Cyberpunk 2077 Summary
CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 is perhaps one of the most ambitious and immersive RPGs ever developed. Initially revealed shortly after the launch of The Witcher III, the title was surrounded by what can only be described as a fever pitch of hype and anticipation. Partially due to its release as a cross-gen title and the difficulties faced by the developers in achieving that goal, the game was notoriously released in a less-than-ideal state. Although critics showered the game with praise and claimed that the title mostly delivered on many of its promises, many players felt cheated.
Fast forward 3 years from its launch and Cyberpunk 2077 is in a much better state. Not only is the game more technically sound and patched to include several upgrades over the 1.0 launch, but public perception surrounding the game also continues to shift in its favor. After being flooded with negative reviews at launch, the title now sits at “Very Positive” on Steam. The first and only major DLC expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, Phantom Liberty, releases in just a few short weeks. In addition to expanding main character V’s adventures beyond the plot of the base game, Phantom Liberty looks to shake up the core experience in several ways.
Cyberpunk 2077 DLC – Phantom Liberty
Although Phantom Liberty is the one and only DLC coming to Cyberpunk 2077, the developers definitely seem to be taking the approach of “quality over quantity”. Rather than spread out resources across multiple DLC expansions, Phantom Liberty promises to be a massive addition to the game. Further, it’s aiming to incorporate decisions made from playthroughs of the main campaign, giving players a reason to not only replay the base game but also play through the DLC multiple times.
The core of Phantom Liberty is its narrative, which centers around a mystery and develops into a high-tech spy thriller. Not only will there be a whole new region of Night City to explore (dubbed Dogtown), there’s also a slew of new characters that the expansion will introduce. One of these new characters is Solomon Reed, voiced and featuring the likeness of much-loved actor Idris Elba. Beyond these narrative changes, Phantom Liberty promises to overhaul many of the game’s systems, including vehicular combat and cybernetic upgrades.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will release on September 25, 2023 and retails for $29.99. Notably, the expansion will only release for the next-gen and PC versions of Cyberpunk and will not be coming to PS4 and Xbox One. CD Projekt RED has also made a bundle available that packages the base game with the Phantom Liberty expansion for $55 USD.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Checklist
The DLC for Cyberpunk 2077 promises to be one of the more sizeable expansions to a major AAA release in recent memory. In addition to offering up plenty of new original content, the expansion makes major improvements to the core experience.
Locations
- Dogtown
- Heavy Hearts
- Stadium
- Black Market
Factions
- Barghest
- Federal Intelligence Agency
- MaxTac
- Militech
- NUSA
Items
- Errata – Iconic Tier 3 Katana
- Order – Iconic DB-2 Satara Double-Barrel Shotgun
- Warden – Smart Submachine Gun
- Unidentified Pistol
- Unidentified Revolver
Vehicles
- Quadra Sport R-7
- Quadra Sport R-7 “Vigilante”
- Unnamed hatchback
- Unnamed armored 4×4
- Various Thorton vehicles
- Kaukaz trucks
Characters
- Alena “Alex” Xenakis
- Ash
- Kurt Hansen
- Solomon Reed
- Songbird
- Stella Ramos
Changes to Cyberpunk 2077’s Gameplay
- 89.7 Growl FM — Radio station with 14 new tracks.
- New and overhauled skills
- New combat finisher mode
- New and overhauled cyberware, clothing, and weapons
Is the Phantom Liberty DLC Worth the Money?
Determining whether Phantom Liberty is worth your time and money boils down to how much you enjoyed the core Cyberpunk 2077 experience. If you were a fan of Cyberpunk 2077‘s campaign, there’s absolutely no reason to not pick up Phantom Liberty. Not only does this expansion add a ton of new content, it does so at a very reasonable price point. To sweeten the deal even further, those that have held off on playing Cyberpunk 2077 until it was in a better technical state have never had a better time to jump in than now. With the core experience and expansion bundle priced at $55 USD, you’re truly getting a bang for your buck.
One thing to note is that the changes to the gameplay and several of the new weapons implemented in the expansion will also make their way to the base game as part of a patch that will go live the same day as Phantom Liberty‘s launch. In other words, all the ways Phantom Liberty overhauls the core experience will be free to all players, regardless of owning the expansion. But, as someone who enjoyed playing Cyberpunk 2077 when it first launched (warts and all) and continues to play it today, Phantom Liberty is a day-one purchase.