EMBRACE THE HOLIDAY CHEER AS NETMARBLE ISSUES A CHRISTMAS UPDATE FOR THE KING OF FIGHTERS ALLSTAR
LOS ANGELES – DEC. 22, 2020 – THE KING OF FIGHTERS ALLSTAR, Netmarble’s popular mobile action role-playing game (RPG), is celebrating the holidays with a Christmas-themed update that adds in-game events and a limited-time holiday fighter, Winter Love Messenger B. Jenet, for players to collect.
Originally debuting in SNK’s Garou: Mark of the Wolves and THE KING OF FIGHTERS XI, Winter Love Messenger B. Jenet is a Green Balance fighter whose Leader Skill increases Green Element fighters’ ATK by 45% and their Power Charge by 20%. Her Skill Effect grants three seconds of Hyper Armor (Super Armor & DMG Immunity), which leads to two seconds of Skill Freeze. The Holiday Exclusive Set Card are also available for players to collect.
Other holiday events for this month include:
5-Day Daily Check-In (12/22 – 1/5/21): Log in to THE KING OF FIGHTERS ALLSTAR daily for up to five days to receive Elite EXP Capsules, KOF Allstar Summon Tickets, and more.
Winter Fighter Selection Event (12/22 – 1/6/21): Choose one of the Holiday AS fighters to obtain by clearing daily missions and also earn various rewards, including Souls for the chosen fighter.
Team Relay Dungeon (12/22 – 1/10/21): Players will assemble teams of fight fighters to take on the Winter Holiday Chang Koehan boss for rewards like AS Purple Souls, Rare Enchantment Hammers, and more.
Catch the Little Thief (12/22 – 1/6/21): Enjoy this in-game event to find the little gift thief who is dressed up like Santa. Rewards include a ‘Mystery Box for Plus Capsules’, 1-3 level Awakening EXP Capsules, and more.
Score Event: Earn points by clearing the dungeons with additional missions and exchange points with for various rewards such as Imprint Stones, Option Card, Enhancement Hammer and Capsules.
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ALLSTAR boasts fast-paced fighting action as players battle through waves of enemies, giant bosses, and rival fighter teams. The excitement is paired with cutting edge graphics, bold colors, and lightning-fast animations. In addition, this game features all of KOF’s classic fighters from ’94 to XIV, with more than 130 fighters available to collect, along with more to come with seasonal events, collaborations with popular IP such as TEKKEN 7, SAMURAI SHODOWN, Seven Knights, and more.
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ALLSTAR is available to download on Google Play and the App Store in more than 175 countries and comes with support for English, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Thai, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian, and German languages.
Established in Korea in 2000, Netmarble Corporation is a top developer and publisher pushing the boundaries of the mobile gaming experience with highly innovative games including Lineage 2: Revolution, The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, Blade&Soul Revolution and MARVEL Future Fight. As a parent company of Kabam, and a major shareholder of Jam City and Big Hit Entertainment, Netmarble strives to entertain audiences around the world with a variety of mobile games based on its powerful franchises and collaborations with IP holders worldwide. More information can be found at http://company.netmarble.com
Season’s greetings to one and all – the holidays are in full swing in Southern San Andreas. Along with a fresh blanket of snow covering the landscape, local businesses like The Diamond are decked out with festive decorations, and local vendors of all sorts offering seasonal delights.
Be sure to stop and snap a quick selfie by the tree in Legion Square or from the warm and friendly confines of your festively decked-out Penthouse. Plus, for a limited time only treat yourself to a range of seasonal gifts for playing GTA Online this week, ‘tis the reason for the season, after all.
Playing GTA Online at any point between now and December 30th will get you these gifts:
Plus, visit Southern San Andreas Super Autos between December 22nd and 30th to pick up the compact and nimble Grotti Brioso 300 for free.
Holiday Season Sweeps the Frontier in Red Dead Online
Get into the spirit with festive décor, free gifts, seasonal sales and more
A seasonal chill is sweeping the states, bringing heavy snowfall and a bracing shot of the warming Holiday spirit along with it. The streets and halls of Saint Denis are decked with wreathes, lights and decorations galore; the speakeasies and Moonshine Shacks are packed with garlands and baubles. The streets of the cities are filled with the songs of merry carolers.
SEASONAL GIFTS & ITEMS
With inclement weather setting in, visit the Benefits page in the Pause Menu to pick up a free set of gifts – including a Coupon for a free Coat to protect you from the elements, as well as a Coupon for a free Repeater.
The holiday even softens the steely spirits of local Gunsmiths, who are giving out the brand-new Winter Evans Repeater variant gratis just for stopping by this week. While you’re there, consider picking up the seasonal Krampus Shotgun variant of the Double Barrel Shotgun, the latter of which has had its Rank lock restrictions temporarily lifted.
Virgil “The Shepherd” Edwards, Leader of the Sacrilegious 7th Generation Sect, Wanted for Inciting Violent Rapture
The cult leader’s prophesies are growing progressively darker and his followers more blood-thirsty
Virgil “The Shepherd” Edwards, the deranged leader of the 7th Generation cult, has been identified as a significant threat to peace, law and order. Edwards’ followers are recognizable by their distinctive robes and an upside-down seven carved into their foreheads by The Shepherd himself.
Edwards and his flock are also known for carrying on about The Mercy – a ritual bloodletting leading them to their rapture. The sect has laid low, biding their time and numbers, while the leader’s sermons grow increasingly grim and influential. If you do approach, do not expect any of the 7th Generation to go down without a fight.
Bounty Hunters in possession of the Prestigious Bounty Hunter License can start tracking down The Shepherd by visiting a local Bounty Board. Return to the Bounty Board to replay the mission at an increased difficulty after a brief period.
NEW TURKOMAN HORSES
Stables across the states are offering a range of dashing new Turkoman breeds, including Grey, Black, Chestnut and Perlino variants.
FESTIVE SHOWDOWNS
Grab a couple friends and celebrate with a little competition this week by playing festive renditions of modes like Make It Count – Bow & Arrow and Last Stand, offering triple the usual RDO$ and XP payouts.
BOUNTY HUNTER BONUSES
Bounty Hunters and Prestigious Bounty Hunters alike can take advantage of double XP for their character and Role progression in all manners of fugitive apprehension. This includes taking down Bounty Targets and playing Bounty Hunter Free Roam Events.
Plus, high level Bounty Hunters can tackle a different Infamous Bounty mission sequence from each of the 13 Bounty Boards, all of which feature a 3-part mission you can embark on solo or with a Posse.
HOLIDAY DISCOUNTS
Seasonal sales are in full swing. Even Cripps is in a festive mood, offering 30% off everything for sale at Wilderness Outfitters – from Camp Themes to canine companions and beyond.
Aspiring capitalists and bootleggers can take 5 Gold Bars off the cost of the Butcher Table and 10 Gold Bars off the cost of the Moonshine Shack, respectively, as well as 30% off all Trader Wagons (including the Hunting Wagon), all Moonshiner Items and Shack Upgrades.
Elsewhere in the Wheeler, Rawson & Co. Catalogue, you can take 30% off the cost of Bandoliers and Ponchos and 40% off all Shotguns. All stables, meanwhile, are offering 30% off all Arabian, War, Work and Race Horse breeds.
PRIME GAMING
Red Dead Online players who connect their Rockstar Games Social Club account to Prime Gaming will receive Rewards for:
A free Bounty Hunter License
An Award for the Trimmed Amethyst Bounty Wagon Livery
In addition, players who connect to Prime Gaming before January 18th will receive a Reward for a Free Ability Card Upgrade and an Offer for 50% off a Weapon Pamphlet at the Fence. Check Rockstar Support for details and limitations
Keinemusik and Palms Trax have taken up residency at The Music Locker. Keinemusik are a creative collective featuring Adam Port, &ME and Rampa focused on forward-thinking electronic music of all kinds. Palms Trax’s mix of old-school house, exotic strains of disco and the latest music from the UK underground are known for bringing deep and peaceful, positive vibes to any party.
The new resident DJs will need help settling in, so be sure to keep an eye out for incoming texts and calls looking for help with brand new DJ Missions, both around the city and up into the far reaches of Blaine County.
New to the Dial: Still Slipping Los Santos and The Music Locker Radio In addition to taking on the biggest Heist in GTA history, the community has been hard at work helping repair radio antennas across Southern San Andreas. Thanks to your efforts, this week marks the mainstream widespread release of Joy Orbison’s pirate radio project, Still Slipping Los Santos – now available on your radio dial.
Also landing on the radio this week are live transmissions from The Music Locker, including mixes from all their resident DJs including Moodymann, Palms Trax and Keinemusik.
New Vehicle: Grotti Itali RSX Grotti’s newest Supercar is looking better than ever, and for all the sleek bodywork and elegant detail it’s got even more going on under the hood. Check out Legendary Motorsport to pick yours up today.
New Vehicle: Dinka Veto Modern Some refer to the Dinka Veto as the Tenth Wonder of the World, others as an unhampered deathtrap with all the grace and guile of a shaved baboon. But one thing’s for certain – you’ll never have more fun at shin-height than when you’re behind the wheel of one of these babies. Now available at Southern San Andreas Super Autos.
The Cayo Perico Heist Bonuses Still Available In case you weren’t able to collect on these special bonuses last week, you’ve still got time to claim each of these:
Complete any Prep Mission for the Cayo Perico Heist and get the Rockstar Gray Pattern Tee
Complete a Scoping Mission for the Cayo Perico Heist and get the Manor Tie-dye Tee
Complete the Cayo Perico Heist finale to get the Panther Tour Jacket
Plus if you were one of the many who helped the GTA Online community annihilate the GTA$100 Billion mark during November’s Heist Challenge, you get the Panther Varsity Jacket.
On the Podium This Week: The Progen Tyrus Spin The Diamond Casino & Resort’s Lucky Wheel and walk away with GTA$, RP, clothing or all sorts of mystery prizes. This week on the podium is the Progen Tyrus, a supercar best described as ‘barely road legal.’ Trust us: that’s a good thing.
Discounts It wouldn’t be the holidays without sales, would it? From real estate to vehicles, there are plenty of ways to invest in various assets and properties this week that will surely make this season one to remember. See below for the complete list of discounts.
Executive Offices – 40% off:
Maze Bank West
Arcadius Business Center
Lombank West
Maze Bank Tower
Executive Office Customizations – 40% off:
Interiors
Organization Name Change
Money Safe
Gun Locker
Accommodation
Personal Assistant
Vehicles – 40% off:
Pegassi Tempesta
Ocelot Penetrator
Pfister Comet SR
Coil Rocket Voltic
Blazer Aqua
Prime Gaming Bonuses and Benefits GTA Online players who successfully connect their Rockstar Games Social Club account with Prime Gaming will receive the Kosatka submarine’s Sonar Station for free, along with GTA$200K just for playing any time this week.
In addition, Prime Gaming members receive exclusive discounts: this week it’s a whopping 80% off of the HVY Nightshark, Itali GTB and Itali GTB Custom. Plus a special gift from Prime Gaming this week, claim the Übermacht Sentinel Classic, completely free.
To ensure access to future benefits, make sure to visit Prime Gaming and sign up.
The Cayo Perico Heist Stickers Available Now on Giphy and Instagram
To help celebrate The Cayo Perico Heist and the largest expansion to GTA Online’s music playlist since launch, we’ve added a brand new set of GIPHY stickers to our official page. These include The Music Locker’s debut resident DJ Moodymann, along with Keinemusik and Palms Trax – who’ll be hitting the ones and twos at the hottest new club in Los Santos this week. Plus, there’s even El Rubio himself, the new Pegassi Toreador and more.
You can use these to decorate your Stories on Instagram by tapping the Sticker icon at the top of the Story Editing screen and search for #GTAOnline, #CayoPerico, #MusicLocker, #Moodymann, #Keinemusik or #PalmsTrax. To check out all of the new stickers head over to https://giphy.com/rockstargames.
Rolling Hills Estates, California – December 22nd, 2020 – Arc System Works America, Inc. is pleased to announce that Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, now featuring GGPO rollback netcode, has exited beta testing and will officially release today, December 22nd, exclusively on Steam® (PC)!
With the inclusion of GGPO, players can enjoy online matches against others just about anywhere in the world with virtually no input delay. In addition to rollback netcode a number of other features and upgrades have been added to the game.
About Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus R First released in 2006 in arcades as Guilty Gear XX Accent Core, “Plus R” is the culmination of numerous balance fixes and refinements made over the course of the “XX” series of games to optimize each of the 25 characters’ individual fighting styles. It is considered the definitive version of the 2D Guilty Gear series.
About GGPO GGPO is open-source middleware developed by EVO founder Tony Cannon designed to facilitate a nearly lag-free online experience for fighting games and other genres by disguising input lag using the method known as rollback networking. For more information about GGPO, visit the official website at https://www.ggpo.net/
About Arc System Works Arc System Works is a developer and fighting game specialist from Japan—best known for the Guilty Gear series of games and, more recently, BlazBlue —that have garnered international critical acclaim for their innovative fighting systems and spectacular 2D and 3D artwork.
Latest Update Adds Dual Weapon Wielding, Goblin Mines Dungeon, and PvP Beta With Battle Royale Modes – Charge Into the Fray at 50% Off in the Steam Winter Sale
Rattle your swords, sharpen your axes, and grab some lizard meat! Studio 369 and Ragnarok Game, LLC announced that the ‘Duplicity Update’ in their open world, action-RPG bloodfest, RUNE II: Decapitation Edition is now available on Steam. The free ‘Duplicity Update’ features the new Goblin Mines dungeon, dual-wielding weapon ability, and adds two original battle royale options – Last Viking Standing and Last Clan Standing – for a total of four modes in the PVP Beta. What better way to celebrate the pagan holiday season than hackin’ and slashin’ your way with friends, enemies, and frenemies?
To commemorate the launch of this update, RUNE II: Decapitation Edition is now available at the limited promotional price of $14.99 (50% of S.R.P.) as part of the Steam Winter Sale through January 5, 2021.
Watch the new ‘Last Viking Standing’ trailer HERE
If you’re looking to feel the holiday spirit, enjoy Santa hats, Christmas lights, and other festive items in the ‘Duplicity Update.’ The ‘Last Viking Standing’ and ‘Last Clan Standing’ PvP modes feature quick mini-battle royale sessions on two brand new PVP maps – Redheim and Lost Thorstadt. Additional fixes in the update include performance and frame optimizations, and added Steamworks multiplayer support.
The ‘Duplicity Update’ for RUNE II: Decapitation Edition is now available. RUNE II: Decapitation Edition is on sale for $14.99 (50% off) on Steam. For keeping up on all things RUNE II: Decapitation Edition, join the epic Viking war cry on Discord, read the latest update on our website, like us on Facebook and Instagram, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Twitch and Twitter.
Tactical Adventures, a French development studio of passionate RPG game developers and tabletop players, recently released its tactical RPG Solasta: Crown of the Magister on Steam Early Access. The game has seen much love from the community, has a very positive Steam user rating (94+), and will be in the Steam Winter Sale beginning today through January 5 for $27.99 (-20% discount). Additionally Solasta: Crown of the Magister is also featured in the GOG Winter Sale for $27.99 (-20% discount).
Watch the latest Solasta: Crown of the Magister Winter update trailer HERE
Wizards of the Coast has granted Tactical Adventures a license to use the Dungeons & Dragons SRD 5.1 content and rules in Solasta: Crown of the Magister.
Solasta: Crown of the Magister recently received its first major update, the Winter Update, which implements tons of new community requested features including more gameplay, overhauled lighting system, new combat features, more customization and much more.
Gameplay Video
Solasta is a team-based adventure game where each character plays a critical role in the campaign and can be a hero. The dynamic and mysterious world features elements of verticality, allowing players to use their surroundings as an element of strategy. Players can position ranged characters on high vantage points or send their thief down into shafts and caverns to scope out what lies ahead. In Solasta, light is a tool to explore the depths and hallows of dungeons or can be used as a weapon against the creatures of the dark, but if players aren’t careful, it will give away the party’s position to nasty creatures bent on their demise.
New Early Game Content Available now on Steam and the Xbox Family of Devices from Wired Productions; More Scheduled DLC in 2021
Watford, UK – Dec. 22, 2020 – Global video games publisher, Wired Productions, and visionary independent developer, Tomas Sala, announced ‘The Kraken’, the first in a series of new content updates for open-world air combat game,The Falconeer.‘The Kraken’DLC is available starting today for free on PC and the Xbox family of devices.
The Kraken’ is a free content update that delivers entirely new exploration and discovery experiences for players, including new locations; The Cartohom Cartographers guild and the Batis Wreckdiver company. Cartohom will offer exploration missions for players to discover even more of the vast world and lore to be unlocked in The Great Ursee, while the Batis are an ancient guild of master divers, plotting missions that will take players below the waves to recover wrecks and discover ancient treasures of the deep.
Gameplay Video
Additionally, AI and combat have received an overhaul, making dogfights smoother and more spread out, and include entirely new enemy behaviors such as the ability for enemies to roll, and the addition of an off-screen enemy indicator. ‘The Kraken’ includes more updates and optimizations based on player feedback.
Tomas Sala intends to release further DLC updates throughout 2021 that will significantly expand the scale and depth of the already impressive world of The Falconeer.
“The feedback and appreciation from fans from the beta and through release has been quite overwhelming, I’ve been energized by their affection for The Falconeer” said creator, Tomas Sala. “The Kraken update offers more early game content, requested by the community and press, and I’m delighted to take players into the depths of The Great Ursee and open up even more of the world with exploration missions. I’ve got so many ideas I want to implement in 2021, the roadmap is full to the brim with new and exciting content.”
The Falconeer merges intense dogfighting and acrobatic aerial combat with a breathtaking open world full of fantastical creatures and has been hailed as “videogame magic” and “jaw-droppingly beautiful” by critics.
The Falconeer is “T for Teen” ESRB rated for console platforms, and available digitally on both PC and Xbox priced at $29.99, £24.99 and €29.99, a Day One Edition is also available for the Xbox family of devices priced at $39.99, £34.99 and €39.99 which can be ordered directly from the Wired Store or via a local retailer here.
Wired Productions is a leading video games publisher based in Watford, UK. Wired has produced and published award-winning titles across all major platforms. Bringing games to market in both physical and digital media, notable launches to date include Avicii Invector, Those Who Remain, Deliver Us The Moon, Close to the Sun, GRIP: Combat Racing, Victor Vran: Overkill Edition, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and The Town of Light.
For more information, or to join the Wired community, please visit:
Tomas Sala is an independent game artist and designer as well as the co-founder of game studio Little Chicken Game Company. Best known to most gamers for his exotic Skyrim Mod series: Moonpath to Elsweyr, Tomas has developed a unique visual style over the years that have helped turn helped turn games such as Rekt! (iOS/Switch), SXPD (iOS) and TrackLab (PSVR) into unique visual and interactive experiences.
Featuring a new map, reimagined scopes, and Christmas-themed rewards
Amsterdam, Netherlands – December 22, 2020 – Tactical first-person shooter Warface: Breakout has launched its ‘Cold Sun’ season today, available as a free update on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.
‘Cold Sun’ adds a new “Outskirts” map set in a snow-covered mountain village, a brand-new addition to the collection of Warface: Breakout maps. Newly reimagined scopes allow players to aim down the sights without losing awareness of the environment. And the myriad of new seasonal rewards is available, including new weapon and bomb skins, victory poses, and more.
‘Cold Sun’ will also feature a time-limited Christmas event at launch, spanning from December 22 to January 11. It will bring a new, time-limited Team Deathmatch mode, as well as exclusive cosmetics, including avatars, stickers, and challenge cards.
Warface: Breakout is available on the Xbox Games Store and PlayStation Store priced at 19.99 USD for Standard Edition, 29.99 USD for Deluxe Edition, and 49,99 USD for Ultimate Edition.
Key points:
Game title: Warface: Breakout
Developer: MY.GAMES (Allods Team)
Platforms: PS4 and Xbox One, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S via backward compatibility
Price: 19,99 USD for Standard edition, 29,99 USD for Deluxe edition, 49,99 USD for Ultimate Edition
Maps: 7 maps are available: Storage, Sandstorm, City, Facility, Oasis, Slum District, and Outskirts
About Warface: Breakout
Warface: Breakout is a competitive online first-person shooter, available on PS4 and Xbox One. It is a spin-off within the Warface franchise. The game features intense multiplayer battles with tactical gunplay-focused combat. Breakout was developed by the Allods Team, an internal studio of MY.GAMES and was released on May 26, 2020. The global publisher of the game is MY.GAMES.
Kick, punch, and smash your way to the top of the league today
Walnut Creek, Calif. (Dec. 22, 2020) – Publisher Modus Games today released Override 2: Super Mech League digitally on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 for £24.99/€29.99. The game will be coming to Epic Games Store at a later date.
In addition, Override 2: Super Mech League – ULTRAMAN Deluxe Edition, which includes four fighters from the ULTRAMAN series as part of the season pass, along with additional bonuses, launches across the same platforms digitally and physically for £34.99/€39.99. Ultraman can also be purchased separately for £3.59/€3.99 starting today, and the ULTRAMAN Season Pass, containing access to Ultraman along with the future characters Bemular, Black King and Dan Moroboshi is £11.99/€14.99.
In tandem with today’s release, the game’s official launch trailer came crashing onto the scene, giving soon-to-be mech-wielders a look at some of the heart-pounding, blistering combat they’ll be getting into. Get a sense of the action here:
Override 2: Super Mech League gathers 20 distinctly devastating mechs for electrifying, over-the-top throwdowns for 1-4 players. Action is accessible to all and easy to jump into, but strategic depth in combat design means even the most skill-focused players will find a deeply rewarding, eSports-ready challenge. See if you have what it takes to rise to the top in the ‘Leagues’ career mode, or take on friendly multiplayer matches as you begin to hone your skills.
For the latest on Override 2: Super Mech League, head over to the game’s official site (http://www.override2.com/) and purchase the game now. For news on Modus Games’ full lineup, head over to https://modusgames.com, join the Modus Games Discord channel (http://modus.games/discord), and follow @Modus_Games on Twitter.
About Modus Games Modus Games is one of the fastest-growing video game publishers in the world. The label prides itself on providing AAA publishing services to talented independent developers across the globe. For more information, visit www.modusgames.com.
About Modus Studios Brazil Modus Studios Brazil is a full-service, cross-platform development studio, creating original IPs such as Override and Override 2, and providing co-development, testing, and porting to other talented developers around the world.
Tsuburaya Productions Co. Tsuburaya Productions is one of the leading independent production companies, founded in 1963 by Eiji Tsuburaya. The company has continued to produce content that has been licensed to both the domestic and international markets. The company also engages in licensing, merchandising, publishing, and live stage shows and events, exploiting the IP it creates and owns.
For more information visit en.tsuburaya-prod.co.jp.
The Official North American Website for Ultraman: ultramangalaxy.com
There was a time that The Witcher series was seen as a rather niche series but every subsequent title in the series saw CD Projekt Red grow as a developer with the series exploding in popularity with the most recent 2015 release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Following on the heels of such a substantial release that was given excellent post-release support, the development team had plenty of eyes on them to see how exactly their next game, Cyberpunk 2077 would turn out. After being announced in 2012 and stepping into the public eye in 2013, it has been a long road for Cyberpunk 2077 to arrive on PC and consoles but now that it has arrived, will all the goodwill that CD Projekt Red built up over the years keep the game together?
Story
Players take on the role of V, a character that they take the reigns in creating right off the bat with what is a surprisingly limited character creation system. Here players can determine V’s orientations as well as their starting path, with Nomad, Corpo, and Streetkid being the choices that will then provide players the initial hour or so of gameplay and provide a number of background based dialogue choices throughout the game’s various character interactions. No matter how players choose to start V’s journey, it always ends the same way and culminates in a rather odd slapdash montage of events that feels like something players should be experiencing and playing through themselves but instead serves to place players in an established place.
After the montage V has become something of a mercenary for hire willing to take on any job, be it working for the police, something completely illegal, or a gray area, and her best friend/partner in crime Jackie and tech wizard T-Bug have just landed a job that will set them up for life, stealing a mysterious chip from the largest tech organization in the city the Arasaka Corporation. Despite the risks that come with taking on such a large scale job the crew agrees only for things to go incredibly wrong at the eleventh hour.
As a result not only does V end up with basically no one who can help her out, the result of the heist has left her with a ticking time-bomb in her mind, a biochip containing the mentality of Johnny Silverhand, an infamous terrorist who had long since passed away in Night City, planted firmly inside of her skull. With Johnny’s techno-ghost now haunting V and being a threat to her long term being, it is up to V’s connections with those willing to work with her and others seeking to find the truth behind various nefarious events that would be spoilers to mention to find a way to survive her current predicament.
Cyberpunk 2077 tells a tale that is filled with some great surprises and can really shine at times but it is also one that doesn’t really know how to pace itself. Players will meet a number of outlandish characters that seem to have so much depth to them only for them to be quickly shuffled along in an attempt to move the story along in regards to the core storyline, in fact at points it almost seems like a few of the game’s core story missions have missing sections where V is randomly jumped forward in time to progress events or flat out given an option to skip a silent car ride that could have been filled with more dialogue or interaction which, given the core storyline’s relatively short length for an open world RPG, should not be an option.
Thankfully many of these characters are given some of their own chances to shine in the numerous side-quests that players can tackle. These quests often provide much of the desperately needed character interactions that Cyberpunk 2077 needs, including a few romance options, and are often some of the zanier missions as they can freely explore just how strange life has become in this futuristic dystopia. These side-quests as well as collectible data-logs help fill in various lore gaps about the world that simply aren’t touched that well upon in the core story.
That being said, there is a certain character that does stand out as an exception from the rest and that is Johnny Silverhand who plays the key role of being the “Devil” on the player’s shoulder more often than not. Silverhand constantly chimes in regarding player choices in missions and can react positively or negatively to the way player’s choose to interact with some quests or characters and this does end up being one of the strongest points of Cyberpunk 2077 as a whole, bringing the quality of the core narrative up by a significant degree.
Gameplay
Once the player completes the prologue sequences, which serve to run them through most of the gameplay mechanics that players will be able to use to take on any given situation, they are given access to a small chunk of what eventually opens into the full massive map that is Night City. This map is filled with everything from main story quests, side-quests, smaller missions called “gigs,” criminal activity in progress, and more but players will need to be careful because every district has enemies at different strengths so it is entirely possible to head to a district to, let’s say track down an AWOL AI taxi, only to find an enemy capable of dropping V with a single shot sitting close by. It is worth noting that while missions do warn players of how strong enemies might be through a “danger” system and high level enemies do have skulls in their data, these often aren’t accurate.
Most missions and tasks in Cyberpunk 2077 offer players a number of different approaches when it comes to navigating through an area and completing their objective. In some areas there may be doors or shutters that can be brute forced open with enhanced strength or hacked with technical skill, giving players a stealthy backdoor into a hostile area. Other options for the same location may include smooth talking past a receptionist, paying “eurodollars” as a bribe,” hacking enemy vision or disabling security equipment from a distance, or if all else fails simply going in guns blazing.
The amount of options available to players is quite nice, though there are some balance issues when it comes to stealth and simply taking the violent route especially when one considers that, outside of occasionally providing a bit of extra dialogue, there is no reward for playing non-lethally. There is no karma system or even a reputation system for the various gang factions in the city outside of simple “Street Cred” that is awarded for defeating any enemy. In fact, a whole series of side missions that specifically requests players only knock out certain enemies in the world can be brutally taken down with any weapon and are still treated as unconscious. This means that players who want to sneak around, avoiding enemy vision cones and using V’s hacking abilities to limit what enemies can do have no real reason to do so other than to see how capable they’ve managed to become at stealth.
Actual combat works rather well with players being able to make use of a variety of firearms, most of which feature various futuristic elements such as homing bullets or ricocheting ammo, melee weapons that are about as straightforward as they come, and of course the various cybernetic enhancements they have equipped themselves with such as the incredibly powerful Mantis Blades. These augments come with a number of different abilities of their own and can have mods equipped to apply elemental damage for some extra oomph.
Exploring the world itself is a bit of a mixed bag primarily thanks to the fact that, while there are a number of unique districts to explore and tons of side-activities to take part in, most of the city is made up of locked doors and NPCs with generic dialogue with zero interaction. Oddly enough, even crime doesn’t pay in Night City as any killed civilians or police will not drop items when slain, even if doing so puts a temporary warrant on V’s head. Driving a standard vehicle is also clunky at its best though thankfully an easier to handle motorcycle is one of the first things V is provided with. Even exploring with enhanced augments such as double-jump can lead to more problems as the developers did not seem to think that players would use such abilities to try and explore rooftops as doing so often led to a forced reload once V either fell through the world or ended up stuck in a rooftop unable to move.
These types of bugs were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to my time with Cyberpunk 2077. Multiple times throughout the game there have been side-quests that have either failed to complete properly or failed to spawn enemies that must be defeated unless a previous save was reloaded. On one spectacular instance all enemies spawned in invisibly only to fire wildly around the rooms and, since players cannot save in combat, required a lengthy replay from the previous save file. Thankfully auto saves are made frequently by the game and players can quick save at a moment’s notice but this doesn’t stop the saves from corrupting entirely as was the case about ten hours into my time with Cyberpunk 2077, resulting in almost all of my saves being corrupted outside of a handful five hours prior. Other such glitches such as lootable items sinking straight into the ground, enemy AI glitching and standing still, cars spawning randomly, characters T-posing or sitting on invisible chairs, textures of the world and even the characters themselves flicker into random chrome colors, and these are only a few of the many that we’ve seen, not to mention crashing multiple times straight to the Xbox home screen. This means that those who want to see what Cyberpunk 2077 has to offer have to be prepared to save often or risk losing progress either glitched quests, bugs that may kill V suddenly or render her unable to advance, or worst of all, lose hours of progress should any type of corruption occur.
Visuals & Audio
When everything is working fine, Cyberpunk 2077 is an outstanding looking game with almost every aspect of the world dripping with futuristic aesthetics. Buildings are covered in bright holographic billboards advertising the latest augments, most firearms feature morphing animations the first time V equips them as they form to her hand, and almost every story character features some form of unique futuristic looking design though once again, vehicles do feel a bit on the weaker side when it comes to design. As mentioned before, this is only the case when everything is working fine players will likely run into many of the aforementioned problems as well as other issues such as witnessing strange vehicle pop-ins or the complete loss of texture for NPCs that can only be fixed by fast traveling.
The soundtrack for the game features a number of great pieces of music and players will have access to a large number of radio stations whenever they are driving in a vehicle though it may take some time to figure out just what type of genre each station plays due to their unusual naming conventions. As for the voice work CD Projekt Red has gone all out for the game’s signature character Johnny Silverhand as he is both modeled after and voiced by the famous actor Keanu Reeves. Reeves’ voice work for Johnny is top-notch and it is nice to note that every line in the game is voiced, even V’s dialogue choices, which is a nice touch, especially since the voice acting for most of the game’s story and side-quests are handled quite well. Of course, there is a caveat here that players will need to keep an eye on the game’s subtitles as quest dialogue can glitch out entirely with NPCs not actually speaking or having a random NPC or shopkeeper talking over them instead.
Overall
Cyberpunk 2077 has found itself in perhaps the worst situation a highly anticipated title can end up in. When everything is working the storyline is quite engaging and features plenty of enjoyable side-content that helps expand the world in a satisfying manner as players take down their foes with a wide-array of tools and options at their disposal. Unfortunately a lack of balance in combat can make certain elements feel unrewarding and as engaging as the story is, it is rather short as a whole should the player focus only on the core story path. When things aren’t working right, which is more often than not, players will experience hard crashes, buggy quests that require reloads, items vanishing from storage, frequent visual glitches, and many more issues that plague almost every element of the game. As a result it is clear that Cyberpunk 2077 can be a great game, perhaps not quite as extensive as some may have hoped, but that is only after it manages to clean itself up much like V can clean up the streets of Night City.
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