Cyberpunk 2077 has made a triumphant comeback. Not only has it received an impressive overhaul thanks to the latest patch, but its expansion, the $29.99 Phantom Liberty, is an excellent side story that brilliantly weaves itself into the main plot via robust role-playing scenarios, additional customization options, and new zones to explore. The DLC doesn’t reinvent Cyberpunk 2077, but it deftly refines the game. The new mechanics, alongside the improvements to the base game, make Phantom Liberty an Editors' Choice RPG for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
A New Cyberpunk
If you’re not already familiar with Cyberpunk 2077, here’s a quick rundown: The game is based on Mike Pondsmith’s tabletop RPG, which was adapted and released in 2020 as an RPG-rich first-person shooter by developer CD Projekt Red. The game had a shaky launch, with severely compromised PS4 and Xbox One versions, terrible AI issues, and countless bugs. The underlying story and game mechanics were good, but not quite what CD Projekt had promised during the lead-up to launch. All of this has changed with the release of Phantom Liberty. This expansion, and the complementary 2.0 overhaul patch, puts Cyberpunk 2077 on par with Grand Theft Auto V—a massive improvement.
(Credit: CD Projekt Red)You don’t need to buy Phantom Liberty to enjoy a new and improved Cyberpunk 2077, however. The 2.0 patch that launched alongside the expansion is free, and it completely overhauls police spawning, patrolling, and pursuit AI; adds vehicular combat; expands perk, skill, and Cyberware implants; and introduces innumerable balance tweaks and notable performance improvements. If you've played Cyberpunk 2077 on and off since launch, the 2.0 tweaks may not feel drastic, as developer CD Projekt Red has diligently worked to improve its performance.
If you haven't touched the game since 2020, it's essentially a new Cyberpunk 2077, and CD Projekt Red encourages you to start a new game to get a feel for the overhaul. Getting into a gunfight while in a vehicle, or quick-hacking an enemy's car to mess with their brakes, sounds like a natural ability in a futuristic, open-world RPG. However, none of those now-available features launched with the game. Likewise, cops now escalate their assault until MaxTac steps in to send you to the morgue, unlike the 1.0 game where they simply teleported behind you in full force.
The Phantom Liberty expansion takes what made Cyberpunk 2077 good, distills it into a 10- to 20-hour expansion, and ties it into the overarching main campaign. It’s essentially more Cyberpunk, and considering the game's 2.0 state, that’s a great thing.
An Expanded Night City
To explore Phantom Liberty, you must complete the main campaign's first act (or start a new game file and skip straight to the DLC). The latter option sets you up with a default character that you further customize.
The plot quickly expands into a web of politics, bad actors, and espionage. Songbird, a Netrunner and aide to the President of the New United States, has a job for you: the President’s plane has been hijacked and is making an emergency landing in Night City. More specifically, it’s crashing in Dogtown, a brutal and autonomous district run by an ex-military warlord. The DLC is something of a side path within the Cyberpunk 2077 campaign. Your actions not only affect Phantom Liberty's conclusion, but base Cyberpunk 2077, too.
Phantom Liberty wonderfully pushes choice and consequence to the forefront, an element the base game lacked. The plot introduces you to numerous political actors, and it's up to you to decide who to trust and align yourself with as you puzzle together everyone’s motives and goals. There are many decisions to make as you play, which makes Phantom Liberty an involved and thoroughly engrossing role-playing experience. The RPG lacks Baldur's Gate 3's wild freedom of choice, but it has a stylish, cinematic quality that oozes spy-movie flair. The only real flaw with this presentation lies at the DLC’s start: It is extremely linear, railroading you from point A to B until you progress far enough into Dogtown to start fooling around on your own.
New Gear and Perks
With the DLC installed, your level cap increases from 50 to 60, meaning you get 10 more ability and perk points to diversify your character build. It also adds new Iconic weapons and Cyberware, new vendors, and a new upgrade tier to further enhance gear.
(Credit: CD Projekt Red)Phantom Liberty introduces a progression system called the Relic Tree. With it, you upgrade your character via Militech Data Terminals. For example, you can now charge the Gorilla Hands attack to deal bonus damage and stagger nearby enemies. The enhancements are nice, but they don’t radically change how you play with these abilities; they're more added effects. You must visit Data Terminals to acquire the Relic Points that power this new system, which encourages you to explore every inch of Dogtown.
Dogtown itself is an awesome new location, glorifying the lavish wealth and crippling poverty of Night City, and condensing it all into a single district. It's bolder, brighter, and vastly more ruinous than anything in the main city, like a mash-up of the Dredd and Tron movies. It’s an eye-catching town, so every dystopian street is packed with details. Ruined infrastructure, derelict vehicles, and shanty hovels are eerily juxtaposed against the dazzling neon and glowing light pollution from the highrise buildings and markets peppered around the district. In addition to the DLC campaign, there are many side quests and gigs to undertake as you explore the district, so there’s always something to do.
Can your PC Run Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?
To run Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty at minimum settings, your PC must have an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i7-6700 CPU; AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB), Intel Arc A380, or Nvidia Geforce GTX 1060 (6GB) GPU; 12GB of RAM; and 35GB of available storage space. For optimal gaming, CD Projekt Red recommends an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Intel Core i7-12700 CPU; an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, Intel Arc A770, or Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060 Super GPU; and 16GB of RAM.
(Credit: CD Projekt Red)On a desktop computer with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU, and 16GB of RAM, the game ran decently right out of the gate: It hovered between 40 and 50 frames per second at 1440p resolution. However, it runs even better with some settings tweaks; we saw the game move at more than 70fps at 1440p with DLSS activated.
Cyberpunk 2077 is Steam Deck verified and runs at a fairly consistent 30fps when you dive into the settings and make a few adjustments. In a nice touch, CD Projekt Red includes a Steam Deck preset. That said, it’s best to make a few tweaks for an optimal experience. For example, you should cap the frame rate at 40 with Vsync off and use medium graphical presets with Shadows and Ambient Occlusion set to low. XeSS worked better than FSR 2 in our testing, so consider using that, too. The frame rate occasionally dips, particularly while driving, but the performance is still impressive.
Why You Should Game on a PCA Terrific Return to Night City
Phantom Liberty is an excellent add-on to the much-improved Cyberpunk 2077. Not only does this bonus act complement the main scenario, but the gameplay improvements, additional zones, and rich story beats make it a worthwhile expansion in its own right. If you like Cyberpunk 2077, especially now that it has received its 2.0 overhaul, Phantom Liberty gives you even more reasons to extend your stay in Night City, earning it our Editors' Choice award.
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