A recent in-depth look at Cyberpunk 2077's first full expansion detailed many of the tweaks and additions to core gameplay mechanics set to arrive alongside its thrilling spy thriller story. Phantom Liberty will bring an overwhelming amount of quality-of-life fixes and system redesigns that might bring Cyberpunk 2077 in line with the expectations fans had for it prior to its contentious release.
The Summer Game Fest 2023 was the platform CD Projekt Red chose for its grand unveiling of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion. A slick trailer heralded an impressive suite of content, packaged together with a September 26 release date and a litany of additional information given through press releases and interviews. Phantom Liberty will take V on a mind-bending tale of corporate espionage through the Dogtown district of Night City and will feature A-list actor Idris Alba in a prominent role alongside returning Johnny Silverhand portrayer, Keanu Reaves. The new semi self-contained story and added playable space would be exciting in their own right, but CD Projekt Red is not content with the minimum expected offering, ushering forth critical and expansive changes across almost every facet of the game to further elevate the final product.
Cyberpunk 2077 Was a Massive Letdown by Some Accounts
The run-up to Cyberpunk 2077 lathered the gaming community into unprecedented levels of anticipation and expectation, with the game's numerous delays doing little to mitigate the mounting hype. When it did finally release in December 2020, what players were left with was an enthralling well-paced story with gorgeous visual design and competent RPG mechanics, yet still miles below the quality of game that many expected. Myriad bugs and performance issues almost immediately stole the limelight. So egregious they were that players of the PlayStation 4 version were given refunds based on its employability, with Cyberpunk 2077 being temporarily removed from the PlayStation store.
Beyond the more fixable issues were core design flaws that left many players feeling spurned, especially upon getting through the first act of Cyberpunk 2077 where its systems are firing on all cylinders, into the meat of its mid-game, where many of those systems are shown to be shallow, superfluous, and unfinished. Chunks of the game that CD Projekt Red had touted in its pre-release marketing were missing, the AI was immersion-breakingly flawed, and Night City, while gorgeous, had the width of a sea but the depth of a puddle. The story and quest design kept Cyberpunk 2077 from being a critical failure, but it was a far cry from CD Projekt Red's previously bulletproof pedigree.
CD Projekt Red Appears Determined to Repair its Legacy
Going into damage control mode, Cyberpunk 2077 received a series of patches to alleviate its more surface-level issues. Into 2023, the game is in a markedly better position, with most considering the 1.5 next gen update in February 2022 to be the game's turning point. It became an easy recommendation without caveats as its glaring faults were ironed out, especially as the game began to regularly go on sale. The consensus was that Cyberpunk 2077 was now a good value for anyone with even cursory interest in the title, and the upcoming Phantom Liberty expansion could be the cherry on top.
CD Projekt Red does not appear to be satisfied with merely a good value in Cyberpunk 2077, revealing a jarring amount of significant changes that could make the game the genre-definer that many expected it to be. The skill system is receiving a major overhaul, along with the Cyberware upgrade system and all-new Relic skills. Vehicle combat is being added, a core feature that showed up as a one-off in the initial release. The policing system is also getting a fresh coat of paint, with the NCPD AI being completely revamped. Every other aspect of the game - from side quests to loot design to enemy placement to even the UI - is being built out in meaningful ways, and it all points to a game that could not only meet its prior expectations, but shatter them.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches on September 26, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
