CD Projekt Red has revealed 15 minutes of new gameplay from Cyberpunk 2077 that takes us on a guided tour of one location we’ll be visiting, and introduces the residents we’ll be working with.
At first, the footage starts with lead character, V, being placed into ice water as they enter a ‘data fortress’, where she interacts with someone named Brigitte who explains it’s a bridge to the ‘deep net’. The scene is very Matrix-inspired, everything constructed out of blue data swarms. Then, a narrator speaks over a montage of in-game clips and explains that the demo will show two different ways one can approach Cyberpunk 2077 before explaining the setting.
We’re in Pacifica, a hotbed of illegal trade and gang violence. It’s advised to use a motorbike or armoured car if one must swing by, and the markets are the place to go for rare goods and cyberware. The dominant gang, the Voodoo Boys, are the most competent when it comes to using the web to their advantage. They’ve hired you to land a hit on The Animals, a rival group who’re obviously planning something big.
We then see two specific ways we could play out the situation. The first is ‘strong solo’, which favours brute force and allows access to augments that beef up your physical strength and allow for some bone-crushing moves. This build gets the job done against the mega-steroid-enhanced Sasquatch, but it’s neither graceful nor tactful. When major enemies are defeated, players can choose whether they live or die.
‘Netrunner‘ is second, and it’s all about hacking. Players will be able to hack and control all sorts of objects and technology, from vending machines to other people’s implants, through a netrunning interface and from a distance. Missions using this will be quiet and stealthy, making the machines do the work for you.
It’s specified that character creation is built on a spectrum, so any kind of combination of attributes can be built so long as you put the time in the necessary areas.
Finally, Brigitte from the start is explained as being from Netwatch, a cybersecurity agency that are trying to maintain some semblance of order in a world that’s already beyond the brink. V confronts a Netwatch agent at the end of the mission, and chooses to incapacitate and connect with them via cyberlink. Their circuits get fried as a result.
“That didn’t go down well,” the narrator says. “In the world of Cyberpunk few things go as planned.”
We can’t wait to see what disasters we get ourselves into when the Cyberpunk 2077 release date comes around on April 16, 2020.