Cyberpunk 2077 has been rocky at best and a buggy mess at worst, with a rollout of patches already planned for the next few months to address fans' major concerns. With CD Projekt Red offering refunds for console players who are upset by the state of the game for the PS4 and Xbox One at launch, it seems like the game missed the mark in a number of ways.
Unfortunately, Cyberpunk 2077's bugs and poorly rendered NPCs aren't the only problems that plague the game, with many of the title's shortcomings just being made more apparent by the struggles players are facing while trying to play. One of the weakest aspects that players have noticed is quite a surprise for a CD Projekt Red title, as many have found complaints to voice about the feel of the open-world.
This is something that a number of other titles have succeeded with in the past, and even more have failed to deliver on, given that building a living open-world is no easy task. However, it is surprising to see CD Projekt Red, a developer famous for building what is often considered one of the best open-world titles ever, The Witcher 3, to fall short in making the game feel alive. Some players have even found a new appreciation for other games in the genre, like Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5.
Where Cyberpunk 2077 Falls Short
A lot goes into making a world feel lived in within a game, which goes well beyond building the massive framework of a city or countryside for players to explore. One of the most important of these aspects is the NPCs, which act as the lifeblood of any open-world title, as player interactions with these random characters will become the majority of the gameplay. On this front, it seems that Cyberpunk 2077's bugged NPCs come short of reaching the heights that they could, specifically when it comes to AI and spawns.
One of the major complaints about these NPCs involves police, a common staple for open-world titles where the player is in the shoes of a criminal. The issue is how they appear, seemingly endlessly, out of thin air instead of having their spawning hidden around corners or from outside of the camera view. This is one of the design aspects that have ushered in criticism for Cyberpunk 2077, but the lack of complex AI and enemy spawns shows how well other titles have succeeded in these areas.
How Other Open-Worlds Succeed
When talking about open-worlds that succeed, one of the most recent that comes to mind would have to be Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2, which stands in good company with older titles like GTA5 and CD Projekt Red's previous success from The Witcher 3. Where NPC AI and spawns in Cyberpunk 2077 comes short, these seemingly random citizens in the other games feel as though they have considerably more personality in the subtle ways they interact with the world. Even less subtle actions, such as running and screaming whenever the player stars brandishing their weapon, helps to make the world feel alive.
In the case of spawns, the developer tricks used to bring police, bounty hunters, or even random bandit ambushes into the world is much more fluid in the older titles. Often it's something as simple as having them spawn just out of the player's vision, by either tracking where the camera is looking and popping up enemies from behind or creating them behind corners that obscure the NPC dropping into place. However, that isn't to say that Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't succeed in some of the same ways massive titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 do.
Where Cyberpunk 2077 Still Succeeds
The single most important thing for any open-world title to succeed is to fill that world with things to do, otherwise, players will be left with a sandbox with no sand. This is what makes the NPCs so troubling, as they often make up the majority of the filler within the world and when they are lacking, then the sandbox feels empty. That being said, Cyberpunk 2077 is packed full of things to do, making it difficult for players to find themselves bored while playing the game, as long as it's running properly.
There are still plenty of complaints, especially with players attempting to make their way through the seemingly broken console version of Cyberpunk 2077. However, when it comes to hunting down collectibles, finding and completing side quests, and gathering the copious amounts of loot scattered throughout the world, CD Projekt Red did absolutely fill the game to the brim. This might even make the disastrous launch even worse in hindsight, as there is clearly a quality game that many players can't access because bugs and glitches hinder their progress.
How Other Open-Worlds Have Failed
One game that falls short of making the most out of the open-world genre would be Focus Home Interactive's GreedFall. While the title held a compelling narrative and engaging mechanics, the major complaint many had of the game was that it was a beautiful but empty world. This is the other way that an open-world title can really fail from a design aspect, by not filling the space with enough for players to do outside of rushing through the main story.
From the way players have responded to Cyberpunk 2077's launch, the game itself succeeds at creating a full world, but it doesn't quite feel alive. A major contrast to this would be The Outer Worlds, a vibrant game with a living, breathing world, but doesn't have as much to do compared to some competing titles. In truth, given the critical and community reception of Cyperpunk 2077 compared to these other titles, it seems that size really isn't the determining factor of whether or not these games are enjoyable, but the way that the world feeds back into the gameplay.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox One X/S versions releasing in 2021.