Now that players everywhere are venturing into Night City, several are going back to the hyped Cyberpunk 2077 E3 2018 demo to see how it compares with the much-delayed final release of the game. CD Projekct Red's open-world behemoth has been one of the most anticipated video games for quite some time, and the excitement hit a fever pitch when gameplay was shown for the first time to press and influencers at E3 2018 behind closed doors. After countless outlets described the gameplay via podcasts, video, and other coverage, the developers decided to release the long gameplay demo on YouTube for all to see.
Despite the game being in players hands as of this week, it's likely that many would still call the game unfinished. Cyberpunk 2077 has suffered from extensive bugs and glitches in the vein of something like Fallout 3, a game that heavily influenced its gameplay. There are also issues with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game when running on the base model of either console. While this may be expected to some because of the age of those machines, the fact is that the game was sold with support for those systems, and players trying to test that support has found the experience less than exemplary.
YouTuber Cycu1 has shown via a comparison video that Cyberpunk 2077 has been vastly improved from the time of the E3 2018 demo, juxtaposing the two-year-old PC footage with gameplay captured on a top-of-the-line gaming PC with an RTX 3080 GPU. Going through the opening hours of the game starring Dexter DeShawn, Jackie, and a rendezvous with a Corpo, it's clear that the studio knew exactly what it was making a few years ago. There are only minor changes to gameplay here and there, such as when the final game doesn't give players an option to shoot their way out of the corporate meetup. However, it's clear that Night City has become much more detailed and unique in its every nook and cranny based on the contrasting skylines.
Otherwise, the beats of each scene play out exactly the same, with the only difference being the graphics. Unlike the comparisons between CDPR's The Witcher 3's own controversial E3 demo and its actual performance, Cyberpunk 2077 has visibly been improved across the board. There are numerous added details players can pick up on, and the addition of ray tracing in the final game really makes an immediate and obvious difference. While the aesthetic choices might be preferable to some from the 2018 build, it'd be a pretty hard sell to argue that the finished result isn't miles ahead of the original in terms of technical performance and design.
While some have turned against Cyberpunk 2077 for its Fallout-tier jank and others have decried it as a pretty game from the last generation rather than a step forward, the fact remains that the game's popularity and immense sales have guaranteed CD Projekt Red another commercial success. The audience that will really get swept into Night City may end up being more limited than The Witcher 3, and the writing may not be on par with that game's memorable quests, but those with high-end machines and patience to outwait the bugs will find plenty to love.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia, and it will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.
Source: Cycu1