When it appeared that the Microsoft conference at the E3 2018 was coming to an end, the screen that had been showing all the news of Xbox One was "hacked" by the good people of CD Projekt RED, responsible for The Witcher saga, to show us a new trailer for their next great game: the highly anticipated cyberpunk 2077 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Although it was a cinematic trailer (made with the game engine, yes) instead of playable, the Poles have made us even more eager to get the hang of it. Cyberpunk. You can watch it again below:
But it did not end there ... And it is that CD Projekt Red does things in a very special way. Once the doors of E3 2018 were open, we had an appointment with them behind closed doors, in one of the separate meeting rooms of the showfloor. Inside, they were waiting for us to show us nothing more and nothing less than a demo gameplay de Cyberpunk 2077 of fifty minutes (FIFTY MINUTES!), played on PC with console control.
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First of all, they have taken a few minutes to explain the world in which this action RPG takes place. Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in an alternate timeline, in which technology has been integrated with a way of life marked by pop culture, poverty and a decadent sexuality (which incidentally is "breathed" throughout the game). Characters have increased their abilities with synthetic implants, which can be exchanged at legal dealers or on the black market.
They have also stopped at the character editor. We control V, a cyborg that can be male or female, and have the appearance we want (with all the imaginable options). The most curious thing is that we cannot select class - it adapts dynamically as we need it - but we can select our previous history, which will affect the gameplay. For this demo, they have opted for a female character.
Once V had been created, we plunged into the first mission: recovering the body of an android that had fallen into the hands of a parts dealer. The entire game takes place in the first person (except for the driving phases) and is incredibly immersive. Yes, you have read correctly: Cyberpunk 2077 is first person, something that may shock given that The Witcher 3 was developed entirely in third.
Lighting, city building Night City (in Northern California) and the mix of dirt with technology has nothing to envy of what we have seen in Blade Runner (an inevitable reference). It is the best reflection of this genre that we have seen in any video game, very close to the last Deus Ex.
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But let's continue with the mission. V is armed with a submachine gun, and confronts the thugs who serve the dealer. In addition to using his weapon (and destroying the elements of the scene) he can execute brutal melee blows and special attacks, which are activated with an inhaler. Thus, for example, it slows down time, which gives it a tactical advantage in combat.
Later in the demo we have seen how other more sophisticated weapons behave (such as the "smart gun" with remote control bullets and especially the Mantis blades, which come out of their forearms to tear enemies to pieces). And in the same way they have explained to us that we can get improvements with implants, which allow us to run along the wall, perform a double jump or scan the location of the enemies. The limit is in what we can pay (in a currency baptized like Eurodollars, that in the game they call simply ED).
This rescue operation in which we were immersed ends in a dramatic way - we are not going to "spoil" the story - but it helps us to get into a situation. After a short sequence, they have finally shown us the open world. It is a gigantic and overcrowded city, where verticality predominates and thousands of souls "wander" fleeing from problems.
cyberpunk 2077 it boasts a very careful setting, and if you know the original role-playing game (the one played with character sheets and dice), you will find hundreds of references. The "lore" is in every corner: the android models, the devices ... even the interactive advertising.
To travel around Night City, we can use a car, with a retro-futuristic design. But these sections are not limited to driving. On the one hand, there are important conversations that take place during the trip, on the other, we have also seen shootings in progress: a whole technical deployment if we take into account the detail of the open world through which we move. The truth is, we do not know which machine the demo was running on, but we are not surprised that it is an intergenerational game due to its visual load.
As in The Witcher, we can select our answer during conversations, but CP2077 incorporates a new way to interact with other characters: hack their mind. We can connect with a cable to a port on the heads of the enemies, after knocking them out, to modify their behavior.
Overall, this demo of cyberpunk 2077 E3 2018 has impressed us. As much for its setting and technical execution as for the depth it offers. In just one hour of play we have once again found that masterful recreation of characters that already had the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, with multiple options to solve each situation, an immense arsenal (of weapons and improvements) and a perfect rhythm between parts narratives and action sequences. The game is still in the early stages of development, and yet it has already seemed one of the most promising at the show.
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For now, Cyberpunk 2077 has no release date, and the confirmed platforms are PS4, Xbox One, and PC. We will remain attentive to any news that CD Projekt RED reveals during the next days, and we will send them to you instantly ... hacked directly to your minds.
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