is already confirmed a sequel is underway. Internally, CD Projekt Red confirms the follow-up is codenamed ‘Project Orion’. Speaking to Bloomberg, it is revealed that the new title is to inherit Phantom Liberty game director Gabe Amatangelo will also take the same role for the next Cyberpunk game. Amatangelo also speaks on the improvements that redefine much of the game from what it was at launch.
Elsewhere in a separate interview with Video Game Chronicles, creative director Pawel Sasko shares a similar story as well on much of the changes for Cyberpunk 2077 which revamps much of the core mechanics in-game.
All the core, main systems of the game have been redone or updated in a major way. The biggest ones are the perks and skill trees, which have been rebuilt completely, and the next one is we’ve added vehicle combat which enables new car chases. We’ve also greatly expanded AI and completely redone the police system, which is rebuilt from the ground up and now has multiple levels with multiple archetypes of enemies who will chase you – it’s also different in Dog Town compared to Night City.
We’ve also redone the loop and whole progression of the game; the difficulty curve is different, the tiers and drops of loot is different, the archetypes of enemies has been redone for more variety. Those are the core things that we’ve changed, and if you look into it there are very few systems that we didn’t change or update. Even the UI and UX have been greatly updated.
We also looked at the criticism for example of the open world. When you play the base game versus Phantom Liberty, you will see the difference. For example, there are car chases that happen dynamically when factions fight. AI improvements mostly extends to enemies. Your followers, like you saw with Agent Reed in the demo, can also use it, but pedestrians are mostly bug fixes.
Sasko elaborates on the new vehicle combat: “We put a lot work into vehicle combat. You can aim your handgun through the windshield or windows. There are also weaponised vehicles with gatling guns or rockets that you can actually use and shoot. Some of the cars from the base game will be updated and weaponised, whereas others you can just open up doors like from our original CGI trailer where V was shooting out of the door. On motorcycles you can use your katana.”
Additionally, Sasko also confirms more content is a focus for players that were looking for more activities to complete all in-game objectives. “There are many variants of that quest, like having to follow a car and hack it remotely to steal it. This activity is infinitely repeatable, because players complained that they were not able to obtain all of the cars in the original game. That’s another thing that we’ve overhauled: cars are no longer purchasable from fixers like in the base game. Instead, Mama Welles has a website in the game where he adds more cars – and some of them are weaponised.”
What has you excited for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches on September 26, 2023 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Source: Bloomberg, Video Game Chronicles
