Metacritic, a popular review aggregator, has given the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 a score of 91 based on 44 critic reviews. According to Metacritic, this indicates “universal acclaim”. Plenty of review sites have given Cyberpunk 2077 a perfect score. This includes God is a Geek where the reviewer, Mick Fraser, describes the game as “one of the most consistently astounding pieces of media” they have consumed. Fraser expresses awe at the level of detail in the open world of Night City. The environment is dynamic and features “a weather cycle, of course, a traffic system riddled with jams and honking horns, and a veritable parade of gaudy, in-your-face adverts pushing sugar, fast food, caffeine, alcohol, and sex”. Fraser notes that “even simply walking the streets will reveal random crimes to stop, side gigs to take part in, maybe a sudden shootout between cops and gangsters”.
Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in Night City.
The Digital Fix also gave Cyberpunk 2077 a perfect score in their review. Much like Fraser, the reviewer, Andrew Shaw, notes how impressive the open world of Cyberpunk 2077 is. Shaw claims that “Night City is alive in a way few other video game sandboxes have achieved” and argues that “CD Projekt Red have proven themselves on Rockstar’s level – perhaps even exceeding them”. Thanks to advanced ray tracing and ambient sounds, Night City feels as alive as it looks.
Many reviews also praise how detailed the character creator system is. CD Projekt Red has bragged about how much freedom you have to design your character, allowing you to change everything from scars and tattoos to voice and skin tone. Despite this, reviewers were still pleasantly surprised at the level of customization available. RPGSite compliments the game’s RPG elements, and discusses how Cyberware, which are transhuman body modifications, can be used to grant your character new abilities.
Night City is a place where humans and technology have fused.
There were a few recurring complaints, however. Many reviews of Cyberpunk 2077 note that the game has bugs that have the potential to ruin immersion and spoil your gaming experience. For instance IGN, who gave the game a 9/10, complain that emotional conversations were ruined by having characters “glitching between incorrect poses, or the objects they were holding and referencing not load in at all”. Andrew Reiner, reviewing for Game Informer, claims that “little visual hitches in the environment and characters occur frequently, and they’re jarring” and warns that “the frequency of the odd visual moments hurts immersion, and can outright ruin a suspenseful moment”. These sentiments are also echoed by PC Gamer who write that “almost every serious dramatic beat was undercut by some kind of bug, ranging from a UI crowded by notifications and crosshairs failing to disappear, to full-on scripting errors halting otherwise rad action scenes”.
Overall, it seems that Cyberpunk 2077 has set the bar high for immersive open world games. Night City appears to be a dynamic city that has been expertly crafted to ooze personality. Although bugs in the game do seem to be a problem, hopefully they will be patched away as soon as possible.
