Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay Shows off Multiple Play Styles

CD Projekt RED has released a 14-minute deep dive into the world of Cyberpunk 2077 and for anyone that’s anticipating this game it’s a must watch as it paints a much better picture of what to expect from the game.  Going into details regarding branching story options, gangs of Pacifica, character customization, archetypes, abilities, and more.

The video basically shows how two different character builds will tackle a single story mission.  While the class system is described as fluid, they break this down into two types:  A Netrunner, which is a stealth class that relies on sneaking and hacking, and a Strong Solo which relies on brute strength and in your face action.  The mission itself goes into details regarding two of the gangs in the game, the Animals and Voodoo Boys and how you’ll go on a mission for the VooDoo Boys to infiltrate the Animals’ gang.

The path you take will likely be tied to the way that you customize your character and that starts at the beginning of the game where you determine your history.  There are multiple archetypes or character histories to apply to your character.  The video showed off three different archetypes.

• Nomad – Roaming the Badlands, looting scrapyards, raiding fuel depots — life on the road wasn’t easy.  But growing up in a nomad clan has its perks.  Honesty, integrity, and a love of freedom — qualities that few in Night City possess, and no amount of money can buy.
• Street Kid – They say if you wanna understand the streets you gotta live ’em.  Gangs, fixers, dolls, small-time pushers – you were raised by them all.  Down here the law of the jungle dictates the weak serve the strong – the only law in Night City you have yet to break.
• Corporate – Few leave the corporate world with their lives – fewer still with their souls intact.  You’ve been there — you’ve bent the rules, exploited secrets and weaponized information.  There’s no such thing as a fair game, only winners and losers.

Whichever of these that you choose will unlock special options at different story junctions.

Alongside this, Cyberpunk 2077 players will also customize their looks in a number of different categories.  This includes male or female characters, skin tone variants, as well as customization for the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, jaw, beard, surface wiring, and hairstyle.  As you progress you will put upgrade points into overarching abilities:  Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical, and Cool.

Within these abilities there appear to be subsets

Cyberpunk 2077 Skill Tree Abilities

Body

• Shotguns
• Two Handed
• Melee
• Athletics

Intelligence

• Hacking

Reflexes

• Blades
• Rifles
• Handgun

Technical

• Engineering

Cool

• Assassinations
• Nerve
• Sniper Rifles

While the game is still a ways out, this is the information that was presented in the video.  Once you see the loadouts, you see that there are different ways to approach the same problem depending on your character’s abilities.  For the strong solo player, they can do things like ripping guns from a turret to use against an enemy or using brute strength to engage in close quarters combat.

While on the Net Runner side of the equation, the same problem can be tackled without getting your hands dirty, using hacking to dispatch enemies.  Whatever you choose, it looks like there are going to be plenty of options and branching outcomes depending on how you choose to play.

Cyberpunk 2077 is slated for a 2020 release on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.