Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty offers an action-packed adventure similar to the one which came before it. That’s no surprise. And CD Projekt Red continues to make ammends for it’s disastrous 2020 launch of the original.
But Phantom Liberty has arrived, alongside a free 2.0 update. So what its all about?
Well, the core difference is thematic: Phantom Liberty isn’t as rogue, in fact, it’s more Bond. James Bond. Well, not exactly a rip from that famous brand, but Phantom Liberty offers all the spy thriller vibes.
The plot remains in the infamous, Night City, a bustling, intensely crime riddled city. Phantom Liberty adds new characters into the mix. Additionally, it adds new gameplay features, including a new skill tree, more elaborate weaponry, and fresh cyberware. As for the skill tree, this allows players to deepen their speciality capacities. The new weapons and cyberware allow for fresh ways to take on rivals and enemies.
Following the tumultuous Cyberpunk 2077 launch in 2020, Phantom Liberty is a new positive narrative for CD Projekt Red. Phantom Liberty is probably the original intention in 2020. One thing we will say, CD Projekt Red never gave up, as evidenced by Phantom Liberty’s incredible launch.
One of the big changes in Phantom Liberty is the way it leverages police pursuits. In the original 2077, there basically weren’t any. When you scuffled with cops, you got away. But in Phantom Liberty, the cops will snag any vehicle they can and pursue you. And that amounts to some fiery, ferocious chase scenes. This really ups the action a great deal and lines it up more with GTA.
And all this leads a fresh vehicle warfare environment. You can discharge your weapons from your moving car. Further, you can buy cars that have weapons loaded on board. Yes, machine gun headlights (or something like that).
Another dramatic change: Armor now comes from your equipped cyberware, not your clothes.
This means you can dress how you want to dress without looking, well, a bit bizarre.
Stamina now drains when you use weapons. This is a change from lowering stamina based on physical activity. This means your combat activity is a much more impactful deal.
You can now use bladed weapons to defend against flying bullets. And this is awesome. In fact, the blade game is largely upgraded and way more exciting.
But what about Phantom Liberty graphics? Well, that’s dope as well. You can expect that same 2077 vibe (those graphics were never a contributor to the game’s launch failures). Phantom Liberty continues on with more enhanced versions of the prior.
Phantom Liberty is a distinct upgrade from 2077, and some of that may be due to our perception of how terrible the 2077 launch was. There’s now police pursuits, the ability to fire weapons from cars, better stamina algorithms, and some cool ways to approach body armor. CD Projekt Red worked through a poor original launch and have found the light on the other side with Phantom Liberty.