Cyberpunk 2077’s Patch 2.0 makes an incredible game even better
I’m a huge Cyberpunk 2077 apologist. With Patch 2.0, it’s time for everyone to jack in and reevaluate this excellent RPG.
CD Projekt Red has done an incredible job of tuning the game closer to the experience everyone had in their heads before launch, and the technical issues are a thing of the past. It’s still very much an RPG and not the life sim some people imagined, but all the quality-of-life features added over the past couple of years are almost enough to make Night City feel like a second home.
Patch 2.0 is the biggest and best update yet, improving core aspects of the game to the point where they’re almost unrecognizable.
The most significant change in Patch 2.0 is a complete revamp of the perks. Where the old system was essentially a series of buffs, the new skill trees add game-changing abilities. As a stealthy samurai build, this means I can cloak and break line of sight, I get a burst of slowed time when I’m about to be spotted, giving me a chance to react, and I can parry bullets back at people’s heads while saying “stop shooting yourself”. I coupled this with movement abilities such as air dash and a dodge so fast that it feels like a teleport. It makes me feel alive.
Cyberpunk 2077 already had the best combat in a first-person RPG and now it’s even better. I’d even go as far as recommending a complete replay because jumping into an existing character is like being handed the keys to a Lamborghini on your driving test – overwhelming to say the least. Almost all of the perks feel significant, and you can pair them with an entirely new cyberware system that compliments these skills.
Elsewhere, Patch 2.0 adds new police AI and a series of wanted levels, culminating in Max Tac special forces descending on you if you cause too much chaos.
It’s still not quite GTA levels of sandbox mayhem, but it gives you something else to worry about when you’re bombing around the streets of Night City in a souped-up Porsche. Hit a civilian and someone will call it in, which means you have to outrun and hide from the patrol vehicles that come looking.
Another big change is vehicular combat, which comes in handy when you’re being pursued by cops. Using my katana build, I often swing my bike around and cavalry charge at enemy cars before slashing their tires with my blade as I pass. If you opt for a netrunner build, you can force them to hit the brakes and mess with their vehicle to cause a crash, Watch Dogs-style.
There are also simpler ways to deal with other vehicles: guns. By default, you lock onto enemy vehicles in their center and you can tap the shoulder button to fire off shots. But you can also manually target to pop tires and heads. Then there are also a range of weaponized vehicles, which give you access to more firepower while mobilized. Doing a wheelspin while spitting lead from front-mounted machine guns is almost as cool as jousting a car from the saddle of a motorbike. Almost.
If you’ve been waiting for CD Projekt to bring Cyberpunk 2077 up to its full potential as one of the best RPGs, jump in on September 27 when the 2.0 patch drops a few days ahead of Phantom Liberty.
