10 Reasons to be Hyped for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

With the rocky launch and numerous updates behind us, the grand finale of CD Projekt Pink’s magnum opus attracts close to. Will Cyberpunk 2077 be identified within the annals of gaming historical past as one of many all-time greats, or will it stay a tragic lesson in overhyping one thing? Regardless, based mostly on what’s been proven, we couldn’t be extra hyped for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Night time Metropolis was already a blast, however the DLC enlargement is about to propel issues out of orbit. Particularly, these are 10 of the largest causes Phantom Liberty would possibly reside as much as the hype.

A Spy-Thriller Storyline

The Cyberpunk setting was completely made for espionage tales. Whereas we obtained some snippets of genuine spy narratives within the base recreation, there weren’t any actually devoted ones. Most of Cyberpunk’s covert escapades got here within the type of Gigs and the way you truly performed by the sport somewhat than a sweeping spy plot. Sneaking by illicit hideouts and snuffing out safety cams with a silencer was a reasonably widespread technique for me, nevertheless it wasn’t essentially the core story focus.

That every one modifications in Phantom Liberty. V’s level of contact for the story is an intelligence analyst by the identify of Songbird. She’s going to be a significant character within the story, guiding V all through his psuedo-undercover NUS agent profession. Songbird was talked about varied instances within the base Cyberpunk expertise as some of the adept netrunners round too, so there’s little doubt she’ll show a strong ally.

She additionally has an intimate historical past with Phantom Liberty’s different star of the present, Solomon Reed. How deep these connections are although, and the way they’ll play into the story, gained’t turn into clear till we are able to all dig into the narrative ourselves.

Idris Elba’s Character, Solomon

That brings us to Songbird’s relationship curiosity, Solomon Reed.

Solomon is performed by none apart from actor Idris Elba, and if the trailers are any indication, his voice work goes to be phenomenal. CD Projekt Pink are clearly going full cinematic mode with this character too: The animations we’ve seen from gameplay footage of the brand new character are among the many greatest within the business, and you’ll see Idris Elba’s mo-cap performances right here demonstrating his excellence.

However we’re not simply excited for the efficiency behind Idris Elba’s character. Solomon Reed can be primed to be one of many extra fleshed-out characters in your complete recreation.

The ultimate trailer to Phantom Liberty reveals us Solomon getting backstabbed by somebody he trusted. It’s unimaginable to inform which character is in the fitting and who’s going to finish up as an antagonist on the finish of the day, nevertheless it’s clear that CD Projekt Pink is pouring an incredible quantity of effort into this character.

Extra Johnny Silverhand

I don’t learn about you, however Keanu Reaves’ portrayal as Johnny Silverhand was one of many standout features of Cyberpunk 2077.

A few of the most memorable moments within the recreation featured the wise-cracking Johnny being an antagonizing jerk to V. The curler coaster experience between Johnny and V confirmed a real aspect to Johnny we’d like to see extra of in Phantom Liberty. The chance is rife for tons of recent memorable Silverhand moments, particularly since CDPR introduced Keanu Reaves again to reprise his function one final time.

Despite the fact that he’s a grade-A jerk, we can not wait to take heed to extra rants and quips from Night time Metropolis’s most infamous rocker boy.

A New District to Discover

Exploration is one among Cyberpunk’s best accomplishments. The environments feel and look lived-in and are genuine to the supply materials. Whilst you can not enter each constructing you see, you possibly can actually climb them and stroll underneath their seedy underbelly.

Fortunately, Phantom Liberty is primed to supply much more of that. The DLC options a wholly new district east of Pacifica referred to as Dogtown. This disputed warzone has three subdistricts and its personal territorial gang to take care of, in addition to a slew of recent sights for gamers to partake in. Count on many new distributors, outlets, residences, characters, and extra quests than you most likely have time for scattered all through the massive new district.

So as to add to Dogtown, the spaceport on Morro Rock can even be explorable as a brand new zone accessible from the Metropolis Heart district.

Morro Rock is one thing we haven’t seen a lot of within the Phantom Liberty protection, so it’ll be thrilling to lastly discover that island with the enormous rocket ship we stored getting teased with all through the principle recreation.

New Gigs and Facet Jobs

As long-time followers may need guessed, CD Projekt Pink isn’t going to simply let the principle story take all of the glory. Facet Jobs and Gigs are going to be an enormous focus in Phantom Liberty too.

The aspect jobs in Cyberpunk 2077 have been simply among the greatest content material in your complete recreation, so we’re wanting to see what’s in retailer for Phantom Liberty. All these new characters and factions will inevitably play a job in these aspect missions too.

One contractor particularly who by no means actually gave V a lot work in Cyberpunk 2077 was Mr. Arms. He’s accountable for gigs for Pacifica, and it appears he covers the Dogtown area too. We’ve by no means seen his hideout within the base recreation, so little doubt we’ll lastly be capable of discover the elusive contractor’s lair in Phantom Liberty.

Extra Wonderful Autos

The big selection of autos in Cyberpunk 2077 was one among my favourite features of your complete recreation. The automotive designs and sounds have been so good that they even sparked my curiosity in real-life automotive tradition. We will anticipate that very same degree of automotive element to return for Phantom Liberty, after which some added ridiculousness on high.

What we’ve seen of Phantom Liberty’s unique autos is already tantalizing. Sports activities automotive producer Quadra is making one other look with this new mannequin seemingly impressed by the traditional 70s Plymouth Baracuda.

The brand new Quadra Sport R-7 Vigilante demonstrates simply how cool a fictional automotive could be. The model suits Cyberpunk completely, after which there’s the dealing with and sound. Cyberpunk’s design group goes out to the easiest of the perfect real-world examples and takes notes and sound samples. We all know that the devs went out and recorded real-world automotive symphonies just like the Lexus LFA to later combine of their sound sales space for the bottom recreation’s Rayfield Caliburn.

However that’s not all. Phantom Liberty options the brand new addition of missile-mounted fight autos. If you happen to’ve ever wished to trigger mayhem in your personal decked-out tank round Night time Metropolis, Phantom Liberty has you lined.

A New Faction to Tackle

The brand new district of Dogtown doesn’t simply run itself, the territorial Barghest is a strong faction able to pounce on any that get of their means. Barghest is a personal military of ex-Militech troopers led by NUSA colonial Kurt Hansen. It’s very clear that Barghest would be the hardest of all of the factions but, completely difficult V’s newfound Relic powers.

In addition to the difficult new battles available, Barghest delivers an ideal piece of the espionage pie. Comprised of former NUSA personnel and the strongest thugs Dogtown has to supply, Barghest is entangled on the coronary heart of the battle that V and Solomon discover themselves in. They may find yourself being probably the most story-relevant faction in all of Cyberpunk 2077, and play an enormous function within the tales surrounding Night time Metropolis.

The Relic Talent Tree

Phantom Liberty will lastly allow us to dig into that mysterious locked ability tree on the backside of V’s character menu, identified solely as Relic.

V’s collaboration with the NUSA permits the latent Relic powers inside to be absolutely unleashed. Whereas at first look it appears to be like like there aren’t all that many perks within the new Relic tree, every one can improve V’s abilities previous the restrict.

Becoming the espionage theme of Phantom Liberty is the Emergency Cloaking tree inside Relic. Emergency Cloaking instantaneously forces enemies to lose monitor of V whereas invisible, whereas the Sensory Protocol perk slows time if caught whereas crouched. These appear to be small servings of icing on a large cake, and also you wouldn’t be mistaken, however this explicit icing goes a good distance on this occasion.

The perk I’m most excited to check out is Spatial Mapping, which permits V to immediately warp strike to enemies after chaining kills.

There are additionally a number of perks devoted to the arm augmentations you can also make to your self through Cyberware, and the Vulnerability Analytics means can provide gamers the prospect to decimate enemies with assured crits.

Relic appears to be the ultimate capstone in reworking V right into a cybernetic powerhouse. Even when it doesn’t actually remodel the gameplay with all-new mechanics, it ought to nonetheless present some enjoyable new toys for gamers so as to add to their toolkits.

Extra Lizzy Wizzy

‘Violence’ is a peculiar and interesting Facet Job in Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s the one quest within the recreation that includes what could be the wackiest and most deranged character in your complete setting: Lizzy Wizzy.

As Night time Metropolis’s most well-known pop icon, she’s prepared to do something for extra publicity. Flatlining herself on stage solely to complete the live performance off in a brand new chromed-out physique is just one of many stunts she’s pulled.

There was initially imagined to be extra Lizzy Wizzy content material within the base recreation earlier than it obtained lower, so we’re excited CDPR is bringing her back in preem model for Phantom Liberty.

New Radio Stations

Final however not least, we’re excited to have some new radio stations to take heed to as we drive by Dogtown and the brand new environs of Phantom Liberty.

Music is an ambient a part of any immersive online game, however Cyberpunk’s soundtrack represents Night time Metropolis itself. Pop icon Lizzy Wizzy and rocker Johnny Silverhand have been talked about earlier, however there’s a number of different musicians the participant interacts with in Night time Metropolis. Their songs play throughout the totally different themed radio stations, and their advertisements are plastered throughout floating neon billboards. The music performed throughout Night time Metropolis is a direct illustration of Cyberpunk’s immersive and lived-in lore.

To exhibit how obsessed CDPR is with Cyberpunk’s diegetic music, they even put out a 45-minute documentary on the making of one among Phantom Liberty’s new stations, Growl FM.

May we get a sizzling new single from pop trio Us Cracks? Will the ever-enduring Kerry Eurodine launch his comeback album, possibly even reference V straight within the tune? Cyberpunk 2077 is a residing, respiration world, and maybe nothing helps remind us of this higher than the music taking part in on the radio.