Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

If you are in market for a classic spy thriller action flick, story line of this DLC should scratch that itch. It has compelling narrative, good characters. So why only 3 stars? Well, because CDPR obviously wanted Phantom Liberty to be everything (Metal Gear, Call of Duty, Hitman, all at once), and to do that, they had to sacrifice some core values and flexibility of their RPG. It doesn't matter which way your V is specced, here is a forced fight. Here is a forced stealth section. Here is a forced spy mini game. Without the possibility to save... To be fair, none of these are hard blocks if you complete them in a way developer didn't intend you to, but you will be scolded by the characters and it just doesn't click with the rest of the game. The rest of the DLC is pretty good, as it has new content besides the story, like weapons, cars, Dogtown location, etc. There's nothing here that you wouldn't have already seen elsewhere, and the bulk of positive (and negative) changes to the game has already been done by the 2.0 update itself, you don't need PL to experience or enjoy it. Buy on sale, or feel safe to ignore this.

During my 100+ hours with the game i never bothered with stealth. Go in guns blazing, bullets, grenades and body parts fly everywhere...and i loved it. And suddenly they go and pull the good old bait-and-switch and thrust me in a situation where i have to rely on stealth to survive? On a skill i never bothered with? On a skill i actively ignored before? The one i don't have equipment or implants for? In a game that always gave you choice to play your way? Sorry, if i wanted to spend my time playing hide-and-seek with the invincible enemies that one-shot you, i would've picked Alien Isolation. And it feels like a bad design decision, to be honest.

I'd like to start by saying I consider myself a huge fan of the base Cyberpunk 2077 game. While the game was under attack from pretty much every front, general consensus being "game bad", I played it day one and quickly fell in love with it. I believe it's an improtant tidbit before the things I'm about to write. I have two main issues with this DLC. In a vacuum "Phantom Liberty" is not a bad game, far from it. The story is well written and gripping, the characters are interesting, it definitely delivers on the "spy-thriller" promise. But here's where the first issue rears its head. It's not a vacuum, it is a Cyberpunk 2077 DLC, and as such feels incredibly out of place. The tonal change is so jarring, you'd be excused for thinking you're playing a different game. While in Cyberpunk you're put in shoes of a mostly regular person trying to survive, in Phantom Liberty you'll be playing a secret spy tasked with saving the president and stopping a war outbreak. It's honestly ridiculous. The characters, while well written, lack the human factor and approachability that made the original cast so memorable. Which brings me to the 2nd point, and it's the more important one. PL is the first and last DLC for Cyberpunk, making it essentially the send-off for V and the cast. And dear God, what a massive middle finger it is. People who fell in love with the original game, despite it's many flaws, did so mainly because of the story and the characters. Yet Phantom Liberty chose to practically ignore the base game, giving barely a mention in the new ending. I mean, Panam gets 9 voiced lines. Nine. Fucking. Lines. On the holo no less, and she's absent from said ending. This truly feels like the devs abandoning Cyberpunk 2077 to serve a disconnected story and show off the 2nd big actor they managed to get. So if this is the send-off we get after 3 years, I only have two words for you. Bet you can guess them.

So, there's some great stuff in here. Acting is good, there are some breathtaking locations, and Mr. Hands? Wonderful. The writing is middle fo the road Cyberpunk 2077, not great, but some nice moments. There's some neat consequence where V can point out they're the one that did (blank) so are you sure you want to mess with them. That's interesting. But then the gameplay happens. I started the DLC at level 46 and pretty heavily kitted out. I was a monster, and it often felt like it, but then there's all the instant kills and nonsense scripted sequences. Hope you like jump puzzles and scripted "run from/fight the giant thing" segments, complete with QTEs, because that's your first couple hours! Hope you like swimming around in a flooded tunnel with no map and no waypoints! I heard you like Alien Isolation, so here's a level from Alien Isolation, complete with tail through your chest insta-kills! Against someone who's been tanking missiles and getting run through with mantis blades and laughing for about the last 40 hours of gameplay. Second heart? Nope. Sneaking? It just drops from the ceiling. Running? It's faster than you. Now, these can work in games built around them, but CP2077 has its own gameplay loop, and changing the loop entirely simply doesn't work. A:I worked because you learned the world and its rules before the merciless killing machine showed up. Here? Doors randomly lock behind you, there's no visual language to warn you about situations, and every single gameplay mechanic you've learned and built around is discarded. This doesn't work. There's plenty to love here, but it's marred by terrible gameplay decisions and moments that feel good for a time, but lead nowhere. Seriously, was anyone asking for more instant death, jump puzzles, and scripted battles? Like why give me the ability to hack cars if every chase has quickhacks blocked? Just baffling gameplay decisions.