‘Cyberpunk 2077’ release date: Players can apparently influence unfolding cut-scenes

“Cyberpunk 2077” has been created as a first-person shooter and that decision has led to some criticism from the gaming community. Accusations have been thrown on CD Projekt Red’s feet that they went this route to save money or they simply didn’t have the time to create a third-person perspective.

Both assumptions are wrong. Creating “Cyberpunk 2077” in third-person or first-person poses a challenge of their own, with both consuming equal time and money.

So what’s the reason behind this decision? The “Cyberpunk 2077” developers summed it up in one word: immersion.

Cyberpunk 2077 cut-scenes can be interrupted

To dive deeper into this, the team wants the game to pull players in and keep them there. This is why “Cyberpunk 2077” has been built to have a seamless transition between cut-scenes and real-time gameplay.

What’s more, players actually have the option to interrupt an unfolding cut-scene, by say, pulling out a gun and putting a bullet in someone’s head. Such decisions in “Cyberpunk 2077” can have dire consequences and will be affecting the game story in the long run. In “The Witcher 3,” players can still participate in some cut-scenes, but they’ll only be reacting once the game gives them that option.

This isn’t the case for “Cyberpunk 2077.” If you changed your mind and wants to alter the deal, you are free to do so. Suffice to say that CD Projekt Red’s vision is quite ambitious, especially since this sort of approach hasn’t been done in the gaming industry before. Or at least, hasn’t been done on this scale.

Cyberpunk 2077 FPP may negatively impact the game’s emotional payout

Level designer Max Pears sat down with VGC during the Tokyo Games Show 2019 and said that once players get a hold of the game, they’ll understand why they’ve made “Cyberpunk 2077” in the first-person view. One of the concerns, of course, is how this decision will impact a story.

Specifically, the emotional journey that V will go through as the story progresses. In other games, a player can really connect with the main protagonist by having them see what sort of emotions they’re displaying. That’s not possible in “Cyberpunk 2077” since, as the developers claim, everything will be in first-person, including the cut-scenes. And yes, even the raunchy ones too.

Others are willing to cut the team some slack due to their reputation. CD Projekt Red has always prided itself as a studio that pushes the boundary of games forward, especially as a story-telling medium. One thing is certain, however. “Cyberpunk 2077” is in a position to change the RPG genre. Whether that’s going to be positively or negatively remains to be seen. We’ll just have to wait until April 16, 2020, to find out.