There are a lot of things I love about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It's one of the most immersive open world video games I've played. With that said, it always kind of bummed me out that you couldn't embark on the occasional villager killing spree.
I mean, I get it. Geralt of Rivia is a character with his own personality and morals, and he wouldn't suddenly whip out his steel sword and lay waste to a village full of peasants just because one of them called him a "horse f*cker". but saving a game, going on a murderous rampage, and then loading the game back to before you killed everyone can be incredibly cathartic, right?
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That's why I'm delighted to hear that CD Projekt RED's upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 will let you have way more freedom in the open world of Night City. Unlike The Witcher 3, the sci-fi RPG lets you create a character from scratch. That character can be, or do, pretty much anything they want to.
This, according to CD Projekt RED, extends to going on Grand Theft Auto-style rampages. Speaking to PC Games N, level designer Max Pears said the game will never hold you back from going a virtual crime spree, but he also seemed confident that you won't often want to do that.
"If you want to go out on a rampage and have no remorse, then you have got the option, and that's fine with us," he explained. "However, once you start to play the missions and see the amount of options you have, I think that will make players stop and think a little bit before doing something reckless."
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Pears said that he's seen more than a few testers try to go into "GTA mode", before realising that there's actually way more to do than simply murder people and steal stuff.
"We've seen a lot of people default to that 'GTA mode' and then after a little bit they realise how many things are different and adjust how they play."
So if Cyberpunk 2077 lets you cause carnage, can you kill major story NPCs? Pears didn't say, but it seems unlikely. Most complex open world games - including Skyrim and GTA V - find ways to make sure that the most important characters stay safe from any violent urges a player might have. I imagine the complex world of complex world of Cyberpunk 2077 will take the same approach.
Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt/RockstarTopics: Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, Grand Theft Auto