| Title | Looking for the cyberpunk in Cyberpunk 2077 |
| Author | Tom Chick |
| Posted in | Game reviews |
| When | December 15, 2020 |
The two pillars of cyberpunk in popular culture (i.e. you don't have to read a book or watch anime) are Blade Runner and The Matrix. These hold up and inform everything else. For instance, cyberpunk in recent popular media like Westworld and Altered Carbon..
Sounds like I should keep playing Cloudpunk. Thanks for the review, as always, Tom.
Everyone should.
Nice review Tom, and echoes a lot of my own thoughts. I keep thinking as I play, that a lof of stuff seems to imply something happened that I wasn’t privy to - cut stuff that didn’t make it in time? Or just poor exposition and storytelling?
So is Tom saying it’s 100% better than Deus Ex?
Now this is the vintage Chick that I come here for.
Is “Brittania” really spelled with two tees and one en?
I think that will be Metacritic’s first negative review.
PS don’t think we don’t get the Pixies reference.
Hey, how did spellcheck let “Brittania” through? Thanks, dystopian internet!
The name of one of the last missions is actually “Where is my mind?” Sadly – or maybe for the better – CD Projekt didn’t actually license the song.
-Tom
“CD Projekt is just doing the same things everyone else is doing.” - But prettier! (Depending on your system…ahem…). Sadly I feel the same way
“Think of it as a convenient Mnemonic.” - I see what you did there with that capitalization
Tom, I think you said once (or more than once, it’s certainly worth repeating) that when people say, “inspired by Blade Runner,” they almost exclusively mean set and costume design. Not from the standpoint of the setting’s philosophical implications, but just how it looks and feels. I think this is analogous to the idea that a game can be “ambitious” because of its implied mechanics (buildings/economy) but entirely rote in its formulation as a fantasy setting where magic is replaced by computers.
So… 7 out of 10, then?
Actually, this raises a point that I didn’t cover in the review because it’s kind of a given. But as far as sets, Cyberpunk 2077 is an amazing piece of work. Costumes, not so much. The real star of the game isn’t Keanu Reeves. It’s the art design of the city.
Sadly, all AAA games are beautiful, so the wow factor isn’t enough to sustain my interest on its own. But it’s a lovely tribute/homage/rip-off of Blade Runner. I also like the Pacifica area as a nod to the Hispanic element in multicultural futurism. The Badlands would get more props if I didn’t feel they were so directly inspired by Blade Runner 2049’s forays outside the city, but they look great as well. They’re also a really missed opportunity to mix up the gameplay. But Cyberpunk 2077 is a lovely game. No one can fault CD Projekt’s artists for a lack of ambition.
Another element that’s common to cyberpunk is the hegemony of corporations in society. That’s in Blade Runner, Westworld, and Altered Carbon (not really part of The Matrix). Probably a reaction to the “greed is good” sentiment from the 80s when the genre was born, and now a convenient explanation for the magical capabilities of technology (only a corporation could invent and create replicants!). But Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t do much with the idea of corporations beyond setting up one of them as the big bad, and throwing in a contrived succession crisis the drive to storyline.
-Tom
I thought the texting in Britannia was very well handled, thank you very much.
Hey, this review made me want to replay Neuromancer and Ultima! I guess CD Projekt gets my money one way or another.
This game was absolutely made for a Tom Chick two star review.
Great review!
Great read. Similar feelings on the small amount of the story I’ve witnessed. Only about 12 hours in since day 1 of the release. I just don’t find myself reaching for this title.
The city environment design is definitely the high point for me so far, though I can’t help but wish I could traverse it the way I can in Saints Row 4 or Agents of Mayhem.
Well written and fair review. I’ve been enjoying the game so far, but I can’t really disagree with any of the criticisms Tom raised, at least those I’ve seen so far in my limited time with the game. Apart from the general ambiance, and with the exception of Night City itself, the feeling is that there’s nothing else in the game that hasn’t been done better in other games. And that’s fine.
But for me, so far, it works well enough, in that “summer blockbuster” kind of way. We’ll see.
Almost a hundred people have clicked through into this review and yet no new folks have shown up to tell Tom to fuck off. Suspicious.
Wait till the review appears on Metacritic, duh.
Just us Chickophants for now.