Cyberpunk 2077 Review

Initial release date: December 10, 2020

Mode: Single-player video game

Designer: Konrad Tomaszkiewicz

Developers: CD Projekt RED, CD Projekt

Platforms: Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Microsoft Windows

Composers: P.T. Adamczyk, Marcin Przybyłowicz, Paul Leonard-Morgan

Engine: REDengine 4, REDengine, RED Engine

"Review Copy Provided By CD Projekt RED"

One of the most hyped games (and overhyped games) to ever exist is Cyberpunk 2077.

The game had so much marketing behind it and was given glowing reviews before launch from big outlets and the biggest creators. Not even a week after the game launch was it met with some of the most disastrous press about how terribly optimized the game was and even the same outlets and big creators who gave the game glowing praise ended up quickly turned around and bashed the game and then the public bashing of CD Projeckt Red began with the conversation about developer crunch and a lot more. Many reported that the game was unplayable on the base consoles of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and ran roughly on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X; on PC it was hit or miss even on the most beefy of PC rigs.

What is interesting is that the game released around the time the Next Generation consoles of the Xbos Series X|S and PlayStation 5 released and yet oddly wasn’t optimized for it nor even released for those platforms. So here we are in 2022 and beyond massive amounts of patches to fix the issues with the game and now we have the official release of the next generation version of the game and we’re going to dive in and see how it performs on the Xbos Series X|S and PS5.

Visually, CyberPunk 2077 looks phenomenal on Xbox Series X with it giving you access to several options such as a Ray Tracing mode and Performance Mode while on the Series S it’s more of a so-so affair. Ray Tracing gives you impressive lighting and reflections along with 4K visuals with crisp details in the environments and character models; this does unfortunately, limit the games frame rate down to a locked 30fps. In Performance Mode, the game runs in 4K a silky smooth locked 60fps with good albeit not as impressive lighting compared to the Ray Tracing Mode and no reflections. Personally, I prefer to play the game in Performance Mode as I enjoy a higher frame rate over having pretty visuals with lower frame rate.

On the Xbox Series S you only have the option to have the game run at 1440p at 30fps with no additional performance options. If you have a choice of playing this on the Series X or Series S then choose the Series X as it makes the game a much better experience overall, but if the Series S is your only option then its not a bad way to play the game…..it’s just not the optimal way either.

Aside from all the bug fixes that have happened for the game since the launch of the game till now, I have only run into a few instances of glitches with the most common being the HUD disappearing and my needing to close and relaunch the game.

CD Projekt RED decided to include free DLCs which includes new weapons, the ability to change your appearance at mirrors along with more apartments to utilize. There’s also new photo mode options for players to use with various filers and such.

Why did I not dive into the story of CyberPunk 2077? Well, its simple; I want you to experience that for yourself as diving into Night City is truly a unique experience for everyone that enters it and no two people will have the same experience with the game. The characters that you interact with along with the general way Night Ciy and the Badlands are is unlike anything you will have experienced in any other open-world to date and its truly a brilliant experience that I do feel has been hampered by all the bugs of the game and one that I do feel that makes me wish they had delayed this game another year so that the first impression that people had with it would be one that is fantastical than the running meme that the game has become.

Is CyberPunk 2077 worth diving into now over a year after its initial release and is it worth it on next generation consoles? The answer to that question is a n emphatic YES! The game has vastly improved, and the performance is substantially better than what it was in 2020 and is truly one of the most brilliant experiences in gaming you will ever have in an open-world action FPS RPG. Given how frequently this game is on sale means now is the time to dive into Night City!