In Cyberpunk 2077, I like to think I'm actually a detective of sorts. Sure, I'm technically a gun for hire, working for fixers to build my street cred and pocket more Eurodollars. But isn't that the beauty of open-world RPGs? If you want to be something, well heck, you can be. Happily for me, too, there are plenty of memorable gigs out there that allow me feel like I'm a stealthy investigator venturing into the seedy underbelly of Night City to get my hands on some contraband, install some malware to halt dirty dealings, or occasionally take out a less than reputable individual committing nasty crimes. Maybe I'm not the most upstanding secret agent there ever was, but some of the gigs have let me live out this little fantasy in CD Projekt Red's take on the neon-tinted Cyberpunk world.
If I'm being real here, I guess I've always been looking for another detective experience that measures up to my all-time favorite: LA Noire. I'm not saying Cyberpunk 2077 holds a candle to Rockstar's '40s crime thriller in terms of putting me in the polished shoes of a bonafide detective – after all, Cyberpunk was never trying to be that kind of game – but in my heart of hearts, I hope the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion might just fill that hole in my life, if even just a little bit.
