The letter to players (signed jointly by big cheeses Marcin Iwínsky, Adam Kiciński, Adam Badowski, Michał Nowakowski, Piotr Nielubowicz, and Piotr Karwoski) opens by “apologising to you for not showing the game on base last-gen console before it premiered and, in consequence, not allowing you to make a more informed decision about your purchase.” I’d argue they didn’t show the state of the game on any platform, really. So yeah, big patches coming on Xbone and PS4. Wait, hang on, down at the bottom is the bit relevant to us: “P.S. PC gamers will also be getting regular updates and fixes improving the game.” Pre-release reviews called Cyberpunk buggy, it launched with bugs from crashes to penises flopping out trousers, and a hotfix on Friday only addressed a few issues. Still a whole lot of jank going on. As I say, I’ve been lucky to avoid crashes or broken quests, but every turn brings me one glitch or another. In one big story cutscene, a character who went to remove a computer chip from the slot in their skull actually pulled out an entire handgun. My own gun has turned invisible. I have walked across pipes and been launched 300 metres. I had a fight with enemies emerging from the middle of a stairway. I see NPCs brush past bin bags which jitter then burst. I shot someone’s head off only to find their eyebrows and eyeliner hovering where their face once was. Or Johnny Silverhand will leave duplicate cigarettes hanging in mid-air as he smokes. And I will inevitably struggle to pick up items that are right there, V, right chuffing there, just pick it up. Or don’t, because the UI notification might stay up forever. There are so many more issues than I can mention. As much as I’m enjoying my time in Night City, I can’t play one minute without bugs popping up. Beyond bug fixes, I could draw a long wishlist for feature overhauls and additions. Car AI which actually knows how to drive, not mindlessly follow paths and sit staring at obstacles. A hairdresser. Crafting that’s less of a chuffing chore. Police who don’t magically teleport in. Crowds that don’t vanish the second I turn my head. Some form of transmogrification so V doesn’t end up dressed like she got dragged backwards through a jumble sale. Cyberpunk 2077 is a vast open-world game so some bugginess is inevitable but I am surprised that after so many years of work and already so many delays, CDPR chose to launch it in this state. I wouldn’t have minded another delay if it meant I could enjoy the game as what it intends to be, not despite what it accidentally is.
