Highlights
- CD Projekt Red has successfully improved Cyberpunk 2077 with Update 2.0, introduced just a few days before the release of Phantom Liberty.
- The update overhauled the police system and tweaked numerous systems from dialogue to skills to even the loot system.
- The following five features standout among the rest as some of the most welcome changes to Cyberpunk 2077 in the 2.0 Update.
After a launch that left many fans disappointed in 2020 given its buggy and unstable state, CD Projekt Red has managed to push Cyberpunk 2077 toward the high level of expectation that was present before launch. With Update 2.0, many aspects from its dialogue, conversations, weapons, looting, and much more, have left fans surprised.
Given the release of its Phantom Liberty DLC expansion, players can experience a new immersive story while experiencing all the new elements and implemented features of its restructure. As the aforementioned new story is set to be its first and last expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, both it and Update 2.0 leave good signs for its eventual sequel.
5 Vehicle Combat
With the presence of scripted high-speed car chases in the game's main story missions, implementing a feature as such within free roam is crucial to the flow of gameplay. In the aspect of potential encounters with enemies or police during free roam, the ability to quickly exchange gunfire with them while driving could potentially give them an edge in an attempted escape, and developers at CD Projekt Red have done just that.
Much like its counterparts with the example of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto franchise, this feature elevates combat in Cyberpunk 2077 to a greater level, adding another layer of immersion to its experience. With its broad open world map including Phantom Liberty's new Dogtown filled with activities and places to explore, this will be a fundamental aspect of many of its combat sequences, specifically when traversing through regions.
4 Dash/Air Dash Ability
Among all the redesigned and brand-new perks within the perk system, the new extended dash combined with an air dash, provides a great advantage over foes when outnumbered in combat. For players who intend to introduce an element of style within their combat encounters, along with taking a higher ground, this would be the way to go.
Considering the fast-paced combat present throughout the game, this is an essential skill to help players evade attacks, especially for one who intends to use a melee build for their character. This is well combined with the collection of other skills in other regions and is a pivotal reason why Cyberpunk 2077 has now reached the heights that many fans had first anticipated before its release.
3 Transmog
Whilst some may still be disappointed at Update 2.0 not including third-person cutscenes that were first shown at E3, the implemented transmog system is certainly one that deserves high praise. As players can switch camera perspectives while using vehicles to traverse, there is an opportunity to see their created character and their clothing. Players can do this by visiting V's home to access the wardrobe, or a clothing store, and change V's look while still maintaining the stats of one that plays a part within their character build.
This further pushes the title closer to a player-respected experience, with greater freedom in customization and adjustments. Not only is this good news for players currently experiencing Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, but it is also a good sign for Cyberpunk 2077's confirmed sequel and the potential of third-person perspectives playing a greater role or being presented as an option for those who prefer it.
2 Better Crouch Input
One of Cyberpunk 2077's biggest issues prior to Update 2.0, was the crouch and skip options sharing the same inputs, which would often result in players accidentally skipping dialogue when in the middle of a conversation and stealth simultaneously. This stood as a huge immersion breaker, and since the game does not feature settings to remap controls players were stuck having to watch out for this issue continuously.
With this overhaul now in play, both actions have been remapped entirely, with the option of dodging or dashing replacing them, making for a more convenient and responsive controller experience. While it may take a while for players to become accustomed to the new controls, specifically within the midst of combat, it still makes for much easier combat maneuvers and allows both dialogue and stealth to blend in with one another without any accidental cuts or skips.
1 DLSS 3.5/Ray Reconstruction
For PC players, ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 in the overdrive mode stands far above its standard version along with the max settings without any ray tracing enabled. While this is the case, players who do not own 40 series NVIDIA graphics cards could not use the overdrive setting within a playable state due to its GPU power demand and huge tax on performance, but the introduction of DLSS 3.5 and ray reconstruction has completely changed this.
Despite ray tracing overdrive still requiring a top-end powerful graphics card, the setting can now be used with DLSS 3.5 activated, allowing players on all NVIDIA RTX GPUs to run Cyberpunk 2077 with better reflections, lighting, and most importantly better performance.
Although it may not be a drastic change in frame rate for most 20 and 30 series users, it has taken it to a playable state when switching to DLSS balanced, performance, or ultra performance with ray reconstruction activated. This option is exclusive to the overdrive setting as of now, but once CD Projekt Red is able to have this running on all ray tracing modes, it will be highly beneficial for all PC players aside from NVIDIA 40 series owners.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty and Update 2.0 is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.