The second episode of Night City Wire streamed today delivering some more of what Cyberpunk 2077 has to offer. This episode debuted its lifepath system, the transformation of the band Refused to the in-game rock stars of Samurai, and its weapons. It was enough information to satisfy us until its third episode. So let’s dive in and get to business.
In my opinion, the best takeaway from the stream was the lifepaths info and it also was the first segment of the day. Lifepaths are what starts your character on their journey into the story and world of Cyberpunk 2077. There are three to choose from and each offers a vast array of differences to tailor the story to you. The three paths are Street Kid, Nomad, and Corpo.
Street Kid - You’ve grown up in Night City and really know your way around its underworld. You’ve got a rapport with a lot of its more shady characters and use your street knowledge to take on the big guys.
Nomad - Raised in the Badlands, you’re part of a clan but want more out of life than just what the sand has to offer. You’re going to learn what’s needed to be done to get yourself into Night City and make it happen.
Corpo - Corporate stooge of Arasaka, you’ll be working as counter-intel. You’re just taking out the trash for them, but wonder if you’ll be taken out soon too.
I’m really intrigued by the inclusion of lifepaths. This is something we’ve never really seen in an FPS. Choosing from each of them not only impacts the start of the game but what V (Cyberpunk 2077’s antagonist) knows when interacting with the characters of the world. Each will unlock additional dialogue options when it comes to the knowledge of things V has from that lifestyle.
Next on deck was a look at what the members of Refused had to do to turn themselves into the rock gods of Samurai. The lead singer Dennis Lyxzen went through the most complex transformation out of the entire band. Being a Swedish singer, he had to learn to pronounce words differently to bring the American rockstar Johnny Silverhand to life. Although it was a learning curve, Lyxzen is excited to see how gamers react to his vocal performance in the game.
Alongside the stream today the band dropped another track as Samurai. ‘A Like Supreme’ can be listened to above and shows off some more of that flavor that Refused is bringing to the world of Cyberpunk. It’s clear that the band isn’t throwing away their chance to immortalize themselves in this game. Can’t wait to get the entire experience in my hands!
The last segment of the stream focused on the game’s variety of weapons. Tech, Power, and Smart weapons are the different types of gun categories that weapons are placed in. As well, we got saw a nice melee section featuring a neon-lit katana and the cyberware enhancements to V.
They also dropped some information about how V will find their comfort with their guns as well as how weapons can be utilized. As you progress through the game, V will become more in tune with their guns and be able to reload faster, aim quicker, and become more accurate too. You’ll not only be able to hone your skills this way but also add mods to the guns as well.
Mods come in the form of attachments and software mods. We’ve seen attachments to weapons in virtually every shooter game in the last ten years but the cool part is the software mods. The software mods are equipped to guns as chips and can have the possibility of totally transform it into a completely different weapon. They can do as little as upping the stats of the gun or changing the way it works altogether.
You’ll be able to buy weapons at stores to add to your arsenal and keep it growing. Although this method works, we were told that picking up guns off of corpses and finding them in caches are the best ways of getting the best weapons. Weapons have their own rarity grades that impact the stats of the weapons as well. These are broken down as common, uncommon, rare, and legendary.
If you’re looking to further your knowledge of the Night City and its inhabitants you can now pick up The World of Cyberpunk 2077 which is available today and was a side note during the stream. It’s published by Dark Horse Comics and should help scratch that itch until the game comes out. A game with such a deep world of lore, it’s a book that anyone really invested in it shouldn’t pass up.
While this stream didn’t show off too much, I enjoyed it. I was pretty pleased that it wasn’t too long and I’d expect the same from episode 3. While we don’t have a date for the third livestream yet, I’d expect it to be in early October with the game’s release shortly behind it on November 19th.
