Review
Phantom Liberty review: Cyberpunk 2077 has never been so good
by Domagoj Belancic
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty – answering the most important questions
22/9/2023
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will be released on 26 September. Phil and I have tested the game and collected your questions. And as promised, here are our answers.
Question: how big is Phantom Liberty?
twicky87 wants to know how many hours you can invest in the expansion:
Mareo wants to schedule his time realistically, too:
Answer: around 20 hours.
Question: will a new ending be unlocked with Phantom Liberty?
User Mareo has already played through the base game several times. He’s also curious whether there’ll be new endings with the expansion:
Answer: yes, several.
Multiple endings can replace the original finale of the main game. You decide which characters to ally with and which to betray. That’s all I’ll say about it. The spy plot in Phantom Liberty is exciting and captivates with numerous twists and intrigues.
Question: how buggy is Phantom Liberty?
Procopyo, the melon-donning gentleman below, ridicules the bugs in Cyberpunk 2077 and gets downvotes for it. But how buggy is the expansion really?
Answer: the bugs are negligible.
Question: can I remake my old build in the new skill system?
User pzej is hesitant to install the update because he’s so used to his build from the base game. He’d like to know if he can replicate it:
Answer: probably not, perks have been completely revised.
With Update 2.0, it’s time to say goodbye to your old build. The new perks have little to nothing in common with the old abilities. Depending on the build, you’ll be able to recreate a similar experience. But my advice is to let go and try something new. Before you play, you can test your ideas online in the official build planner.
CD Project Red has also published three build videos to inspire some creativity. I opted for a hack-and-slash netrunner with slight modifications in my playthrough:
Or how about a rabid Hulk with the Savage Slugger Solo build?
The Bullet-Time Ninja is also pretty cool. The Matrix and Star Wars in one:
Even if you can’t recreate your old build one-to-one, you’ll definitely have a lot of fun with the new system. Chances are your new build will be much cooler than the old one.
Question: does gameplay differ from the base game?
hknn is a big Cyberpunk fan and would like to know what to expect from the gameplay of Phantom Liberty:
Answer: yes, Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty are real game changers.
CD Projekt Red promised big changes with the free Update 2.0 and the paid expansion Phantom Liberty. In my eyes, they’ve fully delivered on that promise. The changes to the skill system and police AI, as well as vehicle combat, are real game changers and have far-reaching effects on the flow of the game. Cyberpunk has never been so much fun.
You can find a detailed review here:
Question: are there any references to the Edgerunners anime in Phantom Liberty?
Digitec Discord user Mustafamisk is a fan of the Netflix anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. He wants to know if there are any references to it in Phantom Liberty (question in German).
Answer: yes, but I haven’t found everything yet.
CD Projekt Red already integrated various items and references from Edgerunners into Cyberpunk 2077 some time ago. This happened in Update 1.6.
That being said, I’ve only discovered direct Edgerunners references in the Phantom Liberty skill trees so far. Some of the ability icons feature characters from the anime. Otherwise, I didn’t notice anything special in my playthrough – but maybe I didn’t look hard enough. After all, upon request, CD Projekt Red confirmed that content from update 1.6 has been «carefully expanded».
Question: should I start Phantom Liberty with a new character?
Coolrabbitblue isn’t sure if he should tackle the expansion with his existing max-level char or with a new character:
User Captcha’s question goes in a similar direction. He’s halfway through the base game and wondering if he should wait for the expansion or keep playing:
Answer: you have several options.
Option 1: start Phantom Liberty with your existing character. This will refund any attribute points and perks you have already earned so you can create a new build. You must have completed the main mission Transmission to be able to start the expansion. The level cap has been raised from 50 to 60, so you’ll still be able to level up even with a max-level character.
Option 2: start Phantom Liberty with a new character at level 20. Here, too, you can assign your skill points freely.
Question: has the police system been revised?
Digitec Discord user ExeqZ wants to know more about the new police AI (question in German):
User nukular81 is also upset about the all-powerful super soldiers from the base game and asks whether the police system in Phantom Liberty or Update 2.0 works better now:
Answer: yes, the changes are noticeable.
The brain-dead behaviour of police officers is a thing of the past. They also no longer spawn randomly near you. Cops act smarter, are more persistent and more irritable than before the update. The pseudo-police in Dogtown – the bloodthirsty Barghest mercenaries – are even a bit nastier and easier to provoke.
Visual contact is important in the new system. Law enforcement watch you very closely and respond when they catch you committing illegal activities. Cops far away take a while to spot you. It all feels very organic and much more fun than in the base game.
Question: have the driving physics been tweaked?
PatrikD649 isn’t satisfied with the car controls in Cyberpunk 2077. He’s curious whether anything has changed with the DLC:
For Anonymous, the driving physics are even a reason not to buy the game:
Answer: I’m afraid not.
Question: is there an ADS toggle?
Wagh_Rules finds it hard to believe there’s no option to activate ADS («Aim Down Sights») for accurate aiming at the press of a button in the base game:
Answer: nope.
I didn’t see any option to ADS toggle instead of holding a button. In general, the accessibility options are rather sparse for such a big game.
Question: do choices have a noticeable impact on gameplay?
User LeThorsten wonders if Cyberpunk 2077 will finally become a real RPG with Phantom Liberty:
Answer: depends…
As in the base game, your choices in the main plot (and some choices in side missions) affect how the story ends. You decide who to ally with and who to betray. Consequences are clearly felt at the end of the game.
However, the game doesn’t give you as much freedom to make decisions as, for example, Starfield or, even better, Baldur’s Gate III does. Phantom Liberty is a playable Hollywood spy action thriller, in which you’ll be able to influence individual aspects of the plot from time to time. Therefore, not much has changed compared to the base game. If Cyberpunk 2077 wasn’t enough RPG for you, you won’t be happy with Phantom Liberty either.
Question: will Phantom Liberty run on older PCs?
King_Kong44 is upset about the poor optimisation of new games. He wants to know if Phantom Liberty also runs on 30-series graphics cards.
ExtrEmeOc also wants to know how the game runs on weaker systems:
Answer: in theory, yes.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t test Phantom Liberty with an Nvidia RTX 3080. I played the game on the PS5 and Phil played it on his monster rig with an RTX 4090. CD Projekt Red has updated the PC requirements for the base game and expansion in advance. You can find an overview here:
With an RTX 3080, you should achieve 60 fps in 2160p at «Ultra» settings. Mind you, that’s without ray tracing. On the PS5, the game usually runs at 60 fps in performance mode without ray tracing. Phantom Liberty also looks beautiful on Sony’s console – so you should still be able to achieve pretty respectable results with a slightly weaker graphics card. Here are a few impressions and comparisons between PS5 (left) and Phil’s PC with an RTX 4090 (right):
Want more Cyberpunk? Click here for the full game review:
In the Tech Affair podcast, Phil and I discuss the game further:
Domagoj Belancic
Senior Editor
Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.chMy love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
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