CD Projekt Red (CDPR) just dropped new details about Cyberpunk 2077's newest expansion, Phantom Liberty, at the Xbox Games Showcase. Phantom Liberty is launching on September 26 and features Keanu Reeves reprising his role of Johnny Silverhand, along with Edris Elba who plays FIA Agent Solomon Reed.
Phantom Liberty has been billed as a 'spy-thriller expansion.' It's worth noting that the expansion will only be available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S and not on last-gen consoles. The game has also brought in a new approach to its crime mechanics, which fans have been asking for. The developers had initially planned a robust crime/police mechanic which is closer to a real-life crime system.
Also Read: Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty DLC Release Date Announced: New Plot Details, Characters, And More
Cyberpunk 2077's New Expansion Fine-Tunes Its Crime Mechanics
The existing expansion however does things differently. The police in Cyberpunk 2077 can tracks or hunt players if they commit a crime but since it follows a GTA-style Wanted system, players can get away once in a while. Players can basically get away even if they're wanted if they can flee the scene. So as far as a crime system goes, it's pretty loose since there isn't always a clear record of a player's past crimes. The AI here has been deemed inconsistent by most players.
"Some things come with Phantom Liberty, for example, because of story-related reasons like the Relic skill tree, of course, you need [new character] Somi to unlock it,” said Anetaki. “Some things will be available to the rest of Night City, and you’ll be able to explore some things like, for example, the chases, the vehicle combat, and the police system.”
However, if players commit several crimes in a short period of time, they will most likely be hunted down. In these cases, MaxTac can also be summoned, which is a special military unit that is licenced to hunt someone to death. Quest designer Despoina Anetaki broke down some aspects of the crime system.