Someone who was supposed to be a standout inclusion in Cyberpunk 2077's cast was Adam Smasher, a cyborg working with Arasaka who has no regard for human life and takes glee in causing suffering. He was presented in the game as one of its main antagonists, but his representation in Cyberpunk 2077 fails to live up to his TTRPG roots partially due to his fight nerfing his capabilities, making him feel like a wet tissue compared to V in the endgame.
Where this depiction of him truly shines is in the excellent anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which presents Adam Smasher as a terrifying threat where victory is not found in actually beating him but in giving the surviving cast enough time to escape. His brief appearance in the show makes him shine as the monster he truly is, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty could do well to include a threat that fits his scale and do so in a way to make players feel the terror characters within the game would also feel when going against this particular foe.
V Should be Pushed to Their Limit in Phantom Liberty
With Phantom Liberty being the game's only expansion, it must act as a fantastic send-off that brings out the potential in all the game's systems, and there is no better way to do that than with a climactic encounter against an opponent who pushes any player's build to their absolute limits. Given the expansion's tone as a spy-thriller, potentially deep diving into the New United States of America's covert operations, it would make sense if one of its best-kept secrets is a weapon whose capabilities match or surpass Adam Smasher's.
Beyond his physical capabilities, something else this threat can take from Smasher is his complete disregard for morality, but in a way that makes it stand out from him. Cyberpunk 2077 has many flawed characters who are often self-centered and whose primary objective is to look out for themselves, but someone like Adam Smasher works because he earned his reputation as someone who feels unstoppable while actively enjoying the violence he invokes.
The game faltered in this department by making his fight surprisingly easy and not demonstrating how sinister he is. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners does more with less since Smasher only appears in the anime's conclusion, but feels like a force of nature during his time on-screen, demolishing protagonist David Martinez with ease and ending the fight with barely a scratch. His presence in the show emphasizes how inhuman he is, and Phantom Liberty would benefit from having an antagonist who fits this description in narrative and gameplay.
An effective way to establish this is to have a direct encounter between them and V where no matter the player's build, they will be put in a situation where even with the best gear and perks, this opponent will shrug them off. Although Cyberpunk 2077 also had a first encounter between Adam Smasher and V, it was on-rails and did not give players an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness as any hope of winning the encounter chips away.
Given how powerful V can be in Cyberpunk 2077, one of the best ways for Phantom Liberty to have an Adam Smasher of its own without feeling like it's copying the base game is to have players fight someone who feels like the impossibly strong force they felt like they were in all of their hours of playing. This would have to be someone who feels like they have no weaknesses with the wits to match as they can quickly counter every potential strategy. Should CD Projekt Red implement an opponent like this in the expansion, then players will experience a horror that feels like what Adam Smasher should have been.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty comes out September 26 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
