Cyberpunk 2077

[Baryonyx]

This seems like it could be one of the best games of the new tide of titles arriving in the new generation. Not much has been said about it, other than that it will be a futuristic RPG experience that will realign perceptions of what Cyberpunk is all about (much like Steampunk, a phrase that could anyone off a game). However, it seems to have a lot going for it. The art direction looks fantastic; tinged with a little Blade Runner-esque Asian flavour, and a fairly bold visual style and colour palette that heavily references the neon tones of the 1980's. It's striking and looks fantastic.

The trailer is also causing a bit of a stir, and is a very good watch despite the rubbish soundtrack. I know the last game to make a splash with it's trailer was the fairly weak Dead Rising, but Cyberpunk 2077's developers say it will be out "when it's ready", so we shouldn't be getting anything sloppy and rushed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedd...


Very little has been said about it so far, and estimates for a release seem to suggest mid to late 2014. We'll see where this one goes...

[EDLT]

Worth noting that it is being made by the people who are making The Witcher 3 which is almost certainly going to be game of the year and will look absolutely stunning for people with nuclear powered PCs.

The Witcher 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpcjUkG2FI4

[Art0ir]

Trailer looks superb!

[Mr Whippy]

That trailer makes no sense to me.

High velocity rounds hitting woman breaks up on impact so a guy who is stood right next to a hail of high velocity rounds decides what looks like a shotgun type blast to the head will kill her? Why not just use the gun he is using and not shoot at her with the other guys? A distraction? Is she strong but stupid? Mentally unstable? What is going on? Why is it going on?

Why is she sat still, why did she let a man approach from behind to kill her, why are the police shooting at her with many rounds when one of their team is stood right behind her?


A load of nice art work but is the art direction really that good too?

It doesn't really look original at all to my eyes... even the opening shot starting on the eyes of the woman apes that of the opening on the eyes reflecting the city from the late 90's Blade Runner game somewhat.


It's a teaser that tells me nothing of the game. It sets a mood but that mood seems to be an amalgamation of lots of other ideas and nothing original in itself.


I know everything is inspired from something else but a LOT of modern games now seem to really struggle with a truly original concept.

That is perhaps because of the wide market these games are aiming for, too weird or wonderful might put people off?


Dave

[Art0ir]

Mr Whippy said:

That trailer makes no sense to me.

High velocity rounds hitting woman breaks up on impact so a guy who is stood right next to a hail of high velocity rounds decides what looks like a shotgun type blast to the head will kill her? Why not just use the gun he is using and not shoot at her with the other guys? A distraction? Is she strong but stupid? Mentally unstable? What is going on? Why is it going on?

Why is she sat still, why did she let a man approach from behind to kill her, why are the police shooting at her with many rounds when one of their team is stood right behind her?


A load of nice art work but is the art direction really that good too?

It doesn't really look original at all to my eyes... even the opening shot starting on the eyes of the woman apes that of the opening on the eyes reflecting the city from the late 90's Blade Runner game somewhat.


It's a teaser that tells me nothing of the game. It sets a mood but that mood seems to be an amalgamation of lots of other ideas and nothing original in itself.


I know everything is inspired from something else but a LOT of modern games now seem to really struggle with a truly original concept.

That is perhaps because of the wide market these games are aiming for, too weird or wonderful might put people off?


Dave

You are the sort of person I hate going to the cinema with

[Mr Whippy]

I'm generally fairly easy with films.


I just find art direction in games pretty weak. It's like the art directors have no imagination. It all looks consistent across the game no doubt, but there is rarely any real originality like we might see in a film.

I see reams of concept art but it's all looking almost like I could go find the same thing from an existing film or game as an example of the basis of the idea for almost anything these days.


They really need to invest more in originality.

There are occasional amazing original games but so many just borrow and copy from others it's not funny.


And it's not just in the creative concepts, but game play mechanics too.

Dave

[Baryonyx]

Art0ir said:

You are the sort of person I hate going to the cinema with

Usually the sort that stands alone at a bar and tries to strike up a dull conversation whilst you're ordering a pint, the sort everyone gives a wide berth lest they have to suffer the dullard!

[Mr Whippy]

Bah.

It's the video that was the dullard, which gave me time to ponder (in slow motion!) the whole point of that 'teaser'

If it was exciting I wouldn't have had brain time left to think about those things

Dave

[ImpossiblyDaft]

Mr Whippy said:

That trailer makes no sense to me.

High velocity rounds hitting woman breaks up on impact so a guy who is stood right next to a hail of high velocity rounds decides what looks like a shotgun type blast to the head will kill her? Why not just use the gun he is using and not shoot at her with the other guys? A distraction? Is she strong but stupid? Mentally unstable? What is going on? Why is it going on?

Why is she sat still, why did she let a man approach from behind to kill her, why are the police shooting at her with many rounds when one of their team is stood right behind her?


A load of nice art work but is the art direction really that good too?

It doesn't really look original at all to my eyes... even the opening shot starting on the eyes of the woman apes that of the opening on the eyes reflecting the city from the late 90's Blade Runner game somewhat.


It's a teaser that tells me nothing of the game. It sets a mood but that mood seems to be an amalgamation of lots of other ideas and nothing original in itself.


I know everything is inspired from something else but a LOT of modern games now seem to really struggle with a truly original concept.

That is perhaps because of the wide market these games are aiming for, too weird or wonderful might put people off?


Dave

It's based on a licence, so there's a limit to where they can go with it. The Cyberpunk boardgame series has been around since the '80s, hence why its all got a bit of that retro-future look to it.

As to the general point; It's just the result of it being a business, like Hollywood having a steady stream of template action movies and romcoms.

Most games publishing companies are publically listed and shareholders don't like risk. With development costs that can reach £50m, plus the additional marketing etc. costs that can double the expenses, there's no way that anything AAA is likely to be mould-breaking in terms of visual style, gameplay, or anything at all really.
I'm sure all the developers would like to do very different stuff, but they're working to very strict restrictions most of the time, so major releases are nearly always going to be "like x, but with y!" at best & most of the innovation coming from smaller projects outside of that system.

[dmulally]

Mr Whippy said:

That trailer makes no sense to me.

I'm not sure it is meant to. It is just a teaser trailer to show off pretty graphics. I know, I know...you don't find them that pretty.

I do.

[Mr Whippy]

Impossibly Daft, that seems to be the case I guess, that more and more we see companies playing it safe. It'd be interesting to see a big developer play it unsafe to see just what they could do!

Dmulally they visuals do look nice, but from what I can see it's just pre-rendered... are they simply teasing us with a visual style?

Dave

[dmulally]

Mr Whippy said:

Dmulally they visuals do look nice, but from what I can see it's just pre-rendered... are they simply teasing us with a visual style?

Dave

Almost certainly.

Out of nostalgia, I went back to revisit the graphics on Blade Runner from the late 90's. Doesn't look half bad.

[Mr Whippy]

Yeah the Blade Runner game was pretty good for the day. Maybe it's just nostalgia and my age at the time but the games really took a turn for the better in the 95 > 99 period imo across many genres.

[Baryonyx]

http://www.totalxbox.com/69925/cyberpunk-2077-defi...

Finally some information is starting to surface. It seems pleasing that it will be a proper RPG, my favourite! I think CDProjekt have also been quite canny with REDengine, if pitched right it could be a huge winner for them as Witcher 3 looks absolutely stunning, so I could imagine other developers wanting to use that as a platform for their own games.

Still, it's a long way off. Witcher 3 should pass the time nicely though. It looks set to be a real winner, whereas I thought Witcher 2 was pretty crap.

[dmulally]

Baryonyx said:

http://www.totalxbox.com/69925/cyberpunk-2077-defi...

Finally some information is starting to surface. It seems pleasing that it will be a proper RPG, my favourite! I think CDProjekt have also been quite canny with REDengine, if pitched right it could be a huge winner for them as Witcher 3 looks absolutely stunning, so I could imagine other developers wanting to use that as a platform for their own games.

Still, it's a long way off. Witcher 3 should pass the time nicely though. It looks set to be a real winner, whereas I thought Witcher 2 was pretty crap.

What didn't you like about Witcher 2? I really enjoyed it. I got stuck and other games took my eye but I have downloaded it in the xmas steam sale and wouldn't mind having another crack.

[Baryonyx]

dmulally said:

What didn't you like about Witcher 2? I really enjoyed it. I got stuck and other games took my eye but I have downloaded it in the xmas steam sale and wouldn't mind having another crack.

I've summarised it more eloquently in the past, but I didn't like the game because:

1) For a game about a monster hunter, there were very few monsters to hunt.

2) The story pacing was pretty poor, I felt like most of the game was spent wandering around that bloody army camp with nothing to do.

3) The combat mechanics weren't great and the potion brewing mechanic was a chore


I just found it pretty dull. The next one looks like a big step up!

[hairykrishna]

Mr Whippy said:

Is she strong but stupid? Mentally unstable? What is going on? Why is it going on?

The video makes a lot more sense to a Cyberpunk nerd who's played the roleplaying game...

She's mentally unstable. The Cyberpunk 2020 game it was based on had a concept called 'Cyberpsychosis'. Basically as people have more and more cybernetic enhancements added they get less and less empathatic towards other humans and can eventually go completely nuts. Sometimes subtly, sometimes in a 'smash all the meatbags' type of way. The millitary/police types in the video are the 'Psycho squad' - special police SWAT types who hunt down the flipped out cyberware types. The squads are often made up of people on the borderline of Cyberpsychosis themselves. His gun is a 'Militech Crusher' - a shotgun. In the Cyberpunk universe there is a wide variety of specialist anti cyborg loads for them, like high velocity Sabot rounds.

It's a really good setting. Very 80's, William Gibson inspired but with a lot of great fluff. I played the RPG for years.

Edited by hairykrishna on Monday 27th January 12:57

[Baryonyx]

Over a year on, but:

http://gamingbolt.com/cyberpunk-2077-is-still-unde...

I expect one The Witcher 3 is done and dealt with, things will start to happen apace with Cyberpunk. Don't keep us waiting too long...

[dmulally]

I'm not fussed that they are taking their time. The Witcher is nearly out and they have their heads screwed on.

Semi related but I watched a blue ray copy of Bladerunner not long ago. 10/10.

[Baryonyx]

It's going to be a long wait but...

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/05/27/cd-projekt-r...