After years of waiting, gamers will finally get their hands on Cyberpunk 2077 in a matter of weeks. We say that date with a little trepidation given the news the release has once again been postponed to December (it was originally planned for late November), but it’s more than likely that we see the game this side of Christmas.
To say that there is hype over Cyberpunk 2077 is something of an understatement – It’s arguably the most-hyped game in history – exceeding that of Super Mario Bros., Halo 2, Destiny, and just about every other game you can imagine. We are talking about a title that has won major gaming awards years before its release. The hype is unprecedented.
Developers, CD Projekt Red (CDPR), have been clever, of course, keeping us tantalized along the way with demos, trailers, and well-timed press releases. They have given gamers an insight into the process of building the game, and, at this point, it almost feels like we are all stakeholders in its success.
CDPR has tantalized fans for years
But can Cyberpunk 2077 match the massive hype surrounding the game? It’s a difficult question, and obviously one that we won’t be able to answer with certainty until after its release. However, we shall endeavor to reason our way around the question. We won’t dwell too much on the details of the game; Game Gavel already has a comprehensive guide to all things Cyberpunk 2077. Instead, we want to be a bit more philosophical on the subject.
The first area we would like to look at is the nature of cyberpunk itself; not the game, but the genre of science-fiction. It remains one of the more underused genres across movies, television and gaming. For the latter, you have a few franchises like Shadowrun, Deus EX, as well as decent standalone titles like the Red Strings Club. But, in truth, the gaming world has only scratched the surface of cyberpunk.
It’s a similar story in movies and television. Classic movies like Blade Runner and Robocop fit in well with the genre in the 1980s, but the reboots and sequels of the 2010s, while a decent watch, couldn’t recapture the grit and grime needed for a compelling cyberpunk story. Netflix’ Altered Carbon, based on the Richard Morgan books, hit the mark, certainly in season one.
An underdeveloped genre in gaming
What has got to with Cyberpunk 2077? Well, it is the fact that the genre is so underexplored in the mainstream that should stand the release in good stead. It should feel fresh and unique, and thematically offer a greater sense of wonder when compared to releases of yet another game based on Greek gods and monsters, zombies or 20th-century warfare. Exploring the vast Night City and its environs should keep players interested, and perhaps give the game the sort of longevity of Grand Theft Auto V.
Of course, Cyberpunk 2077 has to deliver more than a world that feels fresh and new, and there is great confidence that CDPR can provide that. The team showed with The Witcher series that they are, at heart, storytellers, and the plot for Cyberpunk 2077 is rumored to be even more compelling. Crucially, however, there are going to “consequences” for players’ decisions, something that CDPR has been keen to stress as a major reason to keep players captivated in the story. CDPR has also been at pains to point out that the story is not linear, and it will not be simply “quest after quest” like many other RPG games. The word “limitless” keeps cropping up in discussions around the game.
Indeed, CDPR has also set out its stall that it does not want the game to be tied to a single thematic atmosphere. Most cyberpunk stories tend to veer towards a bleak, dystopian future, where a feeling of hopelessness against the system prevails. While Cyberpunk 2077 will certainly provide that, and we should stress that this will be an openly adult game in theme, it won’t be shackled to it. It seems you can complete the game without killing any characters, and there are hints that it will feature plenty of lightheartednesses.
There are, however, also reasons we can cite that Cyberpunk 2077 won’t match the hype. Above all, there is the unquantifiable of what makes a game a great one. You can browse this site for further discussion of everything that makes games – from Tetris to World of Warcraft – addictive (in a good sense), but what we are getting at here is that ability to capture lightning in a bottle. The game could have wonderful graphics, a great plot, and incredible action, but something just lacks in its overall spirit.
Referring back to what we said earlier about gamers feeling like they are stakeholders in Cyberpunk 2077, it is interesting to see how that feeds into the hype. Recently, CDPR has had to defend pulling certain features from the game. This, the Polish developer claimed, was normal practice when developing any game, and it was just the fact that CDPR had allowed gamers a ‘look behind the curtain’ of development that has caused the upset. But it belies a greater truth; namely, many of us have built up an idea of what this game should be, and whatever comes out in December could invariably lead to disappointment.
In the end, there is an air of confidence around CDPR that is hard to ignore. The developer does not make many games, but its craft is second to none. Despite the delays (often a bad sign), the years spent in development, and other roadblocks, most people believe that we are going to get an excellent game to play in a few weeks. Will it match the hype? Probably not in everyone’s eyes, but that’s the nature of these things. And, if it’s half as good as most people expect, then we will still be getting something special.