Daily Archives: July 19, 2023

Its taken some time, but it finally happened. More than two years after its initial release, Cyberpunk 2077 has finally earned a very positive overall review rating on Steam. Who'd have seen that coming in December 2020?

Cyberpunk 2077 has gone down in history for having one of the worst video game releases of all time. Gamers overwhelming hype for CD Projekt Reds open-world RPG set them up for disappointment - the bugs, glitches and performance issues (especially on Xbox One and PS4) were horrendous. Since then though, numerous updates and patches have been rolled out to transform Cyberpunk 2077 into the title it always should have been, and even though its taken a while, gamers now truly recognise it for what it is - a genuinely great game.

Take a look at the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077s DLC expansion, Phantom Liberty, right here.

CD Projekt Reds global community director, Marcin Momot, responded to the news, and tweeted: Cyberpunk 2077 Steam reviews are now sitting at Very Positive with 80% of all scores being favourable. Thank you all for acknowledging all the hard work the team has put in over the years since the release!

As PC Gamer reports, it should be noted that this very positive rating only shows on Steam if your settings exclude off-topic reviews. Basically, Valve labels some ratings, which it deems to be the result of review-bombing, to be off-topic. If you discount those (which Steam automatically does on the store page if youre not logged in) then the very positive rating is what youll see. Otherwise, it still shows as mostly positive.

The release of Cyberpunk 2077s one and only DLC expansion, Phantom Liberty, is right around the corner. Its set to launch exclusively on PC and new-gen consoles (sorry, PS4 and Xbox One folks) on 26 September.

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Cyberpunk 2077 finally has 'very positive' rating on Steam, 2 years later - GAMINGbible

Over the past two years, one game has made a prominent mark with many gamers, be it for good reasons or bad. Cyberpunk 2077 is still rather important with fans to this day, and many are looking forward to the upcoming Phantom Liberty DLC expansion. As it takes the protagonist V into a new espionage-based storyline, there's lots to excite players from the potential for more action-packed sequences, important choices, and even a new ending for the base Cyberpunk 2077 game that can only be earned through playing the DLC in full.

However, even though Phantom Liberty has earned its place among one of 2023's most anticipated titles despite only being an expansion pack to a game that was released in 2020, the spy-thriller adventure is the only one of its kind for CD Projekt Red's open-world RPG. It begs the question as to why this is, as things are looking up for Cyberpunk 2077 as of late after an incredible rough start. However, the state of the game at launch is most likely exactly why CD Projekt Red chose to look ahead instead of looking back.

RELATED: Future Cyberpunk, Witcher Games May Have Multiplayer Elements

Truthfully, a big reason why Cyberpunk has remained a topic among gamers ever since it was released is due to how it was one of the most highly anticipated games in 2020 that ended up launching in an abysmal state. There were so many bugs and glitches that were both game-breaking and antithetical to the game, like the unlimited money glitches Cyberpunk 2077 fans quickly found, that analysts believe that the poor final product led to CD Projekt Red losing a little under 500,000 sales in refunds like those issued through the PS Store.

Ever since CP 2077 was launched, CD Projekt Red focused on damage control, developing patches, updates, and even smaller DLC packs that gave players something to enjoy while the studio focused on fixing the game's overall performance. Now, two and a half years after Cyberpunk 2077 first launched, many believe the RPG to be in a better state to where it's worth picking up, which plays into why the Phantom Liberty DLC is so hotly anticipated. However, 2077 is still far from perfect, and having Phantom Liberty be its swansong is ultimately beneficial.

There's only so much CD Projekt Red can do for Cyberpunk after its main development cycle has finished. While what has been done is impressive, there are still some issues that will always linger as they require more time and effort to fix. As a result, it's better overall to move on from an improved Cyberpunk 2077 and take what mistakes were made into consideration for the Cyberpunk sequel currently in development. The only way to do that is to let go of CP 2077 with a proper send-off that will get fans, and the developers, excited for what's to come next.

Phantom Liberty is likely being made with this as one of its specific purposes. When attendees go to try out Phantom Liberty at Summer Game Fest's Play Days event, some thought that the DLC managed to finally hit what Cyberpunk 2077 dreamed of being back when it first launched. Requested changes such as a complete overhaul of the police system in the game will be added as well. If the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC manages to stick the landing with all of its promises and live up to its hype with players, then it would be the finishing touches that the RPG needs before both fans and developers are able to move on to different things.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches on September 26, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Every Celeb Character Confirmed for Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty DLC So Far

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Why Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Being the Only DLC is For the Best - GameRant

Johnny Silverhand, the cybernetic rocker bad boy played by Keanu Reeves won the hearts of Cyberpunk fanbase with his charisma and sorted past. While his first appearance in Cyberpunk 2077 is hostile and antagonistic, he eventually warms himself to the main character V as well as the player.

Related: Best Cyberpunk Games

As the two characters work together on missions and confront the Corpo overlords of Night City the players learn more about Silverhands motivations and beliefs but not all the interesting information is well-known to the fans. Johnny Silverhands origins are only briefly discussed in Cyberpunks main story. Of course, fans can find shards of information that go into the lore more in-depth, but most fans dont know much about where Silverhand comes from or how he became the legendary rebel rocker boy of 2077.

In the aftermath of the war, many American soldiers deserted or rebelled against the corruption of the American government, Johnny being one of them. After his desertion, he fled to Night City where founded his band Samurai, and left the name Robert John Lindre behind to become the infamous Johnny Silverhand.

It is this chapter of his life that he reflects on with V in the run-down motel during the main quest line. Johnny talks about his time in the army briefly and tells the story of how he lost his best friend in the war as well as his arm. Johnny then gives V the dog tags of this supposed best friend as proof of his loyalty to V going forward. Most players will have found this to be an honest and connecting moment between the two characters as Silverhand seemingly lays everything out on the table. This is not the case however and probably goes by most players unnoticed as the tags Silverhand gives to V are actually his own. They have the name of Robert John Lindre, of course, both the players and V are unaware of this.

Throughout the main storyline, the player is confronted with Johnny Silverhands past as he and Vs memories are intertwined due to their shared consciousness. There are two flashback missions that put the player in the role of Johnny Silverhand, the first being in 2023 and the second being in 2013. Most players will take these missions at face value and that it is a verbatim retelling of the actual events. However, this is not the case and on further inspection, the players can discover that these events are far from the truth of what actually happened.

Related: Cyberpunk 2077s Phantom Liberty DLC Will Be at Summer Game Fest

The first flashback in Cyberpunk as well as Johnnys introduction into the story is the more inaccurate of the two and is actually almost completely false. While yes Johnny Silverhand was indeed a part of the assault team on Arasaka in 2023, but he was never the leader. The role that Silverhand plays in the mission was actually Morgan Blackhands, another Night City legend that is frequently mentioned throughout the game and who is completely omitted from Johnnys flashback.

Perhaps the largest lie the players are told is Johnny Silverhands death. In reality Johnny never made it back to the rooftop to have a showdown with Adam Smasher, he actually died on their first encounter. This rivalry between Smasher and Silverhand is also played up by the retelling but in actuality they had little to no interaction before this event.

It's here as well that Johnny replaces Morgan Blackhand in the real events. Blackhand and Smasher had been rivals for years, and it was these two that actually had the showdown on the rooftop. In truth Smasher thought very little of Johnny in 2023 and actually killed the rocker boy quite easily before he was able to escape to the rooftop.

The second flashback in 2013 of Johnny going on a mission to save Alt Cunningham with Rogue and Thompson is mostly true. However, there is a scene at the end of the mission where a grief-stricken Johnny Silverhand beats Thompson in a fit of rage over the loss of Alt. Silverhand claims to V that this incident soured their relationship and that they never worked together again. This is a lie however as his voice can be heard on the comms during the 2023 flashback as well.

The main reason for these changes in Johnnys memories could be due to Arasaka's meddling. Silverhands engram had been in Corpo control for fifty years and was most likely tampered with. Arasaka is a shady and manipulative organization after all and would have reasons to suppress knowledge and hide certain information. The other reason for these changes is revealed by Alt Cunningham later in the story. She points out that what the players witness is a retelling of Johnnys subjective point of view and not the actual truth. Johnny, like all people, omits certain details and lies about past actions. He lies to V as he does to himself.

While Johnny Silverhand is an amazing character that grows an epic bond with V throughout the story of Cyberpunk, most fans are unaware of his true past. While he is a great companion and gives advice to V and the players, he still occasionally lies or at least has the wrong information. In any case, these are things that most people did not know about the legendary rocker boy.

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Cyberpunk 2077: Things You Never Knew About Johnny Silverhand - GameRant

Youve got to love the aesthetics of dystopian cyberpunk video games, where all the technology looks like its cobbled together from cast-off bits of the old worlds remains. Kudos go to those who attempt to recreate these virtual props and bring them into the real world, but our highest praise goes to those who not only make a game-realistic version of a prop, but make it actually work.

Take the Nokota Manufacturing radio from Cyberpunk 2077, for instance. [Taylor] took one look at that and knew it would be the perfect vessel for a Baofeng UV-5R, the dual-band transceiver that amateur radio operators love to hate. The idea is to strip the PCB out of a Baofeng no worries, the things cost like $25 and install it in a game-accurate 3D printed case. But this is far from just a case mod, since [Taylor]s goal is to replace the radios original controls with something closer to whats in the game.

To that end, [Taylor] is spinning up an interface to the stock radios keypad using some 7400-series bilateral analog switches. Hooked to the keypad contacts and controlled by a Mini MEGA 2560 microcontroller, the interface is able to send macros that imitate the keypresses necessary to change frequencies and control the radios settings, plus display the results on the yellow OLED screen that seems a dead-ringer for the in-game display. The video below shows some early testing of the interface.

While very much still a work in progress, weve been following [Taylor]s project for a week or so and hes really gaining some ground. Weve encouraged him to enter this one in the Cyberdeck Challenge weve got going on now; it might not have much deck going for it, but it sure does have a lot of cyber.

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Bringing A Baofeng Into The Cyberpunk 2077 Universe - Hackaday