The folks behind Cyberpunk 2077 are putting together a substantial update before the game’s big expansion, Phantom Liberty, hits later this month. Redesigned perks, new weapons, new vehicles and vehicle combat, an overhauled police system, and more.
CD Projekt Red talked a bit more about the new police system. “We rebuilt the system on clear, simple rules: criminal activity is punished, runners are chased and cyberpsychos are flatlined, no questions asked. All features in the system are designed to support clarity and the simple but expanded prevention loop.”
As your wanted level, or Heat, as the developers call it, increases – you’ll run into stiffer responses from the Night City Police Department (NCPD). If you try to get away, you’ll have to contend with car chases and roadblocks. Max out your Heat, and a Max Tac mini-boss will show up in an attempt to put you down. The developers promise various archetypes for this mini-boss. It looks like we get a glimpse at them in a recent trailer outlining all the new features in Update 2.0. I embedded the trailer below with a timestamp (the police system part starts at 2:16).
What CD Projekt Red describes and shows looks like a massive improvement over how police work right now. You have to go out of your way to attract cops in Cyberpunk 2077, and even then, it’s pretty easy to ditch them.
In the trailer, we see how the new vehicle combat pairs with the police system to offer some explosive gameplay.
While 2023’s gaming calendar has been full of great releases, it looks like it’ll be worth putting aside some of the new releases and revisiting Cyberpunk 2077 when Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty land later this month.