THE PERIPHERAL

You gotta look SHARP on these very mean streets…

When you fire up the game, you’re greeted with one of the most varied set of character options I’ve seen in a game, and some of the most open. Much has been made online about the fact that you can choose such things as what kind of pubic hair you have, and what kind of genitalia, but the fact that your sex organs aren’t linked to the gender you present as is – as far as we’re concerned – pretty fantastic. And so’s the fact that you can just choose to keep it all tastefully hidden away if you’d rather not see your junk, or simply don’t want to present either way in that much detail. You can even choose a masculine or feminine voice.

On top of that, the sheer wealth of makeup, jewelry, tattoos, scars, and cosmetic cyberware will – if you’re anything like me – have you spend at least an hour getting your version of V looking juuuust right. And while you’re starting clothing is pretty limited, we couldn’t help but note that your inventory includes many clothing slots, and that there are a tonne of clothing stores dotted around Night City’s streets.

And all your gear is highly customisable, too, and we’ve barely dived into the world of cybernetic upgrades yet, apart from getting a new eye and smartgun interface. All of this, combined with a deep set of stats and skills and feats, is going to make for a game that you can play your way. Guns blazing, katana swinging, or hacking with your deck… and that’s just for starters. This is going to be a whole new level of numbercrunching for RPG fiends.