Cyberpunk 2077 is known for its rough launch given that the bugs in the game went as far as preventing people from playing it. However, the patches fixed that and it was a hit, which made it possible for them to develop an expansion for the game.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Trailer
CD Projekt Red just released a new trailer, and it gives us a chance to learn more about the upcoming expansion of the game. The video introduces a new place called Dogtown within Night City, along with new characters and a main mission.
For one, V, the main character in the game, will be tasked to save the New United States (NUS) President. The trailer also gives us another peek at the new character, Solomon Reed, which will be played by Idris Elba.
CDPR says that Phantom Liberty is a "spy-thriller expansion,' as mentioned in The Verge, which could be an extension of V's usual role of mercenary, meaning that there will likely be missions, unlike the ones that are in the main Cyberpunk 2077 game.
In the trailer, it can be seen that V's condition is getting worse, with the biochip taking over her brain. She then gets a call from an NUS intelligence analyst called Songbird claiming that she knows about the biochip and can save V's life.
Of course, the voice in V's head is still there, namely Johnny Silverhand played by Keanu Reeves. If the expansion's storyline leads to V being saved, then it could be the key to the continuation of the franchise.
By the end of the video, the release date was also revealed, which will be on September 26th, 2023. It will arrive on the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Sadly, it will no longer be available for older consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
You can now pre-order the game at the website. Hopefully, its release will not be as buggy as the main game when it first came out. CDPR also has a good track record with expansions or DLCs such as Blood and Wine for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
What to Expect from the Expansion
First of all, the expansion will not be free compared to the Edgerunners update after the release of the show "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners." The expansion alone will cost $29.99, but the bundle with the main game is priced at $79.99 for Xbox and $89.98 on Steam.
Game director Gabriel Amatangelo mentioned that the expansion primarily takes place in the unexplored area of Night City, which might be the Pacifica Combat Zone, as mentioned in Games Radar. As players know, citizens of Pacifica aren't exactly fond of the NUSA.
There are also a lot of changes in the game, like the Perks point system. According to the reviews of the playtests, players can now use the upgrades to achieve skills that will greatly affect combat, as opposed to things like a 2% decrease in reload time of handguns.
Ultimately, since it will be a "spy-thriller," there might be an increase in stealth missions and espionage in order to save President Myers. We can't really know until the DLC is released, but based on the trailer, the story is already looking good.
