Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Review – So Long, Night City

CD Projekt Red’s updates have been critical since Cyberpunk 2077 was launched in 2020. The free Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty are the biggest. This expansion replaces Cyberpunk’s high-octane mercenary-like vibe with a much more subtle spy thriller. Night City is now a much richer experience. It features an impressive cast of characters, many of which are well performed, even though some may be underused. The added Dogtown area is a great place to meet new characters and do different jobs. Phantom Liberty feels unique due to a few narrative twists, as well as mechanical ones, within Cyberpunk 2077’s broader range of stories.

Phantom Liberty has added a new ending that is incredibly emotional and captures all the elements of this cyberpunk genre. 

Songbird contacts V after Rosalind, the president of New United States of America crashes in Dogtown of Night City. She wants V to save Rosalind. Dogtown will be controlled by Kurt Hansen. He is a former NUSA general with close ties to Myers’ operation. His private army also controls Dogtown. Myers wants you to help Solomon Reed, an ex-NUSA spy played IdrisElba. The spy web of the Phantom Liberty expansion is quickly spun, given their connection, Reed’s knowledge about Hansen and Myers’ relationship with him, as well as their familiarity with Hansen and other characters. 

It was a web of twists, surprises and unexpected turns that I had expected from a thriller. While I rarely got completely caught off-guard, I did enjoy following the various paths. Phantom Liberty was more enjoyable because of the gameplay than the story beats. Phantom Liberty isn’t a game that forces you into a particular gameplay style, but the new weapons and techniques it introduces will encourage you to be stealthy. 

It was great to use a silent pistol as a primary tool for avoiding enemy eyesight and cover. Even more, I enjoyed secretly questioning subjects to then be able to become them with special masking technologies. Phantom Liberty succeeds most when it fully embraces the “spy” part of its pitch. 

Phantom Liberty’s spy element lends itself to roleplaying well. Although the set-piece shootings were memorable, the moments I spent playing roulette and observing a person’s character, or guiding Reed into a hideout infested with enemies through the eyes of a spy, will remain most vivid. 

In addition to my spying adventures, I thoroughly enjoyed Phantom Liberty’s side missions, which included delivering cars, airdropping packages with valuable loot or interacting with Night City residents. The fact that all this and the majority of the story is located in the Dogtown district which mixes Vegas style cheap luxury with vertical shanty towns is also a plus. 

Phantom Liberty’s pace was sometimes hampered by artificial padding. For example, waiting for Reed to dial V took a while. But it pushed me into exploring more of Phantom Liberty’s other side-content (which is probably what the game wanted). The expansion’s side offerings were so interesting that I was eager to explore them all. 007The following are some examples of how to use Mission: Impossible movie starring V. 

Phantom Liberty’s new and extended narrative ending in Cyberpunk was the most memorable part of my experience. This ending was a great way to end the game and expansion. It is a heartbreaking and reflective ending that captures the essence of cyberpunk.

Phantom Liberty succeeds as another 20 hours of great adventure in Night City and, coupled with Cyberpunk 2077’s new Update 2.0, a culmination of three years of hard work. This game is a great way to convince experienced mercenaries to come back to Night City and for CDPR, to demonstrate to newcomers what it has accomplished to improve Cyberpunk. CDPR is finally delivering on their promise to deliver a futuristic dystopian role-playing game after an unsuccessful launch in 2020. While Phantom Liberty doesn’t stand head and shoulders above the rest of the Cyberpunk package, it slots in nicely, like a preem piece of cyberware you’ve been waiting to be in stock.