Remember Christmas 2020? The world had seemingly changed forever and students were making every effort to ensure they could return home, but one thing for gamers brought excitement – a game announced in 2013, finally launching after numerous delays. Cyberpunk 2077 was a Christmas hit. After hearing issues plagued the game, on Boxing Day I wearily installed it. I thought, surely it can’t be as bad as people are saying – and I had the benefit of an Xbox One X (like the PS4 Pro). Nonetheless, it really was that bad.
After struggling through around 10 hours of gameplay, with more glitches, framerate dips, and crashes than I care to remember, I decided I’d wait until the game was fixed. Patches came and went but the game still struggled to meet any performance expectations. What’s worse is people who had good experiences, exclaimed that it was an amazing game. I eventually upgraded to an Xbox Series X in the summer of 2021 and still had issues.
On February 15th, 2022, Cyberpunk 2077 received patch 1.5 on all platforms. Effectively relaunching in spectacular fashion. Cyberpunk now works– a far cry from launch. Patch 1.5 includes many changes, which you can see here.
Highlights include:
- Next-Gen exclusives
- Ray-traced shadows
- Console graphics modes– performance mode (4K 60 FPS) and ray tracing mode (30 FPS with dynamic 4K)
- Xbox Series S is currently locked at 30 FPS with dynamic 1440p resolution
- PS5 spatial audio, adaptive trigger support and controller speaker support
- Additional content and fixes for all platforms
- New apartments, with customisation of the first apartment
- Appearance customisation through apartments
- Natural NPC reactions to combat and player actions
- Improved combat animations
- Improved driving mechanics, burnouts included
- Realistic traffic behaviour, especially when reacting to the player
- An improved economy – pricing and mission rewards
- An overhauled perk system – new perks with some old ones removed
- The ability to hide from the police
- Increased visual effects
- cars no longer spawn on top of each other when requested and other bug fixes
- Throwing knives are recovered over time instead of one-use
- Improved UI and maps
- Improved romances with characters – new messaging and interactions
- The ability to refuse non-essential calls
- Natural weather cycles
- A reduction in loot clutter
Graphically, it looks amazing now, with ray tracing and higher frame rates to toggle. Additionally, new apartments, NPC reactions, improved combat, driving, and realistic traffic brings credibility. Improved romances, natural weather cycles, and the ability to refuse calls also add to the world.
The list is almost endless and CD Projekt Red indicate there are too many to note. Some highlights not included but recently discovered are the fact NPCs will now use umbrellas when it rains. Additionally, traffic will stop for civilians using zebra crossings.
Of course, everyone will have unique experiences, but overall, the game is noticeably improved. I now feel I can look past minor glitches because underneath it all is a fantastic game. I have played a further 15 hours since the patch, with just two ‘glitches’ – my aiming causing the gun to fill the whole screen with its body, and enemies teleporting across the room temporarily during combat. Both issues were solved by reloading a save.
Now when I hear the phrase ‘Good morning Night City!’ upon booting the game I no longer feel like I am entering a disappointing mess of a game, but a living and breathing world, like the one we were promised in 2013. And whilst we’re not quite there yet, the game has come along significantly. Cyberpunk 2077 is available on all major platforms and in many cases is selling at a much-reduced price – I cannot recommend it (from my Xbox Series X perspective) enough.