Disclaimer. This review was done nearly a year and half after the games' release with the latest patch 1.5+ running on one of the best graphics card in the world available at the time a RTX 3090 Founders Edition on Max settings in 4K.
Given all the back lash the game found after it’s initial launch I am writing this after playing it nearly a year and half after the games' release with almost 95% of the games bugs have been worked out. I thought I would give the game a try after all the bugs have been worked out even though the game was purchased at the time of it’s release.
The game takes place in Night City a sprawling Metropolis made up of futuristic LA. I started of the game as a Nomad entering the city with a companion into Night City smuggling something illegal. The game has an intriguing story line as you progress through the game. Without giving any details you end up stealing a piece of technology from one of the biggest corporations in Night City which is Arasaka corporation. This piece of technology allows ones' conscious or mind to be transferred to a new body. This consciousness or mind is what is called an “engram” in the game. Think of it like a SD Card that you insert into the back of your brain that contains someones consciousness.
Without giving away further details you end up putting Johnny Silverhand’s (played by Keanu Reeves), consciousness in your self where his consciousness and V, the character you play gets mixed together. This amalgamation is what drives the last rest of the story along with the back story of Arasaka and the current family that runs it and it’s internal politics is what propels rest of the latter stages of the game. How you end up with Johnny’s consciousness involves twists and turns in the story which I won’t spoil in this review. The game does a good job with Johnny Silverhand appearing at your side in certain parts of the game and his consciousness and its’ really well executed and slick.
This storyline in the game is arguably the strongest point and I would argue is the saving grace of the game. Even though the ending left me unsatisfied playing through it was still very enjoyable and it is one of the best storylines in Video Games set in the Cyberpunk universe.
Graphically playing the game at 4K on a RTX 3090 Founders Edition with all settings set to MAX with DLSS Quality settings you get the best looking game on the market right now. Granted I had the privilege of playing this game on the best, if not one of the best graphics card on the market right now and that very few people have access to, has to be taken into consideration. Night City is phenomenal with Ray Tracing with Ray Traced neon lights reflecting off the streets. The diverse colors of Night City are well done. The cities architecture and building showcasing a dystopian Cyberpunk world was real and is well done. It’s a perfect showcase for NVIDIA’s Ray Tracing technology and DLSS the later would be needed which without it the game would be unplayable at 4K. Having said that a lot of the city feels empty and some of the locations in terms of stands or shops is non-interactive. For example, you will find food stands without much people in it. This is one of the weaker points in the game which CD Projekt fails at which Rockstar shines at with its interactive environments.
Other faults of the game include its physics system which is mediocre when compared to open world games like GTA V. When crashing into cars the physics seems un-natural unlike in GTA V. It’s clear that when it comes to the physics in the game CD Projekt has a lot of work to do. For example, in one of the side quests you have to crash into and disable one of those run-away self driving taxis and bring it back into it’s main offices. Even after hitting it, the taxi doesn’t seems to show much damage. Also, the driving mechanics in the game isn’t that well done. When driving the cars seems way to loose and doesn’t have the tight controls say a game like GTA V does.
With respect to side quests some of the side quests doesn’t integrate into the main story much. There’s even a part of the game where you reach a “point of no return” where after you start it, it would take you to the last party of the story and you can’t go back and do the side quests until after you complete the game. This seems pretty unusual as with GTA IV or V I can always can go back and do side quests. CD Projekt could have done a better job with respect to side quests integrating it into the main story line.
Last but not least, the gunplay mechanics in this game aren’t that great. Shooting doesn’t feel great as say in other first person shooter titles or games such as GTA V. Certainly a AAA studio such as CD Projekt could have done better job with gun play.
With respect to bugs there is still some minor issues I have witnessed where characters walk through doors and the character dialog and on screen words don’t match.
But with respect to everything else, the character looks, animation, the environments, the voice acting it’s all very well done.
In summary, if you want to play this game play it right now with the latest patches. Certainly the story line is well worth playing.