Benz Eye View: Cyberpunk 2077

For the purpose of this review, I played this game on PS4 Pro with patches 1.04 to 1.06 (I started the game pretty late). I used male V with a Nomad backstory for my main file, and played bits of female V with a Corpo backstory and male V with a Streetkid backstory in their prologues. Combined those three files, I have played over 100 hours of this game. Yay, me.

Pros:

1.) You got to give it the writing, especially on its creativity on the world of Cyberpunk 2077. This world is massive with its lore, technology, people, history, and other varieties that it can be a bit overwhelming to know all of it. What especially interests me the most is the characters; while some are more interesting than others, I like knowing these people and I appreciate the friendships that I have made throughout the game from Judy Alvarez to Johnny Silverhand (played by Keanu Reeves). There are many symbolisms that are…well, pretty typical for cyberpunk in my eyes, but are still delivered well, especially in the multiple endings. There are a few issues with the writing here and there, but I believe the game did a solid job making players immerse in this role…until a certain thing happens which I will get to in the cons.

2.) The chemistry between V and Johnny Silverhand is surprisingly well done considering the two clashing personalities. V is…whoever you want him or her to be, and Johnny is a rebellious rock star who wants to take down the corporations that want to take over the world. Both of them really hate each other, but are forced to work together due to certain circumstances. You can even have V still hate Johnny despite their growing bond; a bond with a dead egocentric terrorist, but a bond nonetheless. Whether or not you make V like or hate Johnny, their interactions and trust in each other are shown well as the game progresses, and it pays off in many of the endings.

3.) I love that there are multiple ways to play this game. You can go from shooting with multiple choices of guns to using a variety of melee weapons like swords or hammers; you may like to quickhack and breach your way into a building or sneak inside an empty house. You can choose whatever and however you want to play; in my case, I like to use stealth and quickhacks at times, but if I need to fight, I use my blades to shred my enemies. Either way, the choices are completely up to you and you can upgrade to whatever you want with up to 50 levels. This is really encouraging to replay with the game in different varieties of gameplay and versions of V.

Cons:

1.) You already know the biggest issue with this game if you have been paying attention, so let’s quickly get this out of the way: this game is riddled with bugs and glitches. I played this game late, so I did not see the initial bugs that were seen when the game was released, but even with the patches I received for my PS4 Pro, it is still bad. How bad is it? Here are some of the pictures I have taken during my time in the game:

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  Oh my word! She’s melting!

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  Dude, what happened to my car?

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  Why is my drink stuck in your hand?

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  Oh my word! He’s also melting!

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  Apparently, this woman invested in invisible legs.

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  This new party move is called the T-Pose!

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  I have seen old cars, but this looks bad.

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  A new type of flying car.

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  Who’s bright idea it is to put a hole in this road?

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  Joker? (This is not a glitch, I just find this amusing.)

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  Chris, Pooh is stuck again.

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  Chris, Pooh is stuck in another hole.

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  I did not think they would be mangled this much.

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  I swear I’m not a pervert, I’m just wondering where her privates are.

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  I have become the Headless Horseman.

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  I think the legs are phasing.

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  Uh, Kamala Khan? I think you are little late in trying to stretch out of the explosion.

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  At least I have the high ground.

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  All the cards read…red X’s.

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  My arms are entering into a black hole.

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  Cool parking space.

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  Exercising to death.

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  I. Am. GORO!

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  A beautiful sight, indeed…if I have a head.

Not convincing enough for you? Here is a video I made personally of glitches I have encountered in video form:

There is more I can describe: graphics and textures take a while to load, plenty of people are in T-Poses, fast travel and scanning did not work at one point so I had to restart the game, some lines are not said according to the subtitles, and the police can spawn out of nowhere. I did have several crashes, four of them not only crashed the game but also turned off my PS4 Pro. I am guessing it was because after immediately loading my save file, I quickly worked on my blades XP, then when I attacked a bunch of thugs with my blades, the game crashed and my PS4 Pro deactivated. That scared me for a while, because I thought I killed my PS4 Pro. There are so many times I cannot tell if I legitimately messed up in the game or it is because the glitches screwed me over. These bugs and glitches are so frequent, CD Projekt Red should have released this trailer instead:

This is easily immersion-breaking, and it is unbelievable that the game was released in this state. I will end this con with the funniest glitch I have seen online.

2.) I found some of the perks to be worthless in the long term. They can be helpful, but it does not really do much in the end, especially when you can easily find alternatives. Here are some examples: Stealth – Clean Work (picking up enemy’s body after performing a takedown) and Commando (you cannot be detected underwater) are not worth it since I can manage well without them, Athletics – Human Shield (increase armor by 20% when grappling an enemy) is pointless since I cannot shoot anyone while holding onto a thug as a shield, and I do not use any crafting skills at all with a few exceptions (getting the iconic weapons and a certain trophy achievement). There are also plenty of perks that increase the damage of certain weapons, but it would be better just to get a weapon with higher stats instead. They should have thought of better perks worth getting, otherwise it is best to go for more unique ones like Stealth – Hidden Dragon (allows you to perform non-lethal aerial takedowns on unaware targets).

3.) While the overall game can be fun if you ignore the glitches, I feel like that there is not much to do other than the main missions, side quests, and shopping for weapons and upgrades. For a game that wants you to do whatever you want, there is not much variety like mini-games or going to certain types of stores or sports. I do not feel like going to another food store, because there is nothing but the same types of food I would usually get if at all. So many open-world games do this (and even ones that do not make up for it in a variety of ways like making the game functional), so why does this game not have that many activities? It does not help that there are apparently plenty of cut content that would make the game more immersive with so much more to do. I am not going to list what they are, so if you are curious, the videos are on YouTube, but if you are one of those people who was looking forward to the game since its announcement eight years ago, you will be depressed.

Overall:

Where do I begin? This video game has been hyped for eight years by CD Projekt Red. I initially did not care much about it, but after playing The Witcher 3 (which is a great game) and hearing that Johnny Silverhand was going to be played by Keanu Reeves, I had some interest. I looked up a little bit of this game, and I did get into the hype while avoiding big gameplay trailers. The constant delays were annoying, but given CD Projekt Red’s reputation, I- or rather, we trusted them to make this game fantastic. On December 10, 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 was finally released…and I know you heard of the disaster it has been for this game.

The game was clearly not finished; it needed more time to fix the bugs and glitches that should not have been ignored – I say it needed at least one more year, but that is my guess. It was bad on PC, but even worse on consoles, especially last-gen consoles via the PS4 and Xbox One. In my case, while I did not receive constant crashes all the time (I only got those a few times), the remaining glitches are unacceptable. What makes it worse is that I can sense potential for this game to be great thanks to the writing and gameplay. When the bugs do not break your immersion or turn off your game completely, the world of Cyberpunk 2077 is fantastic.

I cannot really add any more than the people who already reviewed this game, so I will end this review with these last few words. The game is fun, and I am willing to replay it again…once it is fixed with patches. The free DLC content can wait; it needs to be worked on again, and maybe it will be great just like No Man’s Sky did with its patches and upgrades. With what it is now, those 100 hours of gameplay felt like I had a brain synapse or hijack to a barely functional game, and I seriously want those hours back after finishing it. To put it bluntly, Cyberpunk 2077 was overhyped and undelivered, and CD Projekt Red should be ashamed of themselves.

5/10

On brighter news, I officially have my own YouTube page. It is under https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwjGJqyO63wJ9miUFAconNQ. I am not planning any videos for now, but I am thinking about making video reviews eventually. Until then, this channel is used for the Cyberpunk 2077 Bugs and Glitches video and any other videos I can think of in the meantime.

Benz Eye View: Run Hide Fight

Pros:

1.) If a film is going to explore a controversial topic like a school shooting, it better do a good job, and I believe it did a phenomenal one. I recall two films that I have watched that did explore this: one that I do not recall the title, but I do know it was made somewhere between the late 1970s to the early 1980s (I think) about multiple perspectives and it ends with the shooters attacking the high school; and another called I’m Not Ashamed that is based on a true story about one of the victims of the Columbine High School Massacre rather than the shooting itself (it is also a Christian movie). One did better than the other, but this one is different, because it focused on the heroics of a girl stopping the shooting rather than glorifying the violence. At the same time, the film depicts the violence and actions very well by showing the perspectives of the police, the students, the teachers, and even the shooters. The filmmakers did a fantastic job delivering a controversial topic in a fictional story.

2.) The shooters themselves are actually pretty interesting, at least the leader of the shooters. They clearly want to be popular, but they did more than just shoot a bunch of innocent students and faculty. We get to see their motivation (arguably a little stereotypical, but at least they are a threat to the main protagonist), their well-thought-out plan in action, and them pointing out holes about the rules of the school and society in general. One thing that is interesting is that they got their victims to use social media to announce their actions before the news media had the chance. The leader reminds me of Hans Gruber from Die Hard, in fact the entire film reminds me of Die Hard with a school shooting instead of a robbery. If that in itself interests you alongside the antagonists, this is going to be a great watch for you.

3.) The main character, Zoe Hull is a character you can automatically cheer for in this film. She is basically John McClane, but instead of trying to make up with an ex-wife, she is trying to move on with her dead mom and wants to be left alone. However, she is still caring towards others despite the loss, and is willing to save the school from the shooters. It is very thrilling and suspenseful when she is at a huge disadvantage, but it is believable on how she fights them considering her background. Zoe is awesome and you will root for her all the way.

Cons:

1.) The moments between Zoe and her mom are endearing, but it gets played out and forced after a while. For the first three to four moments between the two, I thought it established the relationship between the two well and what Zoe’s internal struggles clearly are, but after those moments, it was getting a little pretentious. I knew where it was going and how it was going to end, and when it happened, I barely felt much. I get what they were doing, but it probably would have been better if this was done with Zoe’s dad as well. The family issue would been a little more emotional, but as it stands, it could use more work.

2.) As mentioned before, I found it interesting that the shooters had the students to livestream the events of the high school shooting. I wish that they showed the news media’s perspective of it. It would be interesting to see news talk about this only for one of the characters (I say, Zoe’s father) to come in and say they are more focused on stopping the shooting rather what they think politically. I understand that the film is more focused on the shooting itself, but the shooter talked about the news media in a few points, so it should at least be mentioned.

3.) I wish that were a few more attempts of the students and faculty attempting to get away once the shooters arrived on the scene. There are a couple times in the film that happened, but it feels like more attempts are needed in order to make Zoe’s conflict much harder. You may argue that the reason that they do not try is that they afraid for their lives as well as their friends. I guess so, but at least a few of them should have tried. This can be seen as a nitpick, but I wished a few students attempted to flee for their lives.

Overall:

The first film of 2021, and we are still in the middle of a pandemic, so I might as well try watching a film on stream. When I first saw the trailer, I was interested to see how they are going to go through with this, especially with a controversial topic of school shootings. I can say that this is a good way to start 2021 in film, because this is great. I mentioned this before, but I considered this film Die Hard if it took place in a school rather than a company building. It does not dumb down what a school shooting is like, but it also shows what a person can do if something like this happens again in a believable manner. Add it with a great script and acting, and this film is a suspenseful thrilling ride for January 2021.

9/10