Summary
Naturally, setting plays a key role inCyberpunk 2077. Like with most of the cyberpunk subgenre, the gritty, technologically advanced world that the story takes place in is essentially just as important as the plot itself, but as a video game,Cyberpunk 2077offers several unique ways to interface with its high-tech, low-life backdrop. The game’s adherence to cyberpunk tropes is a big part of what makes it so special, and it will be interesting to see what its sequel does with the same broad concepts.
ExploringCyberpunk’s rendition of Night Cityis an arresting and complex experience. Through open-world discovery, side quests, and main story missions, players are able to dig through the flashy neon and overwhelming detritus of the ultramodern dystopia to find thoughtful meditations on the meaning of life, capitalism, ambition, and more. But perhaps no theme is more ripe for discussion than transhumanism, the idea that fundamental human characteristics can be called into question through technological augmentation. Transhumanism sits at the heart of so many cyberpunk stories, and while it crops up inCyberpunk 2077, it winds up taking a bit of a back seat. The sequel can move it to the front.
Cyberpunk 2077’s Sequel: Moving the Clock Forward
Project Orion Can Keep the ‘Cyberpunk,’ Drop the ‘2077’
The nextCyberpunk 2077, internally codenamedProject Orion, has loads of potential. Now that much of the controversy surroundingCyberpunk’s disastrous launch is in the rear view (though it has still left behind a bad taste for many early adopters), fans are ramping up their excitement about the upcoming successor, formulating theories about what it will be about, and what it may do differently from the ambitious title that came before it.
CD Projekt Red made fairly radical changes with each newWitchergame, so there’s reason to believe thatProject Orioncould be notably distinct from its predecessor.
Really, there’s no reason why the nextCyberpunkneeds to take place in the year 2077, and it could actually benefit from a leap forward in time.Cyberpunk 2077’s setting is stunningin an alien sort of way, just familiar enough to be recognizable as a modern city but mutated and transformed to the point of feeling surreal and uncanny. The sequel could keep Night City, but show the drastic, potentially devastating effects of rampant technological progress by jumping beyond 2077.
Cyberware, colloquially called “chrome,” is ubiquitous inCyberpunk 2077’s world. Just about everyone has some sort of technological enhancement, and while these upgrades can make life easier or more entertaining, they also have major drawbacks. Such drawbacks areexemplified byCyberpunk 2077’s cyberpsychos: chromed-out humans whose mental health slowly decays due to the detrimental impacts of cyberware on the nervous system. The lines can be blurred between true cyberpsychosis and the symptoms ofCyberpunk’s grotesque society, though—a radically modified character like Adam Smasher might not technically have cyberpsychosis, though he is still a sociopathic, bloodthirsty killer-for-hire, highlighting how this future rewards violence and a lack of empathy.
The realm of fundamental body augmentation has a lot of depth, andProject Orioncould plunge head-first into them by being set several years after the first game. The nextCyberpunkcould explore the darknessand existential quandries inherent in pervasive cyberware augmentation, giving players a glimpse into just how depraved the world can get when body modification escalates beyond just a couple prosthetic limbs or eye-scanners; the whole world could look like Adam Smasher or Lizzy Wizzy, a few decades past 2077. By depicting such a world,Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel may be better able to explore themes of transhumanism, and in a more refreshing, unique way.
Cyberpunk 2077
WHERE TO PLAY
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world action-adventure from the creators of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red.Set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification, you play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality.Upgraded with next-gen in mind and featuring free additional content, customize your character and playstyle as you take on jobs, build a reputation, and unlock upgrades.The relationships you forge and the choices you make will shape the story and the world around you. Legends are made here. What will yours be?
