The original beauty of Cyberpunk was its impressive scope and dazzling visuals, which depicted a bleak neon future and a Keanu Reeves’ version of a future city with crazy body modifications and an even crazier city. It revealed storylines that changed the idea not only of the game but also offered tragic human stories that were memorable. Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty only adds to that, as we find out in our newest review.
But what if you take the already excellent Cyberpunk 2077 and add a touch of political-spy thriller with the same exciting story and action? And if you take it and add to this the optimization and mind-blowing graphics of the free update 2.0 (see our review here), then to be honest, you get a candidate for a game or an addition in 2023.
Phantom Liberty shows off the full potential of Cyberpunk 2077 2.0. Due to recent global changes, the game looks just great. I have already said this, and I will repeat that the graphics in the game surprised me – to say nothing.
Phantom Liberty plot
The plot of the game does not interrupt the passage of the main company in any way – V and Johnny find themselves recruited in Dogtown, where they need to save the President of the New United States after her plane crashes in the area. This is the basic premise of the expansion, and I won’t go into detail about the story itself. Suffice it to say, this is a political spy thriller starring Idris Elba’s impeccable Solomon Reed. Throughout 5 to 25 hours, depending on how much great side content you want to create, you’ll be involved and make decisions that will profoundly impact how the story progresses. Not only yours but also others.
No spoilers. Just know that, as happens in such games, you have an important choice to make. You will need to choose your path because the game has several plot branches. Reaching this point can have different consequences depending on your actions and skill checks. Also, in the game, which surprised me, there was a new ending for the entire game.
The game has a lot of incredibly long and impressive main quests that lead to a completely different outcome in the story that completely changes the way the story progresses. The new ending, without saying too much, is powerful and touches something fundamental in me, so I advise everyone to reach the end and look at all the options available.
The entire expansion acts as another strand of protagonist V’s quest for a cure for his illness, which involves forces outside of Night City: federal agents who make up the new core characters and Dogtown, a downtrodden neighborhood run by a militia run by a former mercenary.
Those who discover Phantom Liberty will receive the following:
- Access to the new Dogtown area
- Main and side quests of the expansion
- Lots of new performances and boss battles
- Vehicle missions that are a bit repetitive but highlight the new combat system well
- New Relic Skill Tree
- Tons of new weapons, cyber programs, cars, and clothes
- Maximum level increased to 60
What about improvements and something new? All the major improvements and changes you’ll notice are in version 2.0. Namely, this expansion brings a chapter of V’s story and shows their 2.0 work in Phantom Liberty.
It’s hard to ignore the star power of Idris Elba, who plays the key character Solomon Reed. He is stubborn and keeps everyone at a distance, but at the same time dominates every scene he is in. He is a faithful watchdog to protect the state and will do what is right and whatever is necessary to protect his country. But there is another side and one important character, Song So Mi “Songbird,” perhaps the most talented netrunner in the cyberpunk world and working for our common employer. Sharing V’s goals, namely to survive, she provides the perfect contrast and depth needed to tell an amazing story. Reed and our partner have a rich history of working together as longtime FIA agents, and with V involved in it all, there’s intriguing tension and constant personal drama.
And with us on the way will be our comrade and problem – Johnny, that charismatic asshole who was once again played and modeled by Keanu Reeves. It also received a visual update that makes it look better and more detailed. He always stays in the background and often provides a sobering perspective on the most challenging situations while remaining true to who he is – there is a comforting sense of awareness when he appears. This expansion feels like the importance has diminished, and the leadership positions have passed on to someone else… But fear not. He’s still with us until the very end.
Dogtown
Dogtown is a mixture of old military zones and thriving clubs and hotels. It’s a beautiful mix of desert and busy areas common outside and in Night City, but it still maintains its own atmosphere.
And this mixture is exciting and creates a mood. I didn’t even notice how I spent 15 hours getting to know all its content – like the main story routes, the new ending, all the additional missions and variations, and now I understand that Phantom Liberty is so good that I already I’m replaying the DLC to get all possible endings, and something tells me that not only will I be replaying this DLC, but the entire game. After all, characters and locations contribute to the study and attract with its magic, which CD Projekt Red has permeated this entire universe.
Unfortunately, the map of Dogtown is not particularly large, but it is very dense, which gives the feeling of being in a large place. Even more important is its verticality, the absence of which was conspicuous in Night City: many buildings with roofs can be reached by elevator, blocks at different heights, and much more. Although the location is small, it is worthy of your attention.
While you can jump straight into the new content or use a save in the base game, those starting over will have to get to around level 15-20 through the game’s intro, right when the original story gives you parallel main questlines.
CD Projekt Red understood the lessons from the original release and focused on the most important parts of creating an immersive and impactful experience. From a gameplay perspective, Phantom Liberty takes full advantage of a fantastic overhaul of an RPG’s combat systems, then enhances the dialogue elements that make it memorable – and does so effectively and inventively in its conclusions.
Yes, about Dogtown. Among the new features, we have two “endless” actions: supply drops and El Capitan hijack orders. As we travel through Dogtown, we often hear a loud sound and see a supply crate fall from the sky, signaled by a cloud of red smoke. If we go to the site, we will be in for a fight to take possession of its contents, and I assure you it will be worth it.
As for thefts, everything is simple. The game had a large amount of equipment to move. Well, there is even more of it; almost everyone will find the one they like the most. And an old friend of ours will help us with our choice – El Capitan, who will mark the cars he should bring and get a discount. But what will happen during the theft or after is another story.
But what amazes me about this game is the quality – the animations, voices, and performances come to life thanks to the motion capture and excellent animation, which is helpful in scenes where the subtleties add nuance to these characters. Also, without spoiling too much, the new characters in the game, from the President to the Idris character and many more, are excellent. They are deep, complex, and very well written. Such high work pays off, and you don’t just follow the characters but feel what they feel understand their thoughts, and especially if we are talking about a story told entirely in the first person. Thanks to the excellent script and thoughtful dialogues, performances, and teamwork of all the characters can jump out off the screen memorable at the most critical moments and become unforgettable figures in the world of Cyberpunk, and after that, you will remember these moments and feel that this is not just a game, but like some movie that you watched a long time ago.
This is precisely the colossal advantage of Cyberpunk over the recently released Starfield. Of course, I won’t raise the topic of 5 loading screens or scales, but let’s take only the characters. In this game, they are of much higher quality, more exciting and thoughtful, are interesting to watch, and their feelings, experiences, and problems are visible to them. But in Starfield, they’re not interesting. They don’t attract. They fill the location you’ve arrived in – smile and say hello. They will tell a mini-story, will you help them or not, and that’s it – you’ve already forgotten about them. Immediately in all additional missions, not only the main plot ones, they show you, tell you what and how, and put you in a position where you think about the best thing to do with this particular character.
As for the secondary commissions, there are only 17 of them, and they are all very interesting. Even the most seemingly simple story ends up being a unique story with difficult decisions and consequences. They will be able to dilute the gameplay well.
They did the latter particularly well, as Phantom Liberty makes us feel like our decisions have real weight in the story: sometimes through little things like a short mission where we find out what happened to a character we met in a side quest, and others create branches of the expansion’s plot that lead to entirely different missions and endings.
Difficulty and bugs
I started the game with my playthrough, where I was level 49 and on hard difficulty. And I want to say that I faced many difficult fights, thanks to the new enemy AI system. But that’s not all. As my adventure progressed, I reached level 60 (the maximum on this version of the game (it was 50)), and then I already felt real pain because if you leaned out of cover, several shots immediately flew in, and if you stayed for a long time then they will bombard you with viruses and grenades. And I would like to say that the complexity in some places gives the game additional charm and forces you to use the build of your skills and not just take something at random, as was the case in the original part.
If you are playing the game for the first time, I recommend playing on normal difficulty. It is moderately balanced and entertaining. Here, you can jump, use jumps, and shoot for joy.
A huge problem with the first part of the game was that it was not completed. This was felt in the game and was said in the news. The situation here is much better. While playing, I did not encounter any problems with the game that would scream, “Yes, we are bugs. We’re still here.” There was the only crash of the game during the entire game in the provided version. The AI was not inferior to the opponents from GTA, with which they loved to compare this game, and graphically, the game is one of the most beautiful I have played in my life. Although no, I remembered – of course, there was a burnt-out police car driven by living policemen, and that’s all true.
Ultimately, I liked this expansion, and I recommend everyone to explore this universe. There are so many interesting and new places and characters in it that it would be wrong to say something bad.
Our review of Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty was completed thanks to a PC code provided by PR.
