LISTEN UP YOU PRIMITIVE SCREW HEADS!
David Hollingworth has a chat with CDProjekt Red devs about hacking, Keanu Reeves, and what Nvidia’s RTX raytracing capability brings to CYBERPUNK 2077. Plus Mike Pondsmith, the game’s original creator, talks politics and the road to 2077.
From the very first announcement of CDProjekt Red’s next game, Cyberpunk 2077, it was a title that made an impact. From the choice to remake one of tabletop gaming’s most iconic – and iconoclastic – settings, through to employing its original creator, and that stunning first teaser trailer…
To put it plainly, CDPR was not messing around.
Regular readers will also know that I’ve been a fan of the game since it’s first pen and paper iteration. Like many other roleplayers, this is a setting and a game that I’ve already spent decades immersed in. I’ve met Johnny Silverhand when he was alive;
I’ve had shoot-outs on Night City’s mean streets, and even survived a few - Cyberpunk has a pretty brutal combat system! So it’s no surprise that when I got the chance to shoot the steel breeze with CDPR’s senior level designer on the game, Miles Tost, the roleplaying game was where I had to start...
PCPP: I know the game’s timeline is meant to link into that of the tabletop RPG – can you explain some of those links?
Miles Tost: I can’t really go in too deep without spoiling anything here. The connection between Cyberpunk 2077’s and the original pen and paper game’s lore go much deeper than one might think. First off, Cyberpunk 2077 is a canon continuation of Cyberpunk 2020s world. Together with Mike Pondsmith we are working on Cyberpunk Red, which bridges the gap of roughly 50 years between 2020 and 2077. One of the more intriguing links we have teased so far is the re-emergence of a character named Johnny Silverhand, in the game portrayed by Keanu Reeves. Johnny used to be the leader of a chrome-rock band named SAMURAI… back in the early 21st century. How and why he has managed to pop-up after last being seen in 2027 is up to the players to find out. He is of course not the only character from the lore we will encounter and Cyberpunk 2020 (and prior) fans will hopefully get an extra kick out this.
If you are not familiar with the original lore, don’t fret! Much like with The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077’s story is completely standalone and can be understood and enjoyed without any prior knowledge of the game and its underlying story.
PCPP: As a player of the original tabletop, netrunning has always been a problematic mechanic. Can you run me through how it’s going to work in Cyberpunk 2077 - is it a mini-game, or something more organically part of the experience?
Miles Tost: In Cyberpunk 2077, a big connected Net like nowadays is mostly a thing of the past and people basically log into smaller localised sub-nets for their needs. The fantasy we see behind a netrunner playstyle is that of a player who uses Access Points and Network Back Doors, vulnerabilities basically, to breach a local network and take over control. This breaching is done via a mini-game with the help of your Cyberdeck implant. The more powerful your Cyberdeck, the better your chances to gain control over a network. The basic reward allows you to quick-hack devices connected
Cyberpunk 2077’s story is completely standalone and can be understood and enjoyed without any prior knowledge of the game and its underlying story.
to this network and by gaining more control over a network you can even unlock additional rewards, such as code pieces which you may use for crafting, access to additional information hidden in the net or even the ability to hack some more contextdriven devices.
Manipulating devices via quickhack has a resource cost attached to it. Often devices will feature multiple options in which the player can use them, all of which will have a different costs, adding a layer of strategy to the netrunning gameplay.
By hacking into an enemy’s personal link you can even break into an enemy squad’s internal network, allowing you to quickhack the NPC members within. The quick-hacks available to you depend on the kind of programs you have slotted into your Cyberdeck. Daemon malware can do many things and it is up to the player how he wants to use it: for example you can jam their weapons, preventing them from shooting or hack their
cybernetic hand to force them to pull their guns on themselves. This way a netrunner can be played both aggressively and more stealthily. We don’t lock a playstyle into a certain role, but leave that choice to the player. PCPP: Can you run me through a simple combat example, and how it would play out at various difficulty settings?
Miles Tost: Combat really depends on what kind of abilities you invested in. I think my previous answer hints at the options a player heavily invested in netrunning abilities might have, so let’s take a look at how a different archetype, a player who has invested into abilities reflecting the pen and paper’s Solo class, might fight.
The options you have here are many. It begins with your choice of weapons. Our guns are broadly divided into three main categories: tech weapons, where bullets are fired at such speed that they can penetrate cover, but can also be charged for a devastating shot; power weapons with high stopping power, whose bullets can ricochet off walls to hit enemies hiding behind cover; and smart guns, which once locked on, fire bullets that seek their targets.
With this we are also providing a choice for players, who are not too familiar with shooter type gameplay or those who purely want to focus on the story. Smart Guns might not deal as much damage as the other types, but you also don’t need to worry about hitting your targets as much. They also look fantastic. Guns can also be customised to a degree, further allowing you to play the way you want to play.
Perhaps guns are not so much where your heart is at. We also have a wide variety of melee weapons and cyberware on offer, ranging from katanas, two-handed hammers, the mantis-blade cyberware and te gorilla fists all the way to broken bottles one may find lying around.
You can even become strong enough to rip out guns mounted into turrets or use people as human shields. The ability to double-jump allows you a high level of agility and reflex-boosters like the Sandevistan cyberware even allow you to use bullet-time. But be aware, all of these things are available to enemies as well, so when they use their Sandevistan, you will see them speeding along the battlefield at superhuman speeds. This allows melee-focused enemies like the Animals to quickly close the distance between themselves and you, allowing
Perhaps guns are not so much where your heart is at. We also have a wide variety of melee weapons and cyberware on offer, ranging from katanas, two-handed hammers, the mantis-blade cyberware and te gorilla fists
for some pretty engaging combat scenarios. PCPP: You mention smartguns as being tied into the difficulty settings in a couple of interviews - what other gameplay enhancing pieces of cyberware we might see in the game?
Miles Tost: Right, I guess a good example for how the player can take control over the combat difficulty in the game is by looking at our Cyberware. We have shown a lot of active Cyberware so far, some of which I mentioned in my previous answer. There is of course also a lot of more passive Cyberware that modifies your skin or even your nervous system. In the end, the player could modify themselves into a combat-oriented character that is really tough to kill and become an almost unstoppable force, or maybe you chose to focus on Cyberware that helps you avoid combat by improving your stealth capabilities. PCPP: Going back to Johnny Silverhand, what has it been like working with one of the nicest actors in Hollywood?
Miles Tost: It’s been a great experience to work with an actor of Keanu’s caliber. When we were writing the story and the character of Johnny Silverhand and how he fits within that story it quickly became apparent to us that Keanu would be the perfect fit. He has a rich background in cyberpunk stories, like Johnny Mnemonic and of course The Matrix trilogy. Even John Wick has some strong cyberpunk-influences, with its contrasting visuals, but also in the way the story is structured. John Wick, much like our Cyberpunk in 2077, is not out to save the world, but rather to save themselves. These characters find themselves tossed into a maelstrom of events that they have little control over and now they are simply trying to find a way out in a system that does not really allow people to leave.
Because of this background and similarities it was pretty clear to us that it would be Keanu Reeves or nobody else. It’s not like we went out with the idea of having to find a “star” for Johnny Silverhand, who takes a very central role within Cyberpunk 2077s story.