Everything seemed to be going well until the President of the New United States crash landed in front of me. Only an hour earlier I had snuck through the mile-high walls of the new district of Dogtown and suddenly I found myself battling through hordes of faceless goons to protect POTNUS and escort her to safety. Together we fought flocks of drones and a giant robot, stopped to investigate a ruined museum, and then paused to secure a safehouse and recruit a spymaster played by Idris Elba.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansionDeveloper: CD Projekt REDPublisher: CD Projekt REDPlatform: Played on PS5Availability: Out 26th September on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam, Epic Games, GOG)
Once again, CD Projekt RED shows how an expansion should be done. Phantom Liberty slots seamlessly into Cyberpunk 2077, introducing new characters, new stories and a vibrant new district to explore. This arrives alongside a comprehensive, free suite of updates that overhaul the game’s skill trees and cybernetic augmentations, enhance vehicle combat, and make the police an actual concern when doing crime. Considered together, the expansion and the long series of Cyberpunk updates have finally brought the game close to its full potential.
You play as V, with all of your equipment and upgrades. About two thirds of the way through the main game you receive an innocuous call from a stranger claiming to be able to solve your Johnny Silverhand problem. Keanu Reeves returns as Johnny, the domestic terrorist turned computer virus gradually corrupting V’s mind. Together you journey through mile-high walls into Dogtown to save President Myers and, of course, become embroiled in a deeper conspiracy.
I can’t think of another game that can match Dogtown’s bustling markets and busy streets. The Metro series’ underground towns come close, but it’s rare to slowly walk down a street in a game and hear so many conversations, see NPCs hustling, arguing, fighting, or stumbling around in a synth-drug high. The district itself resembles a crumbling Vegas made up of fallen monuments overtaken by gangs and Cyberpunk’s all-powerful Corps. It’s a place of bleak cracked concrete and gorgeous graffiti.