Cyberpunk 2077 Shows Off New Perks In Phantom Liberty Trailer

A mercenary on a red motorcycle catches gunfire from a car.

Image: CD Projekt Red

Cyberpunk 2077‘s Phantom Liberty expansion will deliver an entirely new storyline featuring actor Idris Elba when it arrives on September 26. Just as exciting, however, are all the overhauled systems, mechanics, and features of the world arriving alongside it in a free version 2.0 update. CD Projekt Red showed some of them in action in the DLC’s latest trailer.

Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC Probably Won’t Change V’s Fate

Shown during the 2023 Gamescom Opening Night showcase, the aptly titled “New Ways to Play” teaser previewed redesigned skill trees, improved police chases, and vehicle combat. Whether players buy the $30 Phantom Liberty expansion or not, everyone who owns Cyberpunk 2077 will get to access these new features as long as they’re playing on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC (the 2.0 update is only for “next-gen” consoles).

Here’s a look at the trailer:

Near the beginning it shows protagonist V jumping off a motorcycle into a group of enemies and hitting them with a shockwave that erupts as a giant hammer smashes the concrete. A bunch of brand-new perks include “finisher” for decapitating someone, “bullet deflect” to bat away incoming enemy fire, “opportunist” for lethal takedowns, and a dash ability to close in on distant opponents. There’s also a whole set of Relic perks, including a blink ability called “spatial mapping,” and a “limiter removal” that shows V punching a guy until his body explodes. It’s all got the feel of a sci-fi Dishonored mixed with Mortal Kombat.

Gif: CD Projekt Red / Kotaku

The new police chases and vehicle combat are eqaully impressive looking. V can shoot out the windows with her firearm or hack enemy vehicles to send them spiraling out of control or make them blow up altogether. Police, meanwhile, try to run her off the road, set up barricades, and eventually surround her, only for her to unleash built-in Gatling guns and spin around in a grisly circle of carnage. It’s the Cyberpunk fans had hoped for from the original trailers years ago, but which didn’t materialize in the broken game that launched in 2020.

That game has already markedly improved, and is arguably in a great spot now, even if the underlying story, structure, and vision can still be underwhelming. Phantom Liberty and the free 2.0 update look like they could radically transform the game once again into something closer to the cyberpunk Grand Theft Auto that players dreamed about.

          

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Phantom Liberty Is Cyberpunk’s Only Expansion Because Of Unreal

A Cyberpunk 2077 image shows a woman swap out cyber face wear.

Screenshot: CD Projekt Red / Kotaku

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red says its upcoming expansion, Phantom Liberty, will serve as the game’s one and only expansion because of its “technological decision” to move from CDPR’s own REDengine technology to Unreal 5.

Phantom Liberty Is Undoing One Key Thing That Cyberpunk Got Right

During a Q&A portion of CD Project Red’s earnings call on Wednesday (h/t Video Games Chronicle), Michał Nowakowski, CD Projekt Red’s senior vice president of business, reiterated the developer’s previously stated stance on not making a second expansion to Cyberpunk 2077—regardless of whether or not Phantom Liberty’s sales do gangbusters—saying “the decision [not to] had already been made.”

He continued:

As we have announced a long time ago, we’re not going to make a second or third [Cyberpunk 2077] expansion. This is the only expansion of the game, and it has nothing to do with the numbers and how satisfied or not we are with sales or anything of the kind. It’s a technological decision to be honest. This is the last time we’re working on the REDengine for the time being at least, and in the foreseeable future as you know we are working on the Unreal Engine from Epic. This was one of the key reasons why we decided this was the only [Cyberpunk expansion].

Cyberpunk 2077

Read More: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s New Abilities Look Like Mortal Kombat Fatalities

Last year, CDPR announced its “multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games” to develop a new Witcher game as well as a remake of the original 2007 Witcher video game, which is being built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 by Polish studio Fool’s Theory.

Phantom Liberty, which will overhaul major gameplay mechanics and flesh out the Cyberpunk 2077 world alongside a free version 2.0 update, will release on September 26.

   

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Cyberpunk 2077 Cinematic Trailer Is A Phantom Liberty Primer

Solomon Reed is shown sitting in a subway and looking out the window.

Screenshot: CD Projekt Red / Kotaku

Cyberpunk 2077’s lone expansion, Phantom Liberty, is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on September 26, and it brings some new characters to the game’s gritty world. These include Idris Elba’s Solomon Reed, a spy who’s been in Night City for years under direct order from the President. However, he obviously had a life before we meet him in the add-on’s story, and CD Projekt Red has released a new cinematic trailer that gives you a glimpse into his life seven years prior to the events of Phantom Liberty.

Phantom Liberty Is Undoing One Key Thing That Cyberpunk Got Right

While there are no spoilers for the events of Phantom Liberty, this trailer does show a key event in Solomon’s past, as well as that of Songbird, the netrunner who helps V throughout the expansion. So if you want to wait to be told about this event (which you won’t actually see in the game), this is your spoiler warning. However, showing is always better than telling, so if you’d like to see a bit of Elba’s performance and Christine Minji Chang as Songbird, read on.

The cinematic shows Solomon getting on a train leaving Night City. He’s seemingly nearing the end of an op, with Songbird in his ear ensuring he makes his exit safely. As they talk about taking some time off from being government spies, the tone of the scene shifts from relief to suspense, and we see a big moment between these two that gets explored later in Phantom Liberty. What happens next is better seen than read, so check out the trailer below:

CD Projekt Red

Phantom Liberty is launching on September 26, but the 2.0 update that brings some major systemic changes like new skill trees, car combat, and enemy tactics will launch for all players on September 21. For more on that, check out our impressions, and for more on Phantom Liberty, keep an eye out for Kotaku’s full review on September 20, 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

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Every Change In Cyberpunk 2077’s New Phantom Liberty 2.01 Patch

A TV show host in a gold jacket holds his arms open.

Image: CD Projekt Red

CD Projekt Red said it plans to move on from Cyberpunk 2077 now that its big Phantom Liberty DLC and 2.0 systems overhaul are out, but it still has a few things left to patch. A new 2.01 update that went live on October 5 fixed corrupted save issues on PlayStation 5 and a bunch of other issues, including a wrecked cop car that used to haunt the streets of Night City.

Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC Probably Won’t Change V’s Fate

Out today on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, Cyberpunk 2077‘s developers write that patch 2.01, “fixes the most common issues players have encountered and improves overall performance on all platforms, especially in Dogtown.” A new region added in Phantom Liberty, Dogtown is bustling with dense detail that occasionally made players’ framerates take a hit. It sounds like that will be less of a problem now.

Buy Cyberpunk 2077: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

The company is also saying a corrupted PS5 save issue that players began to report after version 2.0 went live has also been solved. “Addressed the issue of corrupted saves on PlayStation by increasing the maximum save file size limit,” the patch notes read. This will prevent new save files from being corrupted in the future, but won’t fix the ones that are already broken, so if you were encountering the issue you’ll have to start from a file that was still working.

The rest of the update is full of the hyper-specfic bug fixes that underline all of the fascinating and occasionally broken things that can crop up in an open-world sci-fi RPG. A lot of the changes seem to revolve around cars, which received a major upgrade in 2.0, including more robust police chases and highspeed shootouts. For instance, patch 2.01, “fixed an issue that could cause all traffic to disappear after completing the [Moving Heat] quest.”

It also stopped several cars from spawning underground, including Flavio’s in the “Going-Away Party” gig, and a Militech SUV in the “Lord Giveth and Taketh Away” gig. But my favorite change by far relates to a busted cop car that was apparently roaming around like a ghost with unfinished business. “A wrecked NCPD cruiser without wheels won’t be patrolling the streets of Night City anymore,” CD Projekt Red writes. Pouring one out for the headless pigs.

Here’s the full 2.01 patch notes:

Phantom Liberty-specific

  • Balls to the Wall – When talking to Paco, repeating the blue dialogue option from the Corpo lifepath will no longer block progress.
  • Dog Eat Dog – Fixed an issue where it was possible to earn multiple Relic points by triggering the first meeting with Songbird more than once.
  • Firestarter – Fixed an issue that could cause V to get stuck in the wall or roof after performing a Finisher on Kurt Hansen.

Moving Heat

  • Fixed an issue that could cause all traffic to disappear after completing the quest.
  • Fixed an issue where triggering combat in the garage in specific scenarios could cause various disruptions to quest flow.
  • New Person, Same Old Mistakes – Fixed an issue where the gate to Bill’s hot dog stand was closed.

Somewhat Damaged

  • Fixed an issue preventing the player from scanning the Neural Network system.
  • Various fixes for devices in the bunker.
  • The Killing Moon – Fixed an issue that caused the doors leading to the shuttle to not open.

You Know My Name

  • Fixed an issue where V could remain connected to the sniper nest, blocking quest progress, after repeatedly switching cameras at the end of the sequence.
  • Reed will now wear his party outfit during the dialogue with Songbird.
  • Addressed an issue where some phone calls necessary to continue the main story began with a delay.
  • Various visual fixes for animations, lighting, scenes, VFX, and more.
  • Performance improvements for both PC and consoles, especially in the Dogtown area.

Quests & Open World

  • Automatic Love – The distortion effect caused by talking to Johnny and selecting a specific dialogue option at the end of the quest will no longer persist on the screen.
  • Ghost Town – Fixed an issue where the quest could get stuck on the “Defeat Nash and his people” objective if the game was saved during combat prior to Update 2.0.

Gig: Breaking News

  • Fixed an issue where Ted Fox’s car didn’t spawn.
  • Fixed an issue where the gig wouldn’t trigger after approaching the quest area.
  • Gig: Going-Away Party – Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to get in the car with Flavio because it spawned underground.
  • Gig: The Lord Giveth and Taketh Away – Fixed an issue where the Militech SUV spawned underground.

Killing in the Name

  • Fixed an issue where leaving the quest unfinished could block clue scanning, preventing the player from progressing in many quests.
  • Fixed an issue where the Bartmoss Collective website wasn’t visible in some cases.
  • Playing for Time – Fixed an issue where healing and radio icons disappeared from the HUD after the car chase with Takemura.
  • Space Oddity – Fixed an issue where the quest didn’t activate if the location was approached prior to Update 2.0.

The Heist

  • Fixed an issue where Jackie wasn’t present in front of the Afterlife.
  • Fixed an issue where, when riding the elevator to the 42nd floor with low FPS, V could fall through the floor and die.
  • The Prophet’s Song – Fixed an issue where completing the quest could cause the police system to turn a blind eye to V’s crimes.
  • The Ripperdoc – Fixed an issue where, if the player got into the driver’s seat from the passenger seat, Jackie would return to the noodle stand and refuse to drive to the ripperdoc.
  • Fixed an issue where NCPD Scanner Hustles could remain uncompleted even after looting the necessary containers.
  • Fixed an issue where some Iconic weapons wouldn’t appear on wall of the Stash in V’s apartment.
  • Lowered the value of the Attribute check required to enter the area where the Thermal Katana can be looted.

Gameplay

  • Made it possible to properly switch to Arm cyberware by cycling through weapons.
  • Addressed an issue that could cause V to become invulnerable to all damage.
  • A wrecked NCPD cruiser without wheels won’t be patrolling the streets of Night City anymore.
  • Fixed an issue where some obsolete mods in the Inventory and Stash weren’t properly exchanged for a new weapon mod.
  • Fixed an issue where weapons obtained pre-Update 2.0 could have a Tier that’s too high when compared to the player’s level.
  • Removed various obsolete Crafting Specs.
  • Disassembling a Budget Arms Slaught-O-Matic will now give 1 crafting component.

PC-specific

  • Fixed an issue where the UI could show controller inputs when playing on keyboard and mouse.
  • Players unable to get achievements due to an issue that prevented Phantom Liberty achievements from unlocking on PC before a backend fix implemented on the day of the release will have them retroactively unlocked on GOG and Steam after loading a save from that playthrough. For the Epic Games Store, the issue is still under investigation.
  • Fixed an issue where, after installing Update 2.0 but not the expansion on GOG, a pop-up saying “Phantom Liberty downloaded – please return to the main menu to access new content” could appear in the in-game menu.
  • Improved image quality of DLSS Ray Reconstruction in the Ultra Performance setting.

Console-specific

  • Addressed the issue of corrupted saves on PlayStation by increasing the maximum save file size limit. Note: this won’t fix saves corrupted before the update.
  • Fixed an issue where launching the game without an internet connection would prompt the player to log into GOG My Rewards again.

Miscellaneous

  • Various crash fixes on PC and consoles.
  • Vehicle radio volume has been adjusted so it’s no longer too quiet compared to other sounds in the game. If you’ve turned down the volume of other sounds in order to better hear the radio, you may want to re-adjust the volume before you continue playing.
  • Added sounds for the Basilisk that were missing.
  • Fixed an issue where the player could earn an infinite score in Trauma Drama by shooting at enemies dropping from a helicopter repeatedly.
  • Growl FM and Dark Star websites will now be visible when playing without Phantom Liberty.
  • Fixed an issue where disconnecting the internet didn’t result in an error message being displayed in My Rewards and Cross Progression tabs.
  • The song History by Gazelle Twin and Trash Generation will now be disabled when the “Disable Copyrighted Music” option is turned on.
  • Fixed an issue where hair didn’t cast shadows when Ray Tracing was enabled.
  • Players who pre-ordered Phantom Liberty but didn’t get the Quadra Sport R-7 “Vigilante” will now receive it.
  • Several improvements and changes to Ukrainian localization, including fixes for lines where the translation lost its original meaning.

REDmod

  • Fixed an issue where tweak mods would not compile in REDmod.
  • Added Phantom Liberty support to REDmod.
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