Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty hands-on: A gorgeous futuristic spy thriller

Dogtown. Night is falling. Only the neon-colored OLED walls remind us that this was once a district of Pacifica, the Dubai Night City, a luxury oasis that ran out of money in the corporate war.

We stand on high scaffolding that was supposed to be a sports stadium. We look up – rockets scream towards a plane, it goes down, literally whizzing over our heads before crashing with a thunderous explosion. But this isn’t just any plane, it’s Space Force One, the government plane of President Myers of the New United States of America in Cyberpunk 2077‘s hotly anticipated Phantom Liberty expansion.

This article was translated from German to English, and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty looks gorgeous

We’re sitting in a cyberpunk bar sparkling with neon at CD Projekt RED’s super stylish headquarters in beautiful Warsaw, playing on a GeForce RTX 4090, all graphics settings turned up to maximum and in the eye-meltingly beautiful overdrive mode with full real-time pathtracing. It’s the next-generation evolution ray tracing, in which every ray of light is physically correctly reflected, refracted or absorbed when it hits a surface. And this is the Crysis moment that PC gamers have been waiting for for decades.

Mega spannend: Phantom Liberty ist als Spionage-Thriller inszeniert, politische Intrigen im Stil von 24 meets House of Cards inklusive. Und es sieht einfach verdammt gut aus. Die Spiegelungen des Exosuits der Lady hier, die Schärfe ihrer Gesichtstextur, die Natürlichkeit der Lippen. Hammer. — Mega exciting: Phantom Liberty is staged as a spy thriller, political intrigue in the style of 24 meets House of Cards included. And it just looks damn good. The reflections of the lady’s exosuit here, the sharpness of her facial texture, the naturalness of her lips.

CD Projekt RED

“Can It Run Crysis?” may now be replaced by “Can It Run Cyberpunk with Path Tracing?” Crysis was a game several graphics generations ahead of its competition in 2008.

And Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is now at least one graphics generation ahead of everyone else. It’s a completely new experience, taking games to a whole other, much more cinematic level. Where we are used to having almost a cone of light pointed at protagonists when we talk to them, here the soft glow of neon lights in a market can only outline their faces, so that we only really see them at close range. It’s much more realistic, and gorgeous.

Auch hier: Wie scharf die Mantis Blades wirken, wie echt sich die Spiegelungen des Umgebungslichts auf dem Stahl anfühlen. Das ist dieser Crysis-Moment, auf den wir echt lange gewartet haben. — Again: How sharp the Mantis Blades look, how real the reflections of ambient light feel on the steel. This is the Crysis moment we’ve been waiting for for a long time.

CD Projekt RED

And it works fantastically in this whimsical high-tech world of Cyberpunk 2077, where people have bionic eyes or we don’t see their exoskeleton on their back until they stand up. What makes Cyberpunk 2077 so incredibly strong is that every shop assistant in a market has a story to tell that transports the fantasy of Night City. There are those who have lost their legs in the war. And others who get augmented for fun and because it’s in vogue.

Einfach mal darauf achten, wie echt das Feuer hier wirkt – wie die Flammen in den Himmel schießen und dort vom Scheinwerfer der Drohne durchbrochen werden. Das fühlt sich an, wie einen Film zu spielen, was sehr beeindruckend ist. — Just look at how real the fire looks here – how the flames shoot up into the sky and are broken through by the drone’s spotlight. It feels like playing a film, which is very impressive.

CD Projekt RED

Path tracing is a hugely exciting technology because it’s often quite subtle. Throwing smoke grenades into a room flooded with red light feels very authentic – the smoke looks dense, like smoke, and not artificial, partly because the color values of this reddish smoke affect the reflections. Flames look like real flames, creating an interplay of soot, smoke clouds, and particles flickering in the air. This smoky color world also now casts its own shadows and spreads over the scenery. It feels a bit like walking through a Christopher Nolan film, or experiencing John Wick 4 in a cyberpunk universe.

Dogtown is a fantastic open-world

Dogtown hat diesen Vibe eines Las Vegas, das nicht fertig geworden ist: Die kunstvolle Pyramide mit LED-Architektur erinnert etwa an das Luxor, aber rund herum sind überall runtergekommene Kasinos, unfertige Bars, Müll und Schrott all überall. — Dogtown has that vibe of a Las Vegas that didn’t get finished: the ornate pyramid with LED architecture is roughly reminiscent of the Luxor, but all around are run-down casinos, unfinished bars, trash and junk everywhere.

CD Projekt RED

CD Projekt RED is incredibly good at defining a setting through its people and architecture. Dogtown is this wild mix of “shoulda been Night City’s Las Vegas”, with posh hotel complexes and lavish architecture punctuated by curved OLED walls. And then elsewhere it seems so improvised and self-cobbled together again, like in Mad Max: Fury Road. Those areas where corporations don’t matter are ruled with a stern hand by a former military man named Colonel Hanson, and yet it’s not one of those apocalyptic places like downtown LA in Blade Runner 2049.

Der Markt hier bietet Militech-Hardware, die der Konzern hier nach dem Krieg vergessen hat und in Night City seltene Cyberware. Aber jede Figur hat auch eine Geschichte zu erzählen, die mal traurig ist, mal witzig, mal einfach nur skurril und zynisch wie diese Welt eben ist. — The market here offers Militech hardware that the corporation left here after the war and rare cyberware in Night City. But each character also has a story to tell, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, sometimes just whimsical and cynical as this world is.

CD Projekt RED

When the futuristic Space Force One crashes into a market, it kills numerous people, sends vehicles in the area careening, triggers explosions in an apartment building, and—because no one can count on fire brigade or trauma units here (which only fly in if you have the right insurance)—the people help themselves.

That’s exactly the beauty of an open world: we can sit on one of the motorbikes here, such as the Brennan Apollo on the side of the road, race through the cordon of Colonel Hansen’s troops and engage in the first wild firefight of Phantom Liberty.

Secret-Service-Roboter des NSU versuchen Space Force One mit der Präsidentin an Bord zu sichern, das Raumschiff wird aber bereits von Kurt Hansens Special Forces umstellt. — Secret Service robots from the NSU try to secure Space Force One with the President on board, but the spaceship is already surrounded by Kurt Hansen’s Special Forces.

CD Projekt RED

Or we can watch as the people of Dogtown pull others from the rubble, support drones with searchlights, and enjoy some of this exciting architecture.

Phantom Liberty‘s Dogtown is big. This first section oozes that Las Vegas vibe, driven home by an LED pyramid that’s directly reminiscent of the Luxor Hotel on the Strip. Above it are cranes that don’t seem to have been used for ages and half the district is a construction site, including a huge amount of rubbish – Hansen doesn’t seem to have a rubbish collection service.

Dogtown ist viel größer als man vielleicht denken könnte: Es gibt dieses Hotel-Plaza, Wohnhäuser, Geschäftsviertel, aber auch die militärische Festung von Colonel Hansen, die eine regelrecht dystopische Ära verbreitet. — Dogtown is much bigger than you might think: There’s this hotel plaza, apartment buildings, business districts, but also Colonel Hansen’s military fortress, which spreads a downright dystopian era.

CD Projekt RED

The bar chain Haven, which also exists in Night City, probably also wanted to set up a location here – we cruise past an LED sign. The sign is still there, but the bar was never built, instead there is now a multiple rocket launcher. I guess they don’t like guests here. Wait a minute, isn’t that where the missiles on the US president came from?

Completely new gameplay and AI

Waffen-Fanatiker Hansen schickt uns Killer-Roboter von Militech auf den Hals. Gott sei Dank können wir jetzt auch aus Autos und von Motorrädern mit MP5s und anderen einhändigen Waffen ballern. — Weapons fanatic Hansen sends Militech killer robots after us. Thank goodness we can now shoot from cars and motorbikes with MP5s and other one-handed weapons.

CD Projekt RED

All right, we’ll be honest: we could have bypassed Hansen’s special commandos entirely Solid Snake-style. Phantom Liberty always gives us multiple play options, but the path to the crashed Space Force One is absolutely swarming with his troops.

Of course, we can also take them out from a distance with the Nekomata sniper with thermal sight, but as soon as we get closer to them, the useful skills of the brand new Relic skill tree become apparent: as Fast Solo, we can activate a kind of bullet-time from the air and riddle the enemy in slow motion – either sneaky, with the Apparition in combination with a silencer.

Praktisch: Auf dem Graumarkt von Dogtown gibt’s Bullet-Time-Cyberware – wenn Keanu Reeves schon unser Hologram-Buddy ist, wollen wir ja auch wie in Matrix ballern. — Practical: The grey market in Dogtown has bullet-time cyberware – if Keanu Reeves is our hologram buddy, we want to shoot like in the Matrix.

CD Projekt RED

Or the good old Warden strum rifle, which we charge up beforehand for maximum firepower (with a particularly opulent muzzle flash shadow thanks to path tracing). With new reflex builds, we now block bullets in mid-air with the Mantis Blades and, with a little skill, bounce them off so that they send their senders to the graveyard of Dogtown.

Or accelerate on a motorbike with our katana and slash Hansen’s boys’ tyres in a car chase.

Or hack cars while driving via cyberware, initiate an emergency stop or make them spontaneously explode.

Mit Katanas wehren wir jetzt Kugeln ab und schlitzen als Motorradbiker Reifen auf, was die Waffe der Ninjas sehr viel vielseitiger macht. CD Projekt RED verfeinert enorm viele Features auf smarte Art. — With katanas we now deflect bullets and slash tyres as motorbike bikers, which makes the ninja weapon much more versatile. CD Projekt RED refines an enormous number of features in a smart way.

CD Projekt RED

The now-much-more-aggressive (and smarter) police AI of Dogtown tries to surround our vehicle with T-bone maneuvers, ram us off the road, and set up their armored trucks and Humvees for roadblocks…which we immediately blow up with heat-seeking missiles mounted permanently in the car. Yippee-ki-yay pork chops. These new James Bond-style vehicles, armored and armed to the teeth, are one of the highlights of Phantom Liberty. Gatling guns on the bonnet? Guided missiles on the gullwing door? Dogtown has something for everyone.

Die Barghest führen abgefahrene Panzerfahrzeuge Marke Eigenbau ein, die mehr Waffen an Bord haben als der Aston Martin von James Bond. Darf es eine Gatling auf der Motorhaube sein? Oder Lenkraketen aus den Seitenflügeln. — The Barghest introduce wacky home-made armoured vehicles that have more weapons on board than James Bond’s Aston Martin. Would you like a Gatling gun on the bonnet? Or guided missiles from the side wings.

CD Projekt RED

Depending on the heat level, we can change our appearance via cyberware, the cops and Dogtown mercenaries then no longer recognize us directly.

Even better? These many AI optimizations for mercenaries, security, and the Night City Police Department are also coming to the main game, even if you don’t buy the Phantom Liberty expansion. At maximum heat level, we even have to face five new Max Tech Special Forces bosses.

Phantom Liberty’s story and characters

Die Figuren sind bisher durch die Bank exzellent geschrieben: Vor allem Präsidentin Myers ist ziemlich Badass drauf, wirkt aber auch herrlich intrigant – schließlich war sie CEO von Militech, hat also sicherlich eine Tonne Leichen im Fundament ihrer Villa vergraben. — The characters are excellently written across the board so far: President Myers in particular is pretty badass, but also comes across as delightfully scheming – after all, she was CEO of Militech, so she certainly has a ton of bodies buried in the foundation of her mansion.

CD Projekt RED

First, the most important news first: Phantom Liberty still features a lot of Keanu Reeves. Johnny Silverhand is still the ex-rockstar, ex-military dynamo cyber ghost who is deeply jaded in his fury about the world, but puts his cynicism into the best one-liners we’ve seen in videogames in recent years. “The politician bitch will ram her fist a meter up your ass and never pull it out again,” he opines at one point, but that’s just Johnny as he lives and breathes.