Cyberpunk 2077 — News, Scores & Guides

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About Cyberpunk 2077

How it plays, who it suits and where to start.

A job can tell you how the city works

Cyberpunk 2077 casts you as V, a mercenary in Night City. The main story turns an ambitious job into a personal emergency, while the surrounding city offers smaller contracts, companion stories, and encounters with people trying to survive its institutions. Its first-person perspective places dialogue, driving, gunfights, and exploration within the same view of the world.

The city is easier to appreciate when you follow a few connected threads. Read a fixer's briefing, look at the building before entering, and pay attention to what a client actually requested. A contract can be approached as a combat arena, but its layout and local story often explain why you are there and what other routes might exist.

Choose a method before buying every upgrade

Character development involves attributes, perks, equipment, and cyberware. Shooting, close combat, sneaking, and quickhacking call for different priorities. Choosing a method you enjoy helps make the menus legible: a useful purchase answers a recurring problem rather than merely filling an empty slot.

The game's systems changed substantially with Update 2.0. Guides written around launch-era perks, clothing armor, or crafting requirements can describe a different ruleset. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One remain on an older branch and do not receive the same content as current-generation versions. Check your platform and installed version before following a detailed character build.

Room for the stories outside the main job

The main campaign and the Phantom Liberty expansion are related but distinct purchases unless bundled in an edition. Phantom Liberty adds a separate spy-thriller storyline and requires a supported platform. The base game does not need the expansion to introduce V or provide a complete campaign.

Give significant side quests some uninterrupted time. Phone calls, messages, and character conversations carry more meaning when the preceding scene is still fresh. There is also value in a quiet drive between objectives: it connects neighborhoods that map icons otherwise flatten into a checklist. Pick one story thread for a session, leave a clear manual save, and let the rest of Night City wait until you have a reason to visit.