It doesn’t take long to get a sense of how big Cyberpunk 2077 is. Once you click New Game, you’re given an extensive character builder that lets you customize V, the game’s main character, in innumerable ways. You’ll decide everything from eye shape to fingernail length and, as you’ve likely heard by now, penis size and pubic hair style.
The deep customization options foreshadow what’s to come: A huge world to explore, extensive roleplaying mechanics that let you choose how you navigate combat, and endless opportunities to shape how the story plays out.
Just like no two players are likely to design the same V, no two players will get the exact same Cyberpunk 2077 experience. Decisions you make will change how missions operate, how characters treat you and how the game ends.
But while the particulars may differ, the millions who pick up the long-awaited game on Thursday will all get the same meticulously realized playground in Night City, one so expansive you could play until actual 2077 and still probably not see everything.
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First revealed in 2013 by CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077 brings a launch fueled by an enormous amount of hype. But the past few months have seen the game beset by delays and reports of crunch, leading some to worry that the game is too big and ambitious for CD Projekt Red to handle.
Those concerns can be forgotten. Not only is Cyberpunk 2077 real, it’s exactly what fans expected it would be.
Note: I’ve played about 35 hours of the game at the time of writing this review. I’ll be sinking more time into side quests — and to just hanging out in Night City — over the next few days, and will update this article as I see more of the game,.
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Welcome to Cyberpunk 2077
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‘You’re breathtaking’
If there is one aspect of Cyberpunk 2077 that’s better than what I expected, it’s the story.
You play as V, a human mercenary augmented with robotic cyberware. The game’s opening mission has you heisting a prototype immortality chip from one of the megacorporations that inhabits Night City. You end up keeping the chip safe by inserting it into your cyberware, only to discover it’s loaded with the personality of Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves), a rebellious mercenary who died in a blaze of glory 50 years ago. Oh, you also find out the chip has meshed with your nervous system, so you can’t take it out, and that Silverhand’s consciousness will eventually overtake yours, meaning your body will live on but not your mind, soul or spirit.
Damn computers.
The main quest is all about finding a way to survive and rid yourself of Silverhand while simultaneously interacting with him and learning about his past. You may play as V, but V and Silverhand are essentially dual protagonists. This is one of the story’s biggest strengths: Silverhand gives the narrative a welcome focus.
A problem typical of massive open world games like Cyberpunk is that it’s difficult for developers to write interesting plots and complex characters around a user-created protagonist. Surrounding characters end up being one-dimensional by default since they need to fit around whatever personality you choose for your character, and writers don’t have the luxury of controlling your personality and tailoring relationships to it.
CD Projekt Red/Screenshot by Dan Van Boom/CNET
Some of the downsides of “choose your own adventure” storytelling remain here — many of the people you interact with have the depth of a cardboard cutout. But V’s relationship with the captivating Silverhand is a consistent highlight, and one that shines brighter the closer you get to the game’s finale.
Which brings me to a major twist: I first saw the credits of Cyberpunk 2077 roll after about 26 hours of gameplay. I spent around 85% of my time to that point on the main quest line, so you could probably see an ending in 20 hours if you rush it. After early reports about the game’s length, this was surprise.
But I say “an” ending because Cyberpunk 2077 has many of them. I clearly got a “bad” ending, one that couldn’t have screamed “play more side quests and redo the last mission” any louder if it tried.
It’s clearly a strategic decision. One of the game’s designers noted that Cyberpunk’s main quest was made shorter than the Witcher 3’s because many of that game’s players never actually hung in there long enough to finish it. Many of the side quests in Cyberpunk feel just as consequential as “main” quests as a result, but the upside is that the key story never gets too unwieldy.
Heart of the City
While you can technically finish the game in just over 20 hours, don’t let that make you think Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t gigantic. I suspect you could spend well over 100 quality hours exploring Night City and dealing with the people that inhabit it. (It was widely reported recently that a CD Projekt developer had spent over 175 hours in one game without finishing the story.)
The game regularly encourages you to diverge from the main story, inviting you to pursue side quests or partake in undefined adventures. It’s good advice, since some of the most fun I’ve had thus far is in doing side quests: One favorite involves chasing down seven AI-powered cabs gone rogue, a quest that involves creative gameplay but also legitimately funny writing.
V’s gigs on the side are varied. Some feel like lite versions of main quests, others, like those focused on street racing or boxing, become mini games themselves.
The game is brimming with things to do — sometimes to a fault. You’ll get texts from characters offering you jobs while you’re in the middle of important conversations. Sometimes you’ll want to treat Night City as a sandbox and have a play, but you’ll be badgered by phone calls from people seeking your help or offering you a new car to buy. At times Cyberpunk smothers you.
It’s OK, though, because all the activity serves to animate Night City. Johnny Silverhand may be breathtaking, but Night City is the true star here. It’s made up of seven districts, each with a distinct design and backstory. Roaming the streets are several different gangs. Exerting pressure from above are several different megacorporations with their own private armies.
Cyberpunk 2077 is not glitch free, but most of the issues are benign — like these two cars that were stuck together.
CD Projekt Red/Screenshot by Dan Van Boom/CNET
There’s a great deal of lore surrounding Night City (on how the US government crumbled, and how megacorporations picked up the pieces) but most of it is communicated unimaginatively through text files you pickup as loot. The history that precedes 2077 is fascinating, but you’ll have to go out of your way, and have a high tolerance for reading long in-game text files, to learn about it.
Instead, it’s the artistic design of the city itself that makes Night City irresistible: The imposing skyscrapers that populate the City Center, the rust of the abandoned resort town Pacifica, the blue and pink neon that illuminates Japantown, the polluted plains of the Badlands. Drugs and violence mar all but the most affluent corners of Night City, but there’s plenty to wonder over in this dystopia.
It’s an exceptionally beautiful game. Running the PC game in 4K on a high-end ROG Strix monitor, I often found myself stopping to take in a vista (often while driving, imperiling my fellow motorists), to admire the detail on a character model or how nearby neon light reflects off pavement and people. Combat is filled with gruesome detail, as when limbs fly and blood gushes following a grenade explosion or katana slice.
Cyberpunk 2077 is not glitch free, but most of the issues are benign, like a floating cigarette appearing in front of a speaking character, or two cars stuck together. Only rarely did glitches cause a real problem (in two cases I had to restart the game because a mission wouldn’t progress). Additionally, CD Projekt Red says a new patch is coming in the following days, so some of these may be fixed by Dec. 10.
Play your way
Your preferences will dictate how Cyberpunk’s story unfolds, and at what pace, but perhaps more significant is how the game lets you tailor combat to your style of play. Not only can you choose to be a brute or a sleuth, you can choose which specific type of brute or sleuth you want to be.
Let’s say you want to bring the noise. You can choose to specialize in guns, melee items like swords or plain-old fisticuffs. If you’re more about stealth, you can dispatch foes with silent takedowns, poison, throwing knives and gadgets you can hack to distract and harm enemies with.
This is achieved through the game’s deep roleplaying roots. Trailers for Cyberpunk may make it out to be a high-octane action thriller, and in some ways it is. But it’s also a menu-heavy RPG.
Players distribute points to six different attributes: Body, Intelligence, Reflex, Technical Ability and Cool. Each attribute affects how your character navigates the world. Get enough Body points, and you’ll be able to break through certain locked doors, for instance.
CD Projekt Red
Leveling up gives the ability to boost these particular attributes, and also lets you unlock perks within each attribute. Not only that, but perks are divided into classes, like how Body perks are split between Athletics, Annihilation and Street Brawler. You’ll also be able to customize weapons according to play style, as well as your body itself via cyberware modifications.
As with everything in Cyberpunk, it’s obvious that an enormous amount of thought, time and effort went into this role-specializing system. But like many things in such a big game, it’s not obvious how players will take advantage of it. Specializing in a role isn’t necessary if you’re playing on regular difficulty, as I did. I spent the bulk of the game focusing on sniping and using katanas as a backup, and with minimal thought put into which attributes I leveled up and which perks I unlocked. The result was a game that’s not easy, but rarely difficult.
All of which means that, for many players, utilizing particular roles will be entirely voluntary, since basic running and gunning will be successful enough. But it does give you room for flexibility and experimentation. I suspect that polling 10 Cyberpunk 2077 players will yield seven or eight different combat play styles, and that your friends will dispatch foes in ways you never even thought of.
Believe the hype
Plenty of gamers will find Cyberpunk too much. It has a slow start — you’ll play for about four hours before even seeing the “Cyberpunk 2077” title screen — and sometimes the main story moves at too slow a pace. Additionally, the roleplaying elements allow for varied combat, but some may find them needlessly complex, or simply overwhelming. (The features I’ve noted above are truly just the beginning.)
A lot of people don’t want to spend 50 hours playing one game, much less 200 hours to 100% it, and would rather a more linear, streamlined experience. Even with its shorter main quest, Cyberpunk is unlikely to sustain this type of player from start to end.
But Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t designed for that type of player. Anyone who’s followed the game knows what they’re in for. Players keen for a world to get lost in, a game to sink untold hours into, will be satiated by Cyberpunk 2077.
“We want Cyberpunk 2077 to be our crowning achievement for this generation,” said CD Projekt Red bosses when they delayed the game from April 10 to Sept. 17. The studio failed to reach the Sept. 17 deadline, but Cyberpunk as its crowning achievement? Mission accomplished.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.
The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.
There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.
Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.
“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”
Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.
“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.
But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.
