Cyberpunk 2077 review: Sexy and sweet

It's worth the wait.

Video Transcript

JESSICA CONDITT: To everyone who's been anxiously anticipating the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 over the past 8 years, the game is worth the wait. Cyberpunk 2077 is good. It's not mind-blowingly fantastic, but it's not trash either. It's a competent, well-funded sci-fi adventure from CD Projekt Red, a studio with over a decade of experience in creating rich, imaginary worlds and dense skill trees.

You'll like it. To everyone else who might be holding out for an innovative, genre-bending sci-fi game with an engaging storyline that adapts to your unique decisions, just play Disco Elysium again.

I received a PC review code for Cyberpunk 2077 last Wednesday. And I've spent about 20 hours in the game. I'm running it on a laptop with a 10th Gen Core I7 processor and GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card. And the game has hard crashed on me once, though luckily I didn't lose any progress. Elsewhere on the internet, reviewers have reported encountering some serious bugs, especially in the later sections of the game.

So don't be surprised if Cyberpunk takes your rig for a spin. It's worth noting that CD Projekt Red hasn't released console versions of the game for review. Though considering comments from executives and some early footage from these systems, it wouldn't surprise me if 8th generation hardware, like the Xbox One or Playstation 4, struggled to render the full detail and scope of Cyberpunk 2077. Xbox Series X and PS5, meanwhile, should be able to handle it just fine. Should.

But, back to the game on PC. I played with minimal ray tracing effects, and I definitely kept the film grain on because I'm pretentious like that. Or maybe it's because Cyberpunk already feels like a movie. Specifically, "Blade Runner" meets "Old Boy" meets "John Wick." Night City, the game's sprawling playground is distinctly familiar. It's yet another interpretation of William Gibson's "Neuromancer," the 1980s blueprint of a near future, sci-fi world controlled by corporate entities and covered in a layer of neon grime.

Transhumanism is a critical aspect of this future. And it's the foundation for many of the game's mechanics. V, the main character, is like a lot of other residents in Night City. She has robotic eyeballs, wires that unfurl out of her wrist, and slots for data chips in the back of her head, where she can instantly download hoards of information. It all starts with an incredibly robust character editor, save for one feature.

While you're able to alter V's appearance down to the freckles, nails, and genitals, there are only two options when it comes to gender identity and voice acting, male or female. There's no option for me to be non-binary. And this is an oversight in a work of speculative fiction. Non-binary identities are common even today. And it's stubborn at best, to imagine a future with cellular head implants but without they or them pronouns.

This choice is especially egregious because Cyberpunk 2077 fetishizes ideas of gender fluidity elsewhere, namely in advertisements. One common in-game ad features a feminine model with an obvious, large penis tucked into her leotard, standing next to the slogan, "Mix it Up." The poster is plastered all around Night City, despite the fact that developers are aware that many fans find it exploitative and transphobic.

Every time I see the ad in game, I'm reminded of the studio's easy dismissal of these concerns. And it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The best parts of Cyberpunk 2077 are all about mood. Night City is sex obsessed and dangerous. And this vibe permeates every building and alleyway. CD Projekt Red does a fantastic job of packing this world with engaging characters and side missions that expose the city's dark and delicious underbelly.

And I can have a great time simply driving around, listening to the radio on V's car, watching the neon lights slide by. There are a handful of intimate moments in Cyberpunk 2077 that play out with quiet, intense drama. And these are the most memorable for me. The game shines in one-on-one conversations, offering relatable relationships, fantastic acting, and engaging dialogue, in gorgeous cinematic scenes. This is what the game does best.

Otherwise Cyberpunk 2077 is a solid, low-frills RPG with stealth and assault options, a crafting system, large inventory, and upgradable skill trees. This is CD Projekt Red's bread and butter, and the studio does it well. It took about 6 hours for the Cyberpunk 2077 title card to show up in my play through, finally signaling the end of the prologue. It was at this point that Keanu Reeves showed up, and the real game began. Keanu is great in the game, by the way. He plays a sulking rockstar with aggression issues.

But he isn't the standout performance. There are a handful of brilliant characters in Cyberpunk 2077, shout out to Judy. But my personal favorite is V, herself. Choosing the feminine voice option places actress, Cherami Leigh, in V's body. And her performance consistently conveys vulnerability and power in equal measure. She also sounds a lot like one of my favorite podcasters, Carolina Hidalgo of "No Dogs in Space." So that's a nice bonus.

In the end, Cyberpunk 2077 is worth a play through for fans of speculative fiction or large scale RPGs. It's a classic cyberpunk story told with new tools, and it gets the job done. Its good, which, when we're talking about the future, definitely isn't bad. For all the latest gaming news and reviews, subscribe to the Engadget YouTube channel and stay tuned to engadget.com.