News hardware Cyberpunk 2077 PS5 Xbox Series: A Next-Gen version worthy of the name?
Gamers in possession of a Next-Gen copy of Cyberpunk 2077 can finally get started on CD Projekt Red’s title, nearly a year after its release. Graphic improvements, new content, better immersion… The Polish studio has made a lot of effort to make a copy more likely to meet initial expectations. Is their work sufficient to meet the expectations of the players? Video answer.
Cyberpunk 2077: a special case
Cyberpunk 2077 and CD Projekt come back from afar, from afar even when the first version of the title released on Xbox Series and PS5 reflected nothing, or almost, the ambitions of the studio; while the PS4 and Xbox One versions were barely playable. More than a year after this release at the end of 2020 and the historic debacle that followed, the Poles of CD Projekt were keen to restore their image with the general public and to offer an experience corresponding more sincerely to the initial promises.. With the release of this major 1.5 update, has this objective been achieved? In fact, yes.
Cyberpunk 2077 1.5: a true Next-Gen game?
From a technical point of view, this version manages to make the most of Next-Gen power. With two display modes – performance or quality – Cyberpunk 2077 achieves a more than convincing graphic rendering, and offers players a real visual and sensory journey to the heart of Night City. The work of CD Projekt Red on lighting and atmospheres is particularly commendable and extremely well transcribed thanks to Next-Gen machines. We will note all the same a preference for the Performance mode, the Ray-Tracing of the quality mode remaining rather timid and not bringing any real added value.
But more than the technique, this version 1.5 also brings a partial overhaul of the open world that Night City represents. Always according to this desire for total immersion, CD Projekt Red wanted to densify the population of its fictitious city. More NPCs therefore, who also benefit from this update to have a more natural and coherent behavior towards the actions of the player. The crowd and the traffic are therefore more believable than before. However, it is clear that the police have not had the right to its novelties and is still anecdotal within the experience.
The story remains unchanged, but in any case had no great interest in seeing itself modified. It must be said that the strength of CD Projekt RED lies in their pen: the story of V and Johnny Silverhand works wonderfully, and the two characters meet during their adventure a cast of secondary characters, each more charismatic than the other with whom it is possible to build relationships. An improved aspect with a wider choice of interactions and a greater number of events. Both the main quest and the side quests receive special care and are the real highlight of Cyberpunk 2077.
On the gameplay side, there are both improvements and lingering issues. It is always so exhilarating to benefit from cybernetic increases and to take full advantage of them during the various confrontations. In the same way, the feeling of the weapons and more particularly of the handguns remains once again very good. Nevertheless, we still regret the confused bare-handed fights, and the sensations well below those of the gunfights which in addition benefit from the haptic feedback of the Dualshock of the PS5. Finally, it should be remembered that the AI has not made any progress in a confrontation situation and represents a fairly agreed challenge. Always on the weak points, CD Projekt has tried to improve the driving of the vehicles, still perfectible.
CD Projekt RED finally offers with this update 1.5 a version more in line with what players aspired to in 2020. More immersive than ever, Cyberpunk 2077 is an RPG with undeniable narrative qualities even if it still suffers from some shortcomings, and will not suit all players who expected an experience closer to GTA-Like than to a true narrative RPG.
By SengsunnWriting jeuxvideo.com
MP