That whole "Cyberpunk 2077" thing...Did a glitchy game really warrant mainstream news coverage?

Dude, did you just step out of an episode of Sapphire and Steel?

Oh dear, this blog seems to be covering a LOT of gaming stuff lately. Sorry but not intentional at all, there just seems to be the usual seasonal smorgasbord of games to feast on. Some are absolutely wonderful (like Death Stranding which still has its hooks into me big time) and some not so wonderful. 

"Cyberpunk 2077" by CD Projekt Red has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Though you can usually count the number of games without colossal day 1 patches on the fingers of no fingers, this one made the news because it was a much anticipated title from a studio that had made probably one of the best action RPGs of the last decade, turning their attention to the cyberpunk world of a possible near future. Hell, it even has Keanu in it, what's not to love? 

Well, for some punters it seems to have pressed all the wrong buttons. Frequent poor performance, awful framerates, glitches (like the fabulous "Look Ma, no textures" bug above from the PS4 version) and for me at least, crashes back to the dashboard - something that always makes a console owner slightly paranoid that their beloved machine might be at fault rather than the game (though thankfully with the high profile news coverage - even making the Radio 2 half hourly news broadcasts - it's quite obviously a set of widespread problems). 

The thing is, without knowing the current state of the industry but being all too familiar with the concepts of 'crunch' and quite frequently the promise of game release dates flying by without a sign of the game in question, we're stuck in a loop where folk expect amazingly polished games in short succession, building on franchises, quite often using a 'stock' game engine, and relying on long hours, very little in the way of QC and again that heavy reliance on the very first thing you (as a consumer) seeing is your game sticking itself into a 3 hour download of a day 1 patch before you're even allowed anywhere near it. 

I've got Cyberpunk, and I have to say it couldn't have arrived at a worse time. Hoovering up lots of other games I'd missed out on first time around (usually I really don't bother picking up games on release day any more, they're nearly always slashed in price mere months - or in some cases weeks - after release) Cyberpunk 2077 has drifted to the bottom of my 'to be played' pile. 

The thing is, despite all the news about glitches and crashes, that's not why I'm not playing it. I'm not playing it because, despite being set in my favourite sci fi genre, it's a soulless game. The characters you play and immediately interact with don't have a spark of originality about them, they don't lend themselves to being liked or loved, they don't even stick in the mind. The city is an amazing technical achievement, just walking around and marvelling at the levels of NPCs, the detail, the vehicles, it really does look stunning but then you realise that it's underpinned by one of the worst game maps / quest mechanics seen since the late 90s - feeling instantly clunky and immersion-breaking compared to more modern games. In essence it does feel like a game that's been in development a long time but never adjusted to take in what else was going on in the industry around it as it evolved and eventually emerged. 

Some games take a while to 'kick in' - that's a fair statement to make about Cyberpunk and it may give up some good stuff as you get further into it. But games also need to provide that 'hook' moment, the bit where you start to think "Whoah, this is worth continuing with!" but also they need to balance that initial hook with longevity, variety and a feeling that you truly don't know what's coming next. Couple Cyberpunk's clunky map mechanics with a godawful character perks / upgrade system and two of the main parts of the game you'll spend a lot of time in feel old and broken, instantly meaning that the rest of the game struggles to catch up. 

This isn't really a review, more an 'initial thinkpiece' but I think it's surprising that this game is getting all the attention and publicity because of the bugs and glitches (did the last few Assassins Creed games get similar attention for similar bugs? Did anyone complain about weird hovering weapons and objects in Days Gone or terrible texture draw-in in...well, practically every PS4 cross platform game). Personally I think it needs more evaluation and possibly some serious critique around why it just doesn't feel like an instant classic as "The Witcher" series did.